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Contrary to a lot of the questions here on meta, I'm not having trouble logging out, but rather staying logged in.

Before, sessions seemed to last "forever" but in the last few days I've found that every time I open a new tab for any Stack Exchange site, I've been logged out.

I'm on Google Chrome (Developer Build, currently version 26.0.1384.2, but updated very often), Mac OSX Mountain Lion.

Most notably, the problem has been with Stack Overflow as it's the one I use most often. Meta and Area 51 may have had the same problem, but because I use those sites less often, it's not too unusual to find myself logged out.

Is this some setting I've changed or has the login system had a recent revamp? Possibly something that's changed in Chrome with regard to storing session information?

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  • 1
    Which browser? Which operating system? Which sites?
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:16
  • Do you clear your cookies regularly? Do you have a process that does that? AV/Anti Malware?
    – Oded StaffMod
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:39
  • No, and no. I've not (consciously) changed any Internet settings. Possibly something that's changed in Chrome with regard to storing session information?
    – James Webster
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:46
  • It's possible. We have not changed session handling/login recently, which is why I suspect changes on your end.
    – Oded StaffMod
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:50
  • I'll try a stable build of Chrome.
    – James Webster
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:52
  • Beta and developer versions of browsers aren't supported.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:54
  • Let me guess: you're using Google as the OpenID provider right? I suspect they are to blame, as I suffer the same issue on YouTube (used to be always logged in and suddenly noticed I get logged out in the recent days without reason), though Gmail appears to work fine.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 11:56
  • 3
    Having the same issue since a couple days ago. Using Blogger's OpenID and Opera 12.14 on Win7.
    – Igor Skochinsky
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 14:01
  • 3
    I get the same issue on all SE sites starting some time late last week; logins barely last a day. I alternate between Safari 5.1.7 and a non-dev version of Chrome, which was not a problem previously. Google is my OpenID provider.
    – Troyen
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 4:09
  • How can I find out who is my OpenID provider?
    – James Webster
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 8:34
  • I have the exact same problem. Since a couple of days I have to relogin on every visit. I use the latest Firefox browser. No caches cleared. No AV installed (besides MS Security Essentials). I'm using MyOpenID.
    – Steven
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 12:28
  • Same problem here, I'm using Chrome (regular upgrade mode v24) and Google user id. After attempting to login it sometimes succeeds and sometimes gives an authentication error
    – Motti
    Commented Feb 15, 2013 at 8:45
  • 1
    Same problem here. Happening in all browsers. Started during the Feb 9 move to New York. meta.stackexchange.com/questions/166874/…
    – Sparky
    Commented Feb 20, 2013 at 19:12
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    I don't know what can be done to get somebody to take this seriously, but I updated my own thread with more details. Maybe eventually it will get fixed.... meta.stackexchange.com/questions/166874/…
    – Sparky
    Commented Feb 22, 2013 at 23:03
  • Good news! This was confirmed as a real bug and fixed yesterday: meta.stackexchange.com/a/169560/157574
    – Sparky
    Commented Mar 1, 2013 at 19:05

1 Answer 1

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Good news! This was confirmed as a real bug and fixed yesterday:

https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/169560/157574

Quote Jarrod Dixon:

We refresh your authentication cookie pretty aggressively to help deter theft - this refresh can happen on any url that needs to know who you are.

I introduced a bug that would access a user's cookie on routes that didn't need it, e.g. a feed of bug questions. The access happened after headers had already been sent, meaning the cookie refresh couldn't take place. Subsequent requests now had invalid cookies and a logout was forced.

I apologize and a fix will be pushed shortly.

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2
  • Hurray! I look forward to the fix.
    – James Webster
    Commented Mar 2, 2013 at 8:58
  • ...But might not even notice it :P
    – James Webster
    Commented Mar 2, 2013 at 8:58

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