Session loss after migrating to ASP.NET 2.0

The HttpOnly attribute has been added to the Session cookie generated by ASP.NET 2.0. This value is hardcoded and cannot be changed via a setting in the application. While this is documented as a breaking change in the breaking changes document (linked below), it's not clear the types of symptoms you will see in your application, nor is the fix clearly stated.

void Application_EndRequest(object sender, EventArgs e){ if (Response.Cookies.Count > 0) {          foreach (string s in Response.Cookies.AllKeys) { if (s == FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName || s.ToLower() == "asp.net_sessionid") { Response.Cookies[s].HttpOnly = false; } } }}

You could also roll this into a custom HttpModule to apply it across multiple applications if necessary.

Link to breaking changes document:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/programming/breakingchanges/runtime/aspnet.aspx

Link to HttpOnly Attribute:
https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.httpcookie.httponly.aspx

Link to HttpModule documentation:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconhttpmodules.asp

Special thanks to Shai Zohar for helping isolate the issue as well as testing the above solution.

Comments

• Anonymous
  June 08, 2006
  Hi, I have exactly this problems with asp.net 2.0.  The application I'm running is in vb.net, and have this sub:
  
  Public Sub OnEndRequest(ByVal s As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
             Dim Context As HttpContext = CType(s, HttpApplication).Context
             Dim Response As HttpResponse = Context.Response
             'avoid adding to .net 2 as httpOnlyCookies default to true in 2.0
             If System.Environment.Version.Major < 2 Then
                 Const HTTPONLYSTRING As String = ";HttpOnly"
                 For Each cookie As String In Response.Cookies
                     Dim path As String = Response.Cookies(cookie).Path
                     If path.EndsWith(HTTPONLYSTRING) = False Then
                         'append HttpOnly to cookie
                         Response.Cookies(cookie).Path += HTTPONLYSTRING
                     End If
                 Next
             End If
  End Sub
  
  I have no experience with asp.net, so don't understand if it is actually a vb version of what you post, but this one is working for asp.net 1.x.  Do you think I need to modify this sub in some way?
  Thanks!
  
• Anonymous
  November 03, 2015
  what is the solution for the session loss thats happening after migration ?