Posted by Tom on 11/03/06 16:37

Thanks for the suggestion. As a matter of fact, after some quiet
reflection away from the computer, that's what I ended up doing and
just added an argument to the function I use that allows the value to
be hardcoded, something like this:

php_guard_page($min_access_level=1, $action_field='dynamic')

The session-loss, as you anticipated, is the bigger issue I now
confront. This is part of a framework I use for multiple projects
which is the reason why I hesitated at something like hard-coding a
url. In any event, the idea is: a visitor can browse around open
non-restricted parts of the site then when they want to look at a
restricted page -- bam! hit them with the login form. In this
particular instance, I wanted to run the login through my host's shared
SSL -- which is on a different domain.

Two questions:

1. Is this necessary? Is using an unencrypted login form a significant
risk? What are the risks.

2. Is this possible? I quickly came to realize that I wasn't
understanding how the shared SSL certificate function. I was thinking
of it simply as kind of an extra layer of security being put on top of
my scripts. Any recommendation on how to best implement secure logins
with PHP using a shared certificate in this manner?

Links to good articles on the subject are welcome.

Thanks,
Tom


Erwin Moller wrote:
> Tom wrote:
>
> > I have a function that restricts access to a page to logged in users.
> > When a user who isn't logged in goes to the page, it will dynamically
> > generate a login form.
> >
> > I'm trying to use it in conjunction with the free shared SSL
> > certificate offered by my host. To use SSL, you would change a URL
> > like this
> >
> > http://mydomain.com/page.php
> >
> > to
> >
> > https://ssl.myhost.com/mydomain.com/page.php
> >
> > My problem: when my script dynamically generates the login form, it
> > uses the $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] value in the action field. But this ends
> > up being '/page.php' rather than '/mydomain.com/page.php' so my form
> > gets submitted to
> >
> > https://ssl.myhost.com/page.php
> >
> > instead of
> >
> > https://ssl.myhost.com/mydomain.com/page.php
> >
> > Simple I thought, I'll just use the SERVER or ENV variable that gives
> > me the full url. My problem: it doesn't seem to exist!
> >
> > Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone else confront and solve this
> > issue?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Tom
>
> Hi Tom,
>
> Why not hardcode the url instead of using PHP_SELF?
>
> Also, pay attention to possible sessionloss.
> The cookie that contains the PHPSESSID will only be send to the domain that
> set it. (Possibly it will also not be send by change of protocol
> http->https, I am not sure about that)
>
> So if you create a session in www.myhost.com, it is NOT accessable by
> ssl.myhost.com.
>
> Regards,
> Erwin Moller

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