Cookies question

[Joe Fallon]

I use forms authentication for my app.
After I log in successfully each request by the browser contains 2 cookies.
One for the SessionID and one for forms authentication which contains my
ticket.

Can someone please explain where these cookies are stored? I think it is in
memory in the browser but am not sure.

Also, some users have stated that they can do the following:
1. Start a browser, hit the site and log in.
2. Start a 2nd browser.
3. Hit the site.
4. BYPASS the log in page and go directly to the Home page.

They claim they can also close all browser sessions, start a new one and
still Bypass the log in page.

How is this possible?
Why would the 2nd browser session have the cookies noted above?

I assume once the authenctication ticket expires in 30 minutes of inactivity
that neither scenario would be possible. They would have to re-log in first.

Thanks for any info on this.
--
Joe Fallon

[Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]]

Hello Joe,

cookie storage depends - if it is a temporary cookie it is only store in
browser memory and delete when you shut down the process - persistent cookies
are stored in the user profile.

So when do you deal with persistent and when with temporary...

a cookie that has an expiration time in the future is persisten until that
point of time.

In FormsAuthentication - when you use RedirectFromLoginPage - the last parameter
is a boolean - if true the cookie is persistent (some silly timespan like
50 years in the future), if false you will end up with a temp cookie.

When you use persistent cookies, the behaviour with the 2nd browser window
is like you described it

Always use temp cookies - you don't want digital ids of your webapp stored
on a clients machine, do you?

---------------------------------------
Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
[url]http://www.leastprivilege.com[/url]

> I use forms authentication for my app.
> After I log in successfully each request by the browser contains 2
> cookies.
> One for the SessionID and one for forms authentication which contains
> my
> ticket.
> Can someone please explain where these cookies are stored? I think it
> is in memory in the browser but am not sure.
>
> Also, some users have stated that they can do the following:
> 1. Start a browser, hit the site and log in.
> 2. Start a 2nd browser.
> 3. Hit the site.
> 4. BYPASS the log in page and go directly to the Home page.
> They claim they can also close all browser sessions, start a new one
> and still Bypass the log in page.
>
> How is this possible?
> Why would the 2nd browser session have the cookies noted above?
> I assume once the authenctication ticket expires in 30 minutes of
> inactivity that neither scenario would be possible. They would have to
> re-log in first.
>
> Thanks for any info on this.
>

[Joe Fallon]

Dominick,
Thanks for the response.

I use temp cookies because I use code like this:
Web.Security.FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLogin Page(UID, False)

I think it is related to spawning a 2nd browser session from the first by
using Ctrl-N.
In this case the 2nd browser instance "inherits" the in memory cookies from
the first.

The users were using a link to an Intranet site - maybe this link had the
same effect by spawning a 2nd instance from the first somehow.

I guess what I don't understand is how they can close all browser instances
and then click this link and still bypass the log in page. If the cookie is
temporary and in memory, isn't it destroyed when browser is closed?
Or is it really stored on disk somewhere until it expires? (I could not find
it and a re-boot makes it disappear.)

Thanks for any more input.

--
Joe Fallon



"Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]" <dbaier@pleasepleasenospamdevelop.com>
wrote in message news:169758632471743413041942@news.microsoft.com.. .

> Hello Joe,
>
> cookie storage depends - if it is a temporary cookie it is only store in
> browser memory and delete when you shut down the process - persistent

cookies

> are stored in the user profile.
>
> So when do you deal with persistent and when with temporary...
>
> a cookie that has an expiration time in the future is persisten until that
> point of time.
>
> In FormsAuthentication - when you use RedirectFromLoginPage - the last

parameter

> is a boolean - if true the cookie is persistent (some silly timespan like
> 50 years in the future), if false you will end up with a temp cookie.
>
> When you use persistent cookies, the behaviour with the 2nd browser window
> is like you described it
>
> Always use temp cookies - you don't want digital ids of your webapp stored
> on a clients machine, do you?
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
> [url]http://www.leastprivilege.com[/url]
>

