[Shib-Users] ERROR No login context available when using IE8 (solved)

[Benji Wakely]

We've diagnosed the problem.

Symptoms:

-          User cannot log in to a Service Provider / against an IDentity Provider



-          Browser error reflected to the user:

"An error occurred while processing your request.  Please contact your helpdesk or user ID office for assistance.
  This service requires cookies.  Please ensure that they are enabled...<snip>"



-          Shibboleth IdP logs report:

09:38:27.921 - DEBUG [edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.idp.authn.provider.UsernamePasswordLoginServlet:159] - Successfully authenticated user testuser
09:38:27.921 - DEBUG [edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.idp.authn.AuthenticationEngine:144] - Returning control to authentication engine
09:38:27.921 - DEBUG [edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.idp.util.HttpServletHelper:316] - LoginContext key cookie was not present in request
09:38:27.921 - WARN [edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.idp.authn.AuthenticationEngine:147] - No login context available, unable to return to authentication engine
09:38:28.100 - DEBUG [edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.idp.util.HttpServletHelper:316] - LoginContext key cookie was not present in request



Steps to reproduce:

-          IE8 is set to fetch content through a proxy,

-          IE8 has the sophos antivirus content scanner plugin enabled,

-          user attempts to login to an SP / against a IdP

Workarounds included:

-          Unticking the "Automatically detect settings" box
-          Adding the SP to the "Intranet Sites" zone in IE8
-          Disabling Sophos content scanner plugin.

Steps to resolve:

It turned out to be a simple fix:

-          Add the domain of the Service Provider to the 'local intranet' (or 'trusted') zone.

Additional reading/reference:
Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000+: how to centrally exclude sites
from being scanned by Sophos web content scanning
http://www.sophos.com/support/knowledgebase/article/46504.html

--Benji

Benji Wakely - b.wakely at latrobe.edu.au
Unix Systems Administrator

Work phone: +613 9479 5499
mobile: +614 34 307 667
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