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I have been noticing this issue for quite a sometime now but this is not always replicable. The issue is that when I try to logout and click on "Logout from everywhere" option, it takes me to main Stack Overflow page. I assume that I have been logged out of the system.

But next without closing the browser, if I type in gmail.com, it immediately logs in without asking me for credentials. The reason, I use my Gmail account to login to Stack Overflow too. But when I logout, shouldn't Stack Overflow take care of my logging out of Gmail account too?

So is this a known thing or is the application designed to be this way so that I have to explicitly logout from gmail account too or close my browser.

Btw, I use Stack Overflow in Mozilla Firefox browser.

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3 Answers 3

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No, we do not control your gmail.com cookies so it is impossible for us to log you out of gmail.com -- or any other domain for that matter.

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  • @Jeff Atwood - I saw this feature on buxfer.com. They also use openid to login and after I logout from buxfer, it asks me to logout from my yahoo account too. So I am asking is there a way to explore and get that feature into SO too?
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:25
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    That is a scary feature, @Sachin. Sites like Stack Overflow delegate the authentication to an OpenID provider of your choice (in your case Gmail) only when authentication is needed. Then, it's up to the sites themselves to somehow keep you logged in (cookies). Logging out does not involve the OpenID provider.
    – Arjan
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:28
  • @Arjan - Oh ok... I was not aware of that. Thanks for the valuable exlaination. I was just thinking if they can do it, why not get it done on SO ;)
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:32
  • It actually makes me wonder how they do that, but buxfer.com is throwing me an error on the very first page. Are you sure you never entered any Yahoo! credentials on that site itself, @Sachin? Maybe it's just sending you to the Yahoo! logout page (using a Yahoo! URL, rather than trying to log you out themselves)? (It seems that this website is about some personal finance and they want to ensure you can not easily log in again?)
    – Arjan
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:36
  • @Arjan - I think the site is down now. Actually what happens is, when i logout from buxfer, they redirect to a page which has only one button which reads (Logout from yahoo too). I click on that button and nothing happens. There is no confirmation messages too. But when I type mail.yahoo.com in same browser it takes me to yahoo login page. This site is for maintaining your personal finance details, expenses, income etc.
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:40
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    Okay, @Sachin, next time you logout please check the URL. My bet is there's no "too" in that button label, and the URL is actually a yahoo.com URL, not a buxfer.com URL? (If not, then my next guess is that Yahoo! has a bad logout procedure, without any confirmation and which anyone could trigger without you even noticing.) (Sorry for spamming your Inbox with these comments, Jeff...)
    – Arjan
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:50
  • @Arjan - Sure, I will get back on that. Let me check as you have suggested.
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 10:52
  • @Arjan - Seems like the moment I commented on buxfer.com, it has stopped working. Not been able to access that site since then ;) Will try to check that url tough hopefully site will come up soon...
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 21, 2011 at 6:58
  • @Arjan - Finally buxfer is back. Could not see yahoo url, but here is snapshot of that logout screen and when I click on logout button, that message appears as shown in snapshot. - tinypic.com/r/ve7o7q/7 When I say continue, nothing happens anyway.
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 25, 2011 at 5:37
  • @Arjan - Just to add, when I click on that logout from yahoo button, the status bar shows "Waiting for login.yahoo.com" message. Not sure if that means something.
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 25, 2011 at 5:49
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    @Sachin, that kind of confirms that it's not logging you out from Yahoo! on your behalf, but is just trying to redirect you to some Yahoo! logout page (which somehow fails) on which you could then logout yourself.
    – Arjan
    Commented Jan 27, 2011 at 0:34
  • @Arjan - Somehow its strange. I tried one small thing. Before clicking on that logout from yahoo button, in another tab on same browser, I entered mail.yahoo.com and it logged me in. Next I closed that yahoo tab and clicked on logout from yahoo. Then I put mail.yahoo.com url and it took me to login page. Somehow they are logging out me from yahoo I feel. Anyway not sure about technology but the current answer is good enough for me. Thanks for your help ;)
    – Sachin Shanbhag
    Commented Jan 27, 2011 at 7:32
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No, "log me out everywhere" applies to the Stack Overflow site you're logging out from only. Like explained above that very button:

If you are logged in to Stack Overflow through multiple computers and wish to logout from them all, or you are using a public computer, click below.

This has nothing to do with the way you log in.

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But when I logout, shouldn't stackoverflow take care of my logging out of gmail account too?

How's that ? You logout of your Stack Overflow account, not Gmail account. Your login session is restricted to Stack Overflow & related Stack Exchange Accounts.

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