> > I use forms authentication for my app.
> > After I log in successfully each request by the browser contains 2
> > cookies.
> > One for the SessionID and one for forms authentication which contains
> > my
> > ticket.
> > Can someone please explain where these cookies are stored? I think it
> > is in memory in the browser but am not sure.
> >
> > Also, some users have stated that they can do the following:
> > 1. Start a browser, hit the site and log in.
> > 2. Start a 2nd browser.
> > 3. Hit the site.
> > 4. BYPASS the log in page and go directly to the Home page.
> > They claim they can also close all browser sessions, start a new one
> > and still Bypass the log in page.
> >
> > How is this possible?
> > Why would the 2nd browser session have the cookies noted above?
> > I assume once the authenctication ticket expires in 30 minutes of
> > inactivity that neither scenario would be possible. They would have to
> > re-log in first.
> >
> > Thanks for any info on this.
> >

>
>
>

[Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]]

Hello Joe,

if you can close down all browser windows and with a new one bypass the login
then you _have_ to have some peristence going on. this is the only explanation
- maybe somehting with you session cookie??

check your code and inspect the http communication by using a tool like fiddler
([url]www.fiddlertool.com[/url]).

HTH

---------------------------------------
Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
[url]http://www.leastprivilege.com[/url]

> Dominick,
> Thanks for the response.
> I use temp cookies because I use code like this:
> Web.Security.FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLogin Page(UID, False)
> I think it is related to spawning a 2nd browser session from the first
> by
> using Ctrl-N.
> In this case the 2nd browser instance "inherits" the in memory cookies
> from
> the first.
> The users were using a link to an Intranet site - maybe this link had
> the same effect by spawning a 2nd instance from the first somehow.
>
> I guess what I don't understand is how they can close all browser
> instances
> and then click this link and still bypass the log in page. If the
> cookie is
> temporary and in memory, isn't it destroyed when browser is closed?
> Or is it really stored on disk somewhere until it expires? (I could
> not find
> it and a re-boot makes it disappear.)
> Thanks for any more input.
>
> "Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]"
> <dbaier@pleasepleasenospamdevelop.com> wrote in message
> news:169758632471743413041942@news.microsoft.com.. .
>

>> Hello Joe,
>>
>> cookie storage depends - if it is a temporary cookie it is only store
>> in browser memory and delete when you shut down the process -
>> persistent
>>

> cookies
>

>> are stored in the user profile.
>>
>> So when do you deal with persistent and when with temporary...
>>
>> a cookie that has an expiration time in the future is persisten until
>> that point of time.
>>
>> In FormsAuthentication - when you use RedirectFromLoginPage - the
>> last
>>

> parameter
>

>> is a boolean - if true the cookie is persistent (some silly timespan
>> like 50 years in the future), if false you will end up with a temp
>> cookie.
>>
>> When you use persistent cookies, the behaviour with the 2nd browser
>> window is like you described it
>>
>> Always use temp cookies - you don't want digital ids of your webapp
>> stored on a clients machine, do you?
>>
>> ---------------------------------------
>> Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
>> [url]http://www.leastprivilege.com[/url]

>>> I use forms authentication for my app.
>>> After I log in successfully each request by the browser contains 2
>>> cookies.
>>> One for the SessionID and one for forms authentication which
>>> contains
>>> my
>>> ticket.
>>> Can someone please explain where these cookies are stored? I think
>>> it
>>> is in memory in the browser but am not sure.
>>> Also, some users have stated that they can do the following:
>>> 1. Start a browser, hit the site and log in.
>>> 2. Start a 2nd browser.
>>> 3. Hit the site.
>>> 4. BYPASS the log in page and go directly to the Home page.
>>> They claim they can also close all browser sessions, start a new one
>>> and still Bypass the log in page.
>>> How is this possible?
>>> Why would the 2nd browser session have the cookies noted above?
>>> I assume once the authenctication ticket expires in 30 minutes of
>>> inactivity that neither scenario would be possible. They would have
>>> to
>>> re-log in first.
>>> Thanks for any info on this.
>>>

[Joe Kaplan \(MVP - ADSI\)]

Speaking of tools for debugging HTTP, also check out IEHttpHeaders. It
doesn't do as much as Fiddler, but it works over SSL (which Fiddler doesn't
the last time I checked) and does show you cookies info (since they are
headers). This is one of my favorite tools these days.

