CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.netsessioncookies
Panache
Panache

Reputation: 289

Where is session stored if cookie is disabled on client's machine? What is actually stored in session?

In config file I have the below settings

sessionState mode="InProc" cookieless="false"

Does this indicates that the sessionid is stroed in cookies? If yes then how is it picked and sent to the server and how is it verified across postbacks.

What will happen if cookies are disabled in my browser, will the session(sessionid and session variables) still be created?

Where(default path) are the cookies created and stored by default for sessions and can i change the path?

What format and kind of data is stored in cookies for session?

If i store a class object in session then what is actually stored in cookies?

Also if i use authentication mode as forms with cookies then what will happen if cookies are disabled in browser?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 32097

Answers (8)

Chandra Malla
Chandra Malla

Reputation: 2449

There are two ways session state can store the unique ID that associates client with server session; by storing an HTTP cookie on the client or by encoding the session ID in the URL.

Session Mode="InProc" is a default mode which stores the session state information in web server. However when you say cookieless="false" you are saying to stored unique ID in cookie. This Id is created when session is created, so during postback ID is picked up from cookie. If cookie are disabled in browser,yes session still will be created and this id is passed along URL.

You can browse to cookies by going to browser settings->Privacy->Content Settings->All cookie and site data->Stored with site name Probable you might find cookies in %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies but might differ from operating system to system.

In cookies you usually store small piece of insensitive personal information. If you need to store sensitive data such as user name and password it is better to encrypt those data.

In cookie you usually store information about the users. For more details please visit URL http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.configuration.sessionstatesection.cookieless(v=vs.110).aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff647070.aspx#pagexplained0002_cookielessforms

Upvotes: 0

Ravi Teja Koneru
Ravi Teja Koneru

Reputation: 532

It stores directly in the browser

Upvotes: 0

Subhash
Subhash

Reputation: 1

No, If cookies are disable the session will not work.

if you want to use session when cookies disable then you can pass session thru URL.

Upvotes: 0

Nirlep
Nirlep

Reputation: 566

I have not implemented this personally. But it should be like:

As Cookiless=false in web.config file and browser has disabled cookies, when first request for the page comes, HTTP module will check for forms authentication cookie. Now it will be empty which send user to login page. Now when second request for any page on website will come it will again find forms authentication cookie empty and send user to login page. So for every request user needs to create new session.

Upvotes: 0

Brian MacKay
Brian MacKay

Reputation: 32019

The session cookie is a special non-persistant cookie. It's only stored in memory, so in most cases even when cookies are disabled it still works fine.

It's also possible to enable something called cookieless sesssions where the sessionID is embedded in the URL, like this:

http://yourserver/folder/ (encrypted session ID here) /default.aspx

Here's a link to an MSDN article with more details: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479314.aspx

NOTE: It is possible to completely block the session cookie. For instance, in IE8, I just went into Tools > Internet Options > Privacy. When I cranked the slider up to 'High' or greater, my sites never got past the login screen because the session cookie was blocked - in fact, Josh Stodola said below that in this case the session would never even be created on the server.

However, understand that this type of behavior effectively breaks the Internet. So unless you're building a site targeted at conspiracy theorists, in my opinion (and the opinion of most of the largest sites in the world) there's no need to cater to the tiny percentage of users who don't play by the normal rules.

For them, the Internet just isn't going to work the way it's supposed to.

Upvotes: 19

Josh Stodola
Josh Stodola

Reputation: 82483

Instead of session id being passed via cookie, it is typically passed as a query string in the URL, or as a custom HTTP header. With the scenario you described, however, your user will never obtain a session because you have cookieless set to false.

Upvotes: 0

johnofcross
johnofcross

Reputation: 679

If you happen to grab the request headers from your browser, you can see that a SessionID is part of the header. This is used by the server to determine which session belongs to which user.

Upvotes: 0

David
David

Reputation: 34543

My guess is that each request by the client will be seen as a new session by the server.

Upvotes: 0

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