UPDATE:
I am wondering if anyone can review my answer and see if there are any holes in it.
There is a well documented issue when using codeingiter and sessions at:
Duplicated "set-cookie: ci-session" fields in header by codeigniter
In summary codeigniter does a set-cookie each time set_userdata is called.
I found a partial solution at:
http://ha17.com/1745-bigip-f5-header-max-size-collides-with-codeigniters-bizarre-session-class/
The only problem with this solution is that code needs to be inserted everywhere. Is there a simple way to clear all the headers? I have modified the code a little to remove php errors, but is there a way I can use a hook or something?
<?php
class MY_Controller extends CI_Controller
{
public function __construct()
{
parent:: __construct();
}
//See (modified from) http://ha17.com/1745-bigip-f5-header-max-size-collides-with-codeigniters-bizarre-session-class/
protected function _removeDuplicateCookieHeaders ()
{
// clean up all the cookies that are set...
$headers = headers_list();
$cookies_to_output = array ();
$header_session_cookie = '';
$session_cookie_name = $this->config->item('sess_cookie_name');
foreach ($headers as $header)
{
list ($header_type, $data) = explode (':', $header, 2);
$header_type = trim ($header_type);
$data = trim ($data);
if (strtolower ($header_type) == 'set-cookie')
{
header_remove ('Set-Cookie');
$cookie_value = current(explode (';', $data));
list ($key, $val) = explode ('=', $cookie_value);
$key = trim ($key);
if ($key == $session_cookie_name)
{
// OVERWRITE IT (yes! do it!)
$header_session_cookie = $data;
continue;
}
else
{
// Not a session related cookie, add it as normal. Might be a CSRF or some other cookie we are setting
$cookies_to_output[] = array ('header_type' => $header_type, 'data' => $data);
}
}
}
if ( ! empty ($header_session_cookie))
{
$cookies_to_output[] = array ('header_type' => 'Set-Cookie', 'data' => $header_session_cookie);
}
foreach ($cookies_to_output as $cookie)
{
header ("{$cookie['header_type']}: {$cookie['data']}", false);
}
}
}
EDIT: Only use this code if you are are using $this->load->view(). if you are using echo right in a controller this will cause output before removing the headers can even get deleted.
EDIT requires php 5.3 or newer.
I have found a way that I think I help others with this issue. I haven't test it perfectly yet, but it appears to work.
application/hooks/session_cookie_fixer.php
<?php
class SessionCookieFixer
{
//See (modified from) http://ha17.com/1745-bigip-f5-header-max-size-collides-with-codeigniters-bizarre-session-class/
function removeDuplicateSessionCookieHeaders ()
{
$CI = &get_instance();
// clean up all the cookies that are set...
$headers = headers_list();
$cookies_to_output = array ();
$header_session_cookie = '';
$session_cookie_name = $CI->config->item('sess_cookie_name');
foreach ($headers as $header)
{
list ($header_type, $data) = explode (':', $header, 2);
$header_type = trim ($header_type);
$data = trim ($data);
if (strtolower ($header_type) == 'set-cookie')
{
header_remove ('Set-Cookie');
$cookie_value = current(explode (';', $data));
list ($key, $val) = explode ('=', $cookie_value);
$key = trim ($key);
if ($key == $session_cookie_name)
{
// OVERWRITE IT (yes! do it!)
$header_session_cookie = $data;
continue;
}
else
{
// Not a session related cookie, add it as normal. Might be a CSRF or some other cookie we are setting
$cookies_to_output[] = array ('header_type' => $header_type, 'data' => $data);
}
}
}
if ( ! empty ($header_session_cookie))
{
$cookies_to_output[] = array ('header_type' => 'Set-Cookie', 'data' => $header_session_cookie);
}
foreach ($cookies_to_output as $cookie)
{
header ("{$cookie['header_type']}: {$cookie['data']}", false);
}
}
}
?>
application/config/hooks.php
$hook['post_controller'][] = array(
'class' => 'SessionCookieFixer',
'function' => 'removeDuplicateSessionCookieHeaders',
'filename' => 'session_cookie_fixer.php',
'filepath' => 'hooks',
'params' => array()
);
If I understand your code correctly you are planning on making all of your controllers extend MY_Controller and then in each (or possibly only the relevant) Controller you are going to call
$this->_removeDuplicateCookieHeaders()
Other alternatives
add a hook (http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/general/hooks.html)
$hook['post_controller_constructor'][] = array(
'class' => '',
'function' => 'removeDuplicateCookies',
'filename' => 'removeDuplicateCookies.php',
'filepath' => 'hooks',
);
or create a helper (or library depending on your preference) you can autoload these in by editing application/config/autoload.php