Unable to log in to SSPI UI – login page keeps reloading without error

Products

• VMware vDefend Firewall
• VMware vDefend Firewall with Advanced Threat Prevention

Issue/Introduction

If an unrelated cookie is present in the browser, /ssp/platform api call returns 403 after login.

The application works in incognito mode because the cookie is not present.

Environment

SSP 5.0

Cause

The error occurs when there are multiple cookies present and the authelia_session cookie is not the first one in the list.

Resolution

we can use the workarounds below  to access SSPI UI  (Until Fix Is Released):

Workaround1:

Use an incognito mode browser to log in to the SSPI user interface.

Workaround2:

Remove existing cookies for the site and to add a site to an exceptions list and block cookies, open your browser's settings, navigate to the cookie or site permissions section, and then find the option to "Manage Exceptions" or "Add site exception". From there, you can enter the web address of the site you wish to block and select the option to block cookies for that specific domain. 

We can follow the steps below to clear cookies for the SSPI according to your browser.

Google Chrome

1. Open Chrome browser 
2. Click the three dots menu (top right) → Settings.
3. In the left sidebar, select Privacy and security.
4. Click Third-party cookies (earlier versions may show Cookies and other site data).
5. Scroll down to Customized behaviors.
6. Under Sites that can never use cookies, click Add.
7. Enter your SSP site URL (e.g. https://ssp.example.com) → click Add.
8. Clear existing cookies:
9. Still under Privacy and security, click Clear browsing data.
10. Select Cookies and other site data → Clear data.

Firefox

1.  Open firefox browser 
2. Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner of Firefox.
3. Select Settings.
4. In the left-hand panel, click on Privacy & Security.
5. Scroll down to the "Cookies and Site Data" section.
6. Click the Manage Data button to manage cookies and site Data 
7. In the search bar at the top of the pop-up window, type the name of the website you want to remove cookies for.
8. Select the website from the list of results.(e.g. https://ssp.example.com)
9. Click Remove Selected to remove the cookies for that specific site.
10. Click Save Changes to apply your selection.

Microsoft edge:

1. Open: the Microsoft Edge browser. 
2. Click the Settings and more menu (the three dots) in the upper-right corner of the window. 
3. Select Settings from the menu. 
4. In the left-hand menu, click on Cookies and site permissions. 
5. Under the "Cookies and data stored" section, click on Manage and delete cookies and site data. 
6. Click on See all cookies and site data to view a list of all websites. 
7. Search: for the specific website whose cookies you want to delete in the search bar at the top of the window. 
8. Once you find the site (e.g. https://ssp.example.com), click the down arrow to its right to expand the list. 
9. Click the Delete (trash can) icon to remove the cookies for that particular site.

 

Note : This issue is fixed in SSP 5.1