I'm having a difficulty with a website for work. Some users of Internet Explorer and Safari are not storing anything in their session / cookies and I need to find a way to store information while they are on the site.
Is there a way with php/javascript/something else to request they add the site to their trusted sites or to allow cookies / sessions at all? Would having a certificate of any kind do this? Does anyone have any other suggestions of ways to do this? It would need to be an array of items to be stored and can't be stored in post / get formats as it involves leaving the page to go to a third party and then coming back to the page.
In case you're concerned, it's all above board in terms of what it's doing. It's all to integrate with a 3rd party system that doesn't allow the flexibility that the site requires when it comes to rules.
For clarification:
The session has been used to store the information but a lot of complaints were coming back from people using internet explorer saying that the rules applied weren't working. These are dependent on information being stored to the session. After testing we found that sessions weren't storing on a lot of internet explorer browsers. To combat this we have tried storing a key to a cookie and then using this to reference a database which stored this information instead. However, we are finding that with higher security settings these aren't working also. It needs to function without having them log in. This is the issue.
--UPDATE--
I have tested and it appears that if a site has an SSL cert applied to it the issue doesn't exist. Will need to confirm but that may be the answer.
I do not understand your scenario as I have never had such a problem where cookies are not saved in IE or safari, these are essentials and default with a browser so there must be some software which is effecting these browsers.
On the other hand, the last case scenario I would save everything in the database which would be more ideal if you are coming and going through third party websites. Which since you are storing an array of items I am assuming you are doing an e-commerce website and you need to go to the payment gateway and come back to continue with the checkout.
If that is your scenario I will go with the database and not the cookies.
I was unable to find a way to help someone change their safe sites to include my site easily but an SSL cert seems to achieve this for me. On testing the site it worked perfectly so long as it had and SSL.
Related
I am trying to find a way to share a session cookie between my two sites. I am unsure if this is the best approach or if I should place these sites on the same domain or switch to a different approach.
I have two sites: adminCRM.com and customerSite.com. The admin site is based on a 1.5 Mean skeleton, using oauth and passport to generate session cookies that keep users logged in. Users are given admin and/or customer roles. customerSite.com has an iframe which calls a login api on adminCRM.com. customerSite then gets a session cookie from adminCRM's response header.
For the most part, this session cookie approach appears sufficient.
The problem is that this approach does not work with safari and other browsers that deny third party cookies by default.
I have researched work-around and have yet to find a current, viable solution. However, I am very new to all of this and I feel like I may be tackling this the wrong way.
Is there a workaround to set third party cookies on safari? Should I abandon third party cookies and switch to a different approach? Any help is much appreciated.
Update: Eliminated the 3rd party cookie Safari issue. Kept the domains separate.
I was not able to find a way to allow 3rd party cookies, but that would have been hackish anyway.
I ended up still keeping the domains separate and just switching from session cookies to JWT. I used mleanos meanstack feature:
https://github.com/mleanos/mean/tree/feature/JWT-Auth-Lib
By making one of the sites subdomain of the other, I think it is no longer considered third party by the browsers. E.g. adminCRM.customerSite.com
I have a website where your able to advertise things on my website. The problem is that people are able to do it more than once. Is there a way that people are allowed to visit the website and when they join back they will be redirected to another page saying you have already advertised. People are still able to use vpn's but i have a way to stop that.
How can i use javascript or php to record the users ip first when the visit the website, But if they leave the website or reload the page they will be redirected to another page saying you have already advertised. Is this to much work?
Technically yes, you could use JS and PHP to grab a user's IP address and work with it in a database but proxies and dynamic IPs would make it a very easy check to circumvent. You can also use PHP to create a persistent cookie to identify the user and his/her actions and see if you're getting a returning visitor who posted an ad, but cookies can easily be deleted.
So it's not that what you're trying to do is too much work, it's that it's fairly easily circumvented and not very reliable. Your best bet is an authentication system that requires a valid login to post an ad, logging what the advertisers do, and creating logic which will disallow spammy behavior based on your logs.
You won't be able to stop abuses by very, very determined users but you can make it harder and make them think twice about whether it's worth investing all that time and effort into spamming on your site when there are bound to be much softer targets, giving you the time to deal with the most egregious cases personally instead of trying to stop a torrent of spammy ads.
You cannot stop people doing that 100% for sure.
if you block their IPs they use proxy.
if you use session they change their browsers or reset it to default.
if you block their hardware like in facebook block hard disk serial again they use vpn servers.
if ..
there is no way bro.
Ask for paying instead of making it for free.
I would like to use session storage to query user data in the database only once and then simply use JS to retrieve it, so I'm thinking about using session storage. My question is next, is that safe?
Please note:
1. JS can't be inserted to pages with forms (forms only accept alphanumeric values) so it can only come from URL
1.1 Query strings like www.website.com/?q=blablabla are not used in php (php doesn't retrieve any data from url)
1.2 Calling js in url with javascript:script... isn't a big concern since the user can only asccess his own data, not to mention that he can already access it - that's the point of user data
1.3 Is there a third way of a user being redirected to the site via a link that contains JS that will than be able to access session storage? i.e.: somthing like - www.website.com/script...
My guess is that only something like 1.3 would be a threat (in addition to that, am I missing something?) but does that even exist? And if so is there a way to prevent it?
Thanks for your time and replys.
You're essentially relying on two things for session storage security:
The browser limiting access only to the javascript on the page from this domain
javascript that is running on the page to be secure
Now there's not a whole lot you can do about No. 1 because that's the vendor's issue and, not pointing at anyone in particular but, most of them are usually pretty good at this kind of thing.
