Internet Explorer Session problem

[Anon]

Hi all,

I have a very strange problem which is baffling me.

I am using sessions local to the Apache Linux web server to store ID's of users records which are stored on a MySQL server.

Everything works fine, the user logs in to the system via basic authentication and if successful then their user ID from the MySQL database is stored in a session variable.

Now my problem comes when you have finished using the site and decide to close the browser.

In netscape their is no problem whatsoever, when the user loads a new netscape browser and attempts to log on again they are asked for their username and password as standard, this is fine and what i want to happen.

However in Internet Explorer the user gets through the login without having to populate a username and password, it is as if Internet Explorer is remembering the session information between the browser being closed and being reopened again.

This got me thinking that it must be referring to session information stored on the linux server in the /tmp directory.

With this thought in mind i deleted all session files from the /tmp directory and attempted to close IE again and reload the web site with a fresh browser.

The same problem occured. This got me thinking that somehow it must be receiving a cookie and must be loading the information from that.

I have, however searched everywhere on my system and i have concluded that it definately cannot be saving this information locally as their is no physical cookie on my machine.

Can anyone help me with this problem? I have tried creating a logout button which calls session_destroy(); but this does not solve the problem. I have tried unsetting the session variables but still have the same problem.

I am literally at the stage of tearing my hair out! Help!

Thanks,
Neil

[Anon]

Doesn't IE have this wonderfull wizardy thing that fills out username and password for you to help you keep your secure data accessible to anyone who uses your PC? :-)

[Anon]

Are you sure you close <i>all</i> IE instances ? Session cookies are kept in memory as long as IE windows are open.

If it's not this, maybe a refreshing problem ? Check your cache.

[Anon]

DOH!

You hit the nail on the head, i should have remembered that little feature of IE, personally i blame Microsoft 🙂.

Thanks,
Neil

[Anon]

One of the 'nice' features in the new MSIE browsers is the autocomplete
funcion to make it easier for people completing forms. Of course,
it is not exactly the greatest thing having peoples passwords and
login id information on your forms pop up when other people use
their computer. To turn off this feature so that your visitor's
privacy is protect, set up your FORM tag as follows:

<FORM AUTOCOMPLETE="OFF" METHOD="POST" ACTION="yourscript.php">

Of course, METHOD and ACTION will vary according to your needs.

[poknam]

you should not only close "THAT" IE, but to close all IE windows and open IE again
the problem should be solved