Joe K.

"Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]" <dbaier@pleasepleasenospamdevelop.com>
wrote in message news:174336632472641746102975@news.microsoft.com.. .

> Hello Joe,
>
> if you can close down all browser windows and with a new one bypass the
> login then you _have_ to have some peristence going on. this is the only
> explanation - maybe somehting with you session cookie??
>
> check your code and inspect the http communication by using a tool like
> fiddler ([url]www.fiddlertool.com[/url]).
>
> HTH
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
> [url]http://www.leastprivilege.com[/url]
>

>> Dominick,
>> Thanks for the response.
>> I use temp cookies because I use code like this:
>> Web.Security.FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLogin Page(UID, False)
>> I think it is related to spawning a 2nd browser session from the first
>> by
>> using Ctrl-N.
>> In this case the 2nd browser instance "inherits" the in memory cookies
>> from
>> the first.
>> The users were using a link to an Intranet site - maybe this link had
>> the same effect by spawning a 2nd instance from the first somehow.
>>
>> I guess what I don't understand is how they can close all browser
>> instances
>> and then click this link and still bypass the log in page. If the
>> cookie is
>> temporary and in memory, isn't it destroyed when browser is closed?
>> Or is it really stored on disk somewhere until it expires? (I could
>> not find
>> it and a re-boot makes it disappear.)
>> Thanks for any more input.
>>
>> "Dominick Baier [DevelopMentor]"
>> <dbaier@pleasepleasenospamdevelop.com> wrote in message
>> news:169758632471743413041942@news.microsoft.com.. .
>>

>>> Hello Joe,
>>>
>>> cookie storage depends - if it is a temporary cookie it is only store
>>> in browser memory and delete when you shut down the process -
>>> persistent
>>>

>> cookies
>>

>>> are stored in the user profile.
>>>
>>> So when do you deal with persistent and when with temporary...
>>>
>>> a cookie that has an expiration time in the future is persisten until
>>> that point of time.
>>>
>>> In FormsAuthentication - when you use RedirectFromLoginPage - the
>>> last
>>>

>> parameter
>>

>>> is a boolean - if true the cookie is persistent (some silly timespan
>>> like 50 years in the future), if false you will end up with a temp
>>> cookie.
>>>
>>> When you use persistent cookies, the behaviour with the 2nd browser
>>> window is like you described it
>>>
>>> Always use temp cookies - you don't want digital ids of your webapp
>>> stored on a clients machine, do you?
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------
>>> Dominick Baier - DevelopMentor
>>> [url]http://www.leastprivilege.com[/url]
>>>> I use forms authentication for my app.
>>>> After I log in successfully each request by the browser contains 2
>>>> cookies.
>>>> One for the SessionID and one for forms authentication which
>>>> contains
>>>> my
>>>> ticket.
>>>> Can someone please explain where these cookies are stored? I think
>>>> it
>>>> is in memory in the browser but am not sure.
>>>> Also, some users have stated that they can do the following:
>>>> 1. Start a browser, hit the site and log in.
>>>> 2. Start a 2nd browser.
>>>> 3. Hit the site.
>>>> 4. BYPASS the log in page and go directly to the Home page.
>>>> They claim they can also close all browser sessions, start a new one
>>>> and still Bypass the log in page.
>>>> How is this possible?
>>>> Why would the 2nd browser session have the cookies noted above?
>>>> I assume once the authenctication ticket expires in 30 minutes of
>>>> inactivity that neither scenario would be possible. They would have
>>>> to
>>>> re-log in first.
>>>> Thanks for any info on this.
>>>>

>
>
>