Having a ColdFusion application located behind an ISA Server presents some challenges. In this case, part of the application requires Basic Authentication while another part does not. The issue arises when trying to access cookies set by the ISA Server upon user login. These cookies are only accessible outside of the ISA environment, making it difficult to read them from the actual server where the application is hosted.
The dilemma revolves around testing whether the user's ISA session has expired without disrupting the expiration time. Making HTTP calls on the application server would alter the session expiration, complicating matters further.
An attempt was made to retrieve the cookie information through cross-domain AJAX calls, but confronted with obstacles due to Basic Authentication protecting the directory where the cookie resides. This impediment rules out using JSONP for checking the presence of the cookie. Similarly, implementing a proxy script on the application server would modify the cookie's expiration time, defeating the purpose of the test.
Efforts were then directed towards utilizing an iFrame within the application to load a page on the back-end server. Unfortunately, issues arose with Basic Authentication, resulting in continuous login pop-up prompts.
If anyone has suggestions on how to verify the existence of the cookie on the back-end server without altering its expiration time on the application server, please share your insights.