.Net's defective-by-default browser capabilities detection lends itself to DoS

Ever since .Net v4, in all versions including the last classic .Net version v4.8, the built-in browser detection accessible in the Request.Browser (a HttpBrowserCapabilities object) has a serious flaw which will bite you as soon as your site gets several visitors per minute. What happens, if you rely on this object, is that users will randomly report having their browser mis-identified. This post shows why it happens and how to solve it. The issue is also easy to reproduce locally, worth a few fun minutes. If you are so inclined, the problem also lends itself to a DoS attack. ...

January 30, 2021 · 3 min · wpgundersen

Solved: Chrome downloading file instead of displaying page

A lot of developers are experiencing the same problem: while all other browsers display your latest web creation perfectly, Chrome just downloads the script source file - yes, source. Several support threads describe the same problem, suggesting everything from security flaws and misconfigured servers to a chrome bug. The answer is simple: you visited your unfinished site in Chrome before it was configured correctly. Chrome correctly just downloaded your front page script file - and it has cached that result, showing it to you again and again. ...

June 17, 2013 · 1 min · wpgundersen