So you can be fairly sure no other code on any other tab, domain, browser or process is going to be able to see your storage object.
However, No. 2 is more difficult, You'll have to evaluate by yourself how secure your page is to script attacks, there's plenty of documentation out there on best practices but you could go on for days. You really need to judge how sensitive the data is versus how much work and possible loss of features it would be to secure against it.
If it's really sensitive data I'd question why you'd risk storing it client side at all and have access only through HTTPS. But you're site should be secured for most scripting attacks because if 3rd party javascript is running session cookies are up for grabs and therefore your server security is compromised too.
Since the session storage can only be read by JavaScript that is running on your page, I think your question boils down to "How can JavaScript be excuted/inserted into my page?" There are two attack methods: XSS, meaning some way to inject JavaScript into your page through posting data to your site. If this data is not filtered, it may insert script tags or JavaScript events into your HTML. There are many ways to do this and to protect against it, so I can't be more specific.
A lesser threat would be to trick the site into displaying or changing information through specially crafted links that call specific actions on your page. This technique is called CSRF. Example: Someone crafts a link to the "change email" page and tricks a user who is logged into clicking this link, this changing the email info in the session storage.
If your application is public, anyone can open the session storage in his browser and look up the names of the keys. So unless they are randomized obscurity offers no protection here.
I'm implementing a plug-in that's embeddable in different sites (a la Meebo, Wibiya), and I want to use Facebook Connect. The plug-in is supposed to be embeddable in sites with different domain names. Problem is, Facebook connect allows only one domain per application you register.
The question is, how can I have multiple domains for a single Facebook application, assuming:
When users "Allow" the application on one site, they won't have to "Allow" it on other sites as well.
Preferably, after the initial log-in, users won't see a pop-up opening on every site they log-in to (i.e. - I'd rather not open a link to my domain and do the log-in process from there).
Is there anyway of doing that?
If not, is my only option is to manage all the log-ins from a single domain and pass the cookies back to the original domains?
And if I pass the cookies between domains, how can I be sure that Facebook won't block this kind of behavior in the future?
I'd appreciate any suggestions, though I'd prefer an official solution over hacks, if at all possible.
Im assuming you are using facebook.php by Naitik Shah? Your widget would need to be on every page of course and include the async script connect-js.
I am currently developing a facebook login based application myself.
I would say the best solution is too login through your own domain and pass the cookie. Your app/widget will be the only one they allow to share information with. Nothing should be different in operation from a single page solution. I envisage a PHP plugin which executes a login from an outside domain and passes through the cookie to the site via the widget. return the cookie securely how you wish (except for something dodgy like storing it in a div and retrieving it..or something a hacker could try to spoof). the site will then use the cookie for account and user id purposes and the widget will control all login actions and session finding using the async script (but routed through a different domain).
Sorry I can't be more help but this is the only solution I can think of, and it seems you have already anyway.
In terms of keeping session control across different domains you only need the 3rd party cookie to be active. Once your page is activated for your domain you will already have the cookie for that domain if you haven't logged out or it hasn't expired. A benefit of using an outside management domain.
It would seem this is also the most reliable way compared to any successful hack for multiple domains, because I would see fb and Oauth2.0 as being ok with an approved party sharing info (cookies) to another party approved by the approved party. But.. It could be problematic if they think the user will have privacy issues, because you could potentially share the cookie on any site without the users permission. So you have to be careful about notifying the user about all the sites they will be auto logged into and treating them with respect.
Good luck with it, hope you let us know how it goes.
There is easy and clean technique -> Single Sign On (SSO). You can search on about it.
Our company makes the web based application which is priced per workstation.
That means that user/pass credentials should only be used from one particular machine.
Currently what is happening that several users are sharing credentials and we do not have any way to prevent this if they are not doing it concurrently.
The nature on the application is such that user needs to use it once in a while so the inability to work concurrently does not bother the users much and the company loses it's possible revenues.
The application currently is purely AJAX without flash/activeX/Java applets.
The ideal solution would be to read the computer name or IP address of the client with javascript using "Shell.Network" scripting interface.
But this is impossible because of the strict security settings in Internet Explorer. I have to mention that cross browser functionality does not matter and the only browser supported is IE.
Searching google I came across this solution here http://www.reglos.de/myaddress/MyAddress.html but it requires JAVA applet so will not be very convenient.
Are there any other solutions for this?
Your licensing model is not consistent with the delivery model. Change one of them.
Set a cookie on the machine with an id. Retrieve the cookie each time the user logs in. If you see several different cookies alternating for a single user you know you've got something odd going on.
(Of course a single switch may just mean they've moved to a new PC as one off. )
Alternatively, price per usage, 'query' or some other item.
This kind of abuse can probably be detected moderately effectively using the Cookie technique that RichH suggested. At least blatant abuse can be detected quite easily (say 10 licenced users, 100 real users).
But of course, don't lock the user out, just monitor the situation and get your Sales people to call up suggesting that they buy more licences.
We do exactly the same (in terms of licensing and delivery), and I'm sure that you have good business reasons for not changing your model.
Track through sessions per user. Do not allow multiple sessions to a single user. To achieve this you will have to save the session ID into the database and check everytime a user logs in.
To help users who at times have a browser crash and relogin with new session, allow them to sign out their previous session... so you can kill the old session and instead register the new one.
Hope this is useful.
There's no easy answer as your clients (the software) are effectively anonymous and the users are self-identifying.
For IE "locking you out" (I'm hardly an IE expert), but can't the IE settings be set for particular domains? You could simply make it a requirement that the users configure their browsers to give your app superior access.
I don't see any reason why you can't have certain requirements for the users browser (i.e. only IE 6/7/8, these security settings, etc.).