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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thank you for your response.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Yes, we sometimes see the issue you mention and guide users with the correct URLs. The users we assist experience intermittent back button errors frequently enough to hinder their daily tasks or studies, prompting
them to submit a service ticket. According to their descriptions, they encounter the back button error two or three times regularly before successfully logging in. Some users report this happening the first time they try to log in each morning, while others
find that only incognito or private browsing mode allows them to log in. We are reaching out to individual users to collect data on their usage patterns (on-campus or off-campus, browser versions, etc.).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">In general, if you visit a Shibboleth-protected website and encounter a back button error, what conditions could trigger this error?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">In two scenarios:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">You closed all the browser instances and started a new web browser session. (Is this even possible?)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">You have other tabs open and type the Shibboleth-protected URL in a new or existing tab.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Dong Lee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Identity Management & System Integration
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Center for Information Technology Services
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">University of Maryland, Baltimore<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Display",sans-serif;color:#0E2841">410-706-3027<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:dlee@umaryland.edu"><span style="color:#0563C1">dlee@umaryland.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> users <users-bounces@shibboleth.net>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>IAM David Bantz via users<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 30, 2025 2:52 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Shib Users <users@shibboleth.net><br>
<b>Cc:</b> IAM David Bantz <dabantz@alaska.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: Back button issue<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:center;line-height:12.0pt;background:#FFEB9C">
<b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red">CAUTION: </span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">This message originated from a non-UMB email system. Hover over any links before clicking and use caution opening attachments.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You did note that, in addition to users attempting to use the browser "back" button, that the same error can be triggered by using a cached, bookmarked, or other incorrect URL. I've observed many attempts to grab the URL displayed in the
browser during a sign-in sequence, typically of the form:<br>
<a href="https://myidp.myu.edu/idp/profile/SAML2/POST/SSO?execution=e1s1">https://myidp.myu.edu/idp/profile/SAML2/POST/SSO?execution=e1s1</a><br>
which is, of course, not a proper request initiator.<br>
<br>
A frustrating variant we've noticed occurs when users have relied on a google search for the intended resource URL, and for whatever reason, the google result is not in fact the proper URL to initiate sign-in.<br>
<br>
All to say you want to ensure your users are initiating the SSO sign-in from the proper functioning URL, not relying on any other process to guess a starting URL. If attempting to resolve a user's issue, they and you need to know exactly what was entered in
the address box or what link was clicked on, and not rely on a displayed address(es) intermediate in the sign-in process.<br>
<br>
David St Pierre Bantz<br>
U Alaska IAM<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 10:27<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span>AM Lee, Dong via users <<a href="mailto:users@shibboleth.net">users@shibboleth.net</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hi,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">We have observed an uptick in reports from users receiving the following error message. They report not clicking the back button, and some also report
this being their first login attempt of the day.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Error Message to Users:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">You may be seeing this page because you used the Back button while browsing a secure web site or application. Alternatively, you may have mistakenly
bookmarked the web login form instead of the actual web site you wanted to bookmark or used a link created by somebody else who made the same mistake.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Left unchecked, this can cause errors on some browsers or result in you returning to the web site you tried to leave, so this page is presented instead.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Log Entry:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">ERROR [net.shibboleth.idp.authn.ExternalAuthenticationException:91] – x.x.x.x - net.shibboleth.idp.authn.ExternalAuthenticationException: Error retrieving
flow conversation</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> at net.shibboleth.idp.authn.ExternalAuthentication.getProfileRequestContext(ExternalAuthentication.java:227)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Caused by: org.springframework.webflow.execution.repository.NoSuchFlowExecutionException: No flow execution could be found with key 'e1s2' -- perhaps
this executing flow has ended or expired? This could happen if your users are relying on browser history (typically via the back button) that references ended flows.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> at org.springframework.webflow.execution.repository.support.AbstractFlowExecutionRepository.getConversation(AbstractFlowExecutionRepository.java:172)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Caused by: org.springframework.webflow.conversation.NoSuchConversationException: No conversation could be found with id '1' -- perhaps this conversation
has ended?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> at org.springframework.webflow.conversation.impl.ConversationContainer.getConversation(ConversationContainer.java:126)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Here are some questions:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt">Is the error message associated with the error in the log?</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt">What do I need to look at, or where should I look, on the IDP servers? We have three servers behind a load balancer in Azure.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt">When working with users, we recommend clearing all browser cookies and caches. However, this does not resolve the issue.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">To be honest, I’m not sure what questions I should ask. If I find something in the response that matches our situation,
I will post more specific follow up questions.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Thank you,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Dong Lee</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Identity Management & System Integration
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Center for Information Technology Services
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">University of Maryland, Baltimore</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Display",sans-serif;color:#0E2841">410-706-3027</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:dlee@umaryland.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0563C1">dlee@umaryland.edu</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">-- <br>
For Consortium Member technical support, see <a href="https://shibboleth.atlassian.net/wiki/x/ZYEpPw" target="_blank">
https://shibboleth.atlassian.net/wiki/x/ZYEpPw</a><br>
To unsubscribe from this list send an email to <a href="mailto:users-unsubscribe@shibboleth.net" target="_blank">
users-unsubscribe@shibboleth.net</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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