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Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

JEfromCanada
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2 years 4 months ago #232236 by JEfromCanada

Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys was created by JEfromCanada

Please help us help you and fill where relevant:
Your LimeSurvey version: Version 3.28.29.220920
Own server or LimeSurvey hosting: Own Server
Survey theme/template: Fruity
==================
Not sure which category this fits into. Until this year when I ran into problems and thought that updating to the latest version might fix things, a survey I had designed for a client had worked perfectly as intended. This year, for some strange reason, many (but not all) users of iPhones and iPads get an HTML dump when trying to access the surveys.

I tried the latest 3 LTS and even installed version 5 elsewhere to try a sampling of questions exported via the LSA file, with the same unfortunate results. I don't know what's going on.

Landing page for this survey (which is still LIVE until Sept. 26 at 5pm EDT, so please do not cast any votes) is: bizxawards.ca/Vote_Now.php

The symptom is when people with iPhones/iPads attempt to access any of the Vote Now links, instead of seeing the captcha question, they get an HTML dump of the survey page. PC users and Android device users do not have the problem.

Can anyone suggest what is wrong - so that this fiasco doesn't happen with next year's poll - this year is pretty much a wash.

And if this has been posted to the wrong category, please switch it to the right place.

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DenisChenu
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2 years 4 months ago #232237 by DenisChenu

Replied by DenisChenu on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

Same with firefox : seems your server/system didn't sent the good header

But clearly : you javascript system broke solthing.

Code:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
<title>One moment, please...</title>
<style>
body {
    background: #F6F7F8;
    color: #303131;
    font-family: sans-serif;
    margin-top: 45vh;
    text-align: center;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Please wait while your request is being verified...</h1>
<form id="wsidchk-form" style="display:none;" action="/z0f76a1d14fd21a8fb5fd0d03e0fdc3d3cedae52f" method="get">
<input type="hidden" id="wsidchk" name="wsidchk"/>
</form>
<script>
(function(){
    var west=+((+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(+!+[]+[])+(+![])+(+![]+[])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+[])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![])),
        east=+((+!+[])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+[])+(+!+[]+!![])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+[])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![])+(+!+[]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+!![]+[])+(+!+[]+!![])+(+!+[]+!![]+[])),
        x=function(){try{return !!window.addEventListener;}catch(e){return !!0;} },
        y=function(y,z){x() ? document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",y,z) : document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",y);};
    y(function(){
        document.getElementById('wsidchk').value = west + east;
        document.getElementById('wsidchk-form').submit();
    }, false);
})();
</script>
</body>

Start by disable it.

Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member. - Professional support - Plugins, theme and development .
I don't answer to private message.

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JEfromCanada
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2 years 4 months ago - 2 years 4 months ago #232238 by JEfromCanada

Replied by JEfromCanada on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

DenisChenu, I'm so honoured to get a response from you.

I'm not sure how to do what you are recommending. Is there a setting in Limesurvey for disabling Javascript? I couldn't find anything in the document about disabling it.

Could there be something in the captcha process that is causing the issue? Might disabling the captcha solve that (though I hate to think what other bad things would happen without the captcha)?

Thank you!

EDIT:

There must be a component within the Limesurvey software that is responsible for generating the HTML file served to the user. Is there some way to verify the integrity of that file (i.e. a tool that checks Limesurvey to ensure the files are "correct" and "unaltered")? If I can find a time of day when the survey is less likely to be actively in use, is there a way I could install a fresh download of the Version 3 LTS (I started with instructions meant up upgrade from an earlier version, that said to preserve the config file and uploads folder); do a clean install, and then replace the config file with my own so that I would be accessing the correct database path to my existing data?

Last edit: 2 years 4 months ago by JEfromCanada. Reason: Proposing a strategy to hopefully fix the problem.

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JEfromCanada
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2 years 4 months ago #232240 by JEfromCanada

Replied by JEfromCanada on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

I'm just now looking at your code snippet more closely. I thought initially you were showing that you had experienced a code dump on the survey and were listing it here. But now, I'm looking at it, and it looks like some attempt to determine whether Javascript is enabled and working properly? I don't dare try to use this on a client site without knowing what it does, but I tried it on two websites I own myself and both times it came up with a 404 error.

