Odd MachineKey Error?

[Ron]

Error Message:Unable to validate data.

Stack Trace: at System.Web.Configuration.MachineKey.GetDecodedData(Byte[]
buf, Byte[] modifier, Int32 start, Int32 length, Int32& dataLength)

at System.Web.UI.LosFormatter.Deserialize(String input)



Has anyone seen this? Or know why it has ocured?



Thanks,

Ron

 

[Steven Cheng[MSFT]]

Hi Ron,

From your description you encountered the following error
======================
Error Message:Unable to validate data.

Stack Trace: at System.Web.Configuration.MachineKey.GetDecodedData(Byte[]
buf, Byte[] modifier, Int32 start, Int32 length, Int32& dataLength)

at System.Web.UI.LosFormatter.Deserialize(String input)
=========================

in your asp.net web application, and based on the error msg, the problem
seems due to the problem on retrieveing the correct machinekey from your
web application's confige file. When do you you find this problem and in
which application or just when accessing a certain page ?
Also, have you manually specified the <machinekey> in your web
application's configure file?

Generally, the machinekey's key value is used to help encrypt our asp.net
web application 's VIEWSTATE , FormsAuthentcation's ticket(if we use it) or
the out of process Session's sessionid:

#<machineKey> Element
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/cpgenref/html/gngrfMachineKeySection
.asp?frame=true

Please have a further check on this and if there're any new findings,
please feel free to post here.

Regards,

Steven Cheng
Microsoft Online Support

Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security
(This posting is provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confers no
rights.)

 

[Steven Cheng[MSFT]]

Hi Ron,

Have you had a chance to check the things in my last reply or have you got
any further progress on this issue? If there're anything else we can help,
please feel free to post here. Thanks.

Regards,

Steven Cheng
Microsoft Online Support

Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security
(This posting is provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confers no
rights.)

 

[Harshang]

Hi Steven,

I am getting the same error.

Error Message: Unable to validate data.
Error Source: System.Web
Error Target Site: Byte[] GetDecodedData(Byte[], Byte[], Int32, Int32,
Int32 ByRef)

This error is sporadic and happens when users access the website for
the first time. We don't have machinekey specified in web.config.

Please let me know if you have any solution.

Thanks,
Harshang

 

[Harshang]

Hi Ron,

Have you had a chance to check the things in my last reply or have you got
any further progress on this issue? If there're anything else we can help,
please feel free to post here. Thanks.

Regards,

Steven Cheng
Microsoft Online Support

Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security
(This posting is provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confers no
rights.)

Hi Steven,

I am getting the same error.

Error Message: Unable to validate data.
Error Source: System.Web
Error Target Site: Byte[] GetDecodedData(Byte[], Byte[], Int32, Int32,
Int32 ByRef)

This error is sporadic and happens when users access the website for
the first time. We don't have machinekey specified in web.config.

Please let me know if you have any solution.

Thanks,
Harshang

 

[Steven Cheng[MSFT]]

Hi Harshang,

Thanks for posting. As for the validation error, has the machinekey element
in your server's machine.config file be changed? Or is there anything in
the configure file be currupted?
Also ,such error often occurs in web farm scenario since the different load
balance server's machinekey setting are not idential.

see
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=832183

Regards,

Steven Cheng
Microsoft Online Support

Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security
(This posting is provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confers no
rights.)

 

[Guest]

I am also getting the same error. I am not on a Server Farm, however, I
am using Server.Transfer taking advantage of the performance gain and
being able to add querystring values to the Context.

Doing some research, some people mentioned that if you specify the
second parameter value to Server.Transfer as true would cause this
problem to occur, however, thats not the case for me.

The wierd part is that I cannot replicate this problem on my development
box which is on a Windows XP Professional machine running IIS 5. I keep
getting this error on a Window 2003 production box.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

what is wierd is that I used to have the same site up and running without any
problems on another Windows 2003 production box about 4 months back. I
checked the new Windows 2003 box its currently on and its a HyperThreaded
Windows 2003 installation.

Not sure if that makes any difference.

 

[claudineduplessis]

Hi,

I don't want to sound stupid, but I don't know a lot about servers. How can I change the machine key value on the server?

I am experiencing the same error. I have developed an ASP.NET web appication for a company and only ONE pc in the company is experiencing that error (also sporadically). I have never come accross this error from my local pc. I also haven't edited any machine keys (I don't even know what that is) so why would only one PC have that problem? I am also not using Server.Transfer, I am using Response.Redirect. I cannot disable the ViewState because this would cause my application not to work. This is becoming very urgent for me to solve.

Can anyone please give me (easy to understand) advice on what I should do? Should I do something specific on the problem PC?

Thanks a lot!