Set httpOnly and secure on PHPSESSID cookie in PHP

Question

Whats the recommended way to set httponly and secure flags on the PHPSESSID cookie?

I found http://www.php.net/manual/en/session.configuration.php#ini.session.cookie

Answer 1

For a WordPress website, I fixed it using the following PHP code:

add_action('init', 'start_session', 1);
function start_session() {
    if(!session_id()) {
        session_start();
        $currentCookieParams = session_get_cookie_params();
        $sidvalue = session_id();
        setcookie(
            'PHPSESSID',//name
            $sidvalue,//value
            0,//expires at end of session
            $currentCookieParams['path'],//path
            $currentCookieParams['domain'],//domain
            true //secure
        );
    }
}

add_action('wp_logout','end_session');
add_action('wp_login','end_session');
function end_session() {
    session_destroy();
}

Paste the code in the functions.php file.

Answer 2

I use Apache httpd over HTTPS, set session.cookie_httponly = 1 & session.cookie_secure = 1 works for me.

Answer 3

Using .htaccess for this purpose just slows down your application.

I think its better to add this snippet in your main config file ( example config.php ) or main include file ( example global.php )

    // Prevents javascript XSS attacks aimed to steal the session ID
    ini_set('session.cookie_httponly', 1);

    // Prevent Session ID from being passed through  URLs
    ini_set('session.use_only_cookies', 1);

If you are using https:// instead of http:// , then also do

     // Uses a secure connection (HTTPS) 
     ini_set('session.cookie_secure', 1); 

This method is also suitable for thos who dont have access to php.ini

Answer 4

In my opinion the best would be: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.session-set-cookie-params.php

void session_set_cookie_params ( int $lifetime [, string $path [, string $domain [, bool $secure = false [, bool $httponly = false ]]]] )

Answer 5

If you are using Apache, try this on your .htaccess

php_value session.cookie_httponly 1

Answer 6

ini_set('session.cookie_httponly', 1);

more information here on the PHP docs