Is it supposed to be installed in a specific folder of the site hosting the Limesurvey software? And what response should I be looking for?

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jelo
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2 years 4 months ago #232244 by jelo

Replied by jelo on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

The link you're posted lead to a website with vote buttons.
When I click a vote button with Safari(iOS) I get a error message by Cloudflare (Error code 1020 Access denied) when accessing the LimeSurvey URL on bizxmagazine.com.
I get the same Cloudflare 1020 error, when clicking the votebutton on Firefox (iOS).
When clicking the same VoteButton via Firefox (Windows) I get redirected to the LimeSurvey captcha screen.

The question is, where this Cloudflare protection is coming from.
My educated guess is that bizxmagazine.com has an webapplicationfirewall (WAF) running.
LimeSurvey is installed in a subdirectory of the Wordpress-installation. So the WAF could a plugin in WordPress. Or the controlpanel offered by A2Hosting (where the website is running) has a WAF.

I don't see any connection to LimeSurvey. Contact the webadministrator and check how to whitelist LimeSurvey in the WAF.

The meaning of the word "stable" for users
www.limesurvey.org/forum/development/117...ord-stable-for-users

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DenisChenu
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2 years 4 months ago #232245 by DenisChenu

Replied by DenisChenu on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

JEfromCanada wrote:
I'm not sure how to do what you are recommending. Is there a setting in Limesurvey for disabling Javascript? I couldn't find anything in the document about disabling it.

Could there be something in the captcha process that is causing the issue? Might disabling the captcha solve that (though I hate to think what other bad things would happen without the captcha)?

The file shown at the previous post didn't come from LimeSurvey.
It's before LimeSurvey.

Maybe cloudfare, i don't know.

remove this protection, and maybe we can answer.

Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member. - Professional support - Plugins, theme and development .
I don't answer to private message.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

JEfromCanada
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2 years 4 months ago - 2 years 4 months ago #232250 by JEfromCanada

Replied by JEfromCanada on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

The client had been using cloudflare CDN, and had set it to BYPASS mode when we started having issues, but had never actually uninstalled it. Based on your feedback, he uninstalled CloudFlare and our initial results with one user (my son) is that the survey is now accessible. Feel free to verify this on your end as well if you wish.

Thank you for pointing us in the right direction.

EDIT: Even though CloudFlare is removed, I'm not sure the client also removed the block to access from international visitors via the WordFence plugin in WordPress. I have asked the client to suspend blocking of international traffic because I was communicating with you, but I'm not sure if he has reinstated it. However since the survey was installed in a separate folder (not under control of WordFence, I don't think), you may be able to get through.

Last edit: 2 years 4 months ago by JEfromCanada. Reason: Addming more detail in the EDIT paragraph.

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tpartner
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2 years 4 months ago #232252 by tpartner

Replied by tpartner on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

I think the bottom line is that this is not a LimeSurvey issue.

Cheers,
Tony Partner
Solutions, code and workarounds presented in these forums are given without any warranty, implied or otherwise.

The following user(s) said Thank You: DenisChenu

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JEfromCanada
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2 years 4 months ago - 2 years 4 months ago #232358 by JEfromCanada

Replied by JEfromCanada on topic Users of Apple devices cannot access surveys

You are correct - it is not a LimeSurvey issue. However, since I had been using LimeSurvey in the same environment (including CloudFlare) for several years without incident, I had to look at every possible point of failure.

I could not understand how SOME devices were able to use the survey and others could not. It's not the path to the survey was blocked - everyone could reach it, but some couldn't see it clearly. Anyway, it did turn out to be related to CloudFlare, and ultimately, uninstalling CloudFlare finally allowed iPhones to vote - but I still don't understand why this step was required this year, and not in preceding years.

I'm pleased you had a chance to express your opinions, because I would have never thought to focus on uninstalling CloudFlare - specially after we had turned off CloudFlare's caching and configured it for pass-through mode.

The survey is now ended. We suffered a 25% reduction in vote volume this year, but it had been down more than 50% before I contacted you for help so you really DID help!

Last edit: 2 years 4 months ago by JEfromCanada.

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