verizonwireless.com non deterministic pdf get requests

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al_9x
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verizonwireless.com non deterministic pdf get requests

Post by al_9x »

There is a issue with pdf bill downloads on verizonwireless.com

The essence of the problem is that the url for the pdf download does not identify a specific bill. The url is generic and retrieves the currently selected bill. This currently selected bill state is stored on the server and is reset (for no good reason) to the latest bill as soon as the request for the pdf is made. Subsequent requests to the same url with the same headers will return the latest bill, not the one originally requested.

The way this manifests with NS: if pdfs are blocked, the initial request is allowed for mime sniffing but aborted, and the actual download, upon placeholder activation, retrieves the wrong bill (because the currently selected bill state was reset by the first aborted request)

It doesn't seem like there is anything NS can do about this other than perhaps narrowly allow specific mime types for specific domains, which I gather is planed for 2.0. Giorgio, what are your thoughts on this?
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Giorgio Maone
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Re: verizonwireless.com non deterministic pdf get requests

Post by Giorgio Maone »

Your analysis sounds correct.
A workaround I can think of is forcing the download, rather than the inline display, of the pdf.
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