Overcoming Cookie Size Challenges with ChunkingCookieManager!

We were working on an application that utilized Azure Active Directory (AAD) for handling user authentication and authorization seamlessly. Everything functioned as expected until certain users encountered login difficulties. Following a comprehensive examination, we discovered that authentication issues were exclusively experienced by users who were members of an increased number of Azure Active Directory Groups.

To address the problem, we initially resorted to removing users from some of these groups to restore functionality. However, this was not a sustainable solution as it compromised the integrity of the group memberships. Upon further investigation, we pinpointed the root cause of the issue: the size of the cookies. The cookies were exceeding their permissible size (4096-byte limit), leading to authentication problems.

The Solution: ChunkingCookieManager

To overcome the cookie size limitation, the ChunkingCookieManager comes to the rescue. This class is part of the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.Cookies, and it allows us to split large cookies into smaller chunks and store them in multiple cookies, each within the size limit . This solution guaranteed that users could access the application without facing any login challenges, even when their cookie size surpassed the constraints under various authentication conditions.

Conclusion

The ChunkingCookieManager is a valuable tool for managing large cookies in .NET applications. By splitting cookies into smaller, manageable chunks, it helps you avoid exceeding the cookie size limit, prevent data loss, and eliminate application errors. Incorporating this solution into your ASP.NET project is a straightforward process, ensuring a smooth user experience even when dealing with large amounts of cookie data.