browser gui misery
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Pfsense is working great for me, I just have a problem with the browser gui.
When I go to 192.168.1.1, I get the warning that this is an unsafe site. I "accept the risk" and then get the pfsense login screen. I enter my username and password which is accepted. But then I get a totally blank screen. Nothing. No errors, no nothing.
So then I hit refresh, nothing. I hit refresh again. And again. On average it takes about 6-7 refresh hits then the dashboard comes up. Weird?!?!?!
Then I go to Status>DHCP