Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Security and Technology : Browsers hang in https

[Codefighter]

I am running CentOS 3.?, with Apache 2.0.59 on a dedicated server. When I connect via https to a site on the server with IE7, Firefox, or Safari the browser will hang. IE6 however works ok. http works without a problem. I recently upgraded from Apache 1.3 in an effort to eliminate this problem without any luck.

I checked my iptables setup, and even stopped the iptables daemon, but no change.

I am also running DirectAdmin 1.27.5 control panel, which has its own webserver, and when I connect to it (via https) there are no problems on any browser.

The SSL certificate I have is from GeoTrust, the same company that generated the SSL certificate that works ok on the DirectAdmin control panel. I also tried the 'snakeoil' default certificate of Apache, and it also causes the browser to hang.

At this point, the only thing that I can find as a common denominator is apache, but I can't seem to find anything on the web related to this.

I had read some information (including ssl.conf) that seemed to indicate Apache KeepAlive might cause problems, so I also tried disabling that without any luck.

When trying Firefox on the administrative IP address with the snakeoil ssl (the http page shows 'Apache and mod_ssl succesfully installed' page), firefox indicates that the certificate isn't valid because its for snakeooil.com, and after I click OK several times, it still hangs.

When trying IE on the administrative IP address (it has no domains), it simply hangs (no snakeoil warning).

Also, in the ssl_request_log file I see an entry for the Firefox request, but not for the IE7 request.

A test url (using the snakeoil certificate is https://www.facediva.com which is a site I haven't put any files on yet.

Any assistance is appreciated.

-Mario

[Lightwave]

Welcome to facediva.com
To change this page, upload a new index.html to your private_html folder

No issues other then ignoring the various security warnings.

[Codefighter]

Hi Lightwave,

Thanks for trying the URL. Which browser where you using?

I've had numerous problems reported with browsers hanging, and have seen it happen myself on several computers. The first report came from a Firefox user, and when I disabled SSL for a login form for Firefox users they indicated all was well. Then a similar thing happened for Safari (which I saw myself from my sisters Mac). Yesterday a user with IE7 indicated the exact same problem which I also see happening on my PC.

I also had a tech-support friend try it with Firefox on his computer, and he confirmed that he had the same problem.

Can anyone else try it?

TIA
Mario

[hostechsupport]

Hello,

You have check on the SSL option in your Internet explorer.

Go to Tools ..... Internet Options and then there you will find advanced tab and In that option check on the SSL certificate options.

Thank you.

Regards,

[Patrick]

Codefighter, I tried the page in Firefox and IE without any problems either.

hostechsupport: That's not the problem, as usual with your responses...

[Codefighter]

HostTechsupport,

Sorry, but the recommendation made no change. Besides, my IE7 setup is the default setup, and I couldn't (and shouldn't have to) tell visitors to change their IE7 settings to make my site work.

So now I have 3 responses (1 from a friend) indicating that they have no problems. And yet I continue to have them and others must (it was user complaints that made me originally try different browsers and eventually disable the SSL login script).

I'm on a RoadRunner cable modem with a pretty standard setup. I just tried the site again, https://www.facediva.com and IE7 has been indicating 'Waiting for https://www.facediva.com' for the entire time I've been writing this message.

And again, there are no entries in the ssl_request_log file for the attempt.

I've found several references to https browser hang, including:
http://twistedmatrix.com/trac/ticket/764
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=70213
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=233366
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=208287

These are items I found when testing Firefox. But now that its happening with IE7 also, I can't believe they share a common bug/source code.

So, does *anyone* else experience problems access https://www.facediva.com ?

Thanks much

[NTHosts]

Yup it hangs for me too... but sorry I don't know what to suggest.

Good luck

[Adam-AEC]

Not working for me either. FireFox on Linux.

On a whim I tried 'wget' aswell and same result.

When I used https://66.246.163.83 it worked fine tho.

[Codefighter]

Adam, NTHosts,

Since it didn't work for you as well, can you try it one more time? I think I may have found the problem. If it's fixed I'll post my mistake, otherwise I'll try to save some face.

Thanks

[Adam-AEC]

Works here now.

[Codefighter]

Thanks Adam.

I don't know if I should be elated, or kicking myself. So, assuming it's fixed:

I don't know precisely what fixed it, but I ran yum and installed all the updates. After that, my IE7 and Firefox started to work ok. So, the problem seems to have been that something was out of date, I'm just not sure what.

For the record, my last couple runs of yum resulted in some problems. For example, this time it wiped out my named.conf file. Luckily I was watching the screen when it indicated the warning that it renamed my old file. Had I rebooted thinking everything was ok, I would have lost all my sites and probably spent another hour tracking that down. Probably second nature to the Linux gurus out there.

I fixed up the named.conf file, restarted and tested the primary services (ftp, named, httpd, etc) and finally rebooted, and all seems ok.

If anyone else *can't* access the test site, please let me know.

Thanks,
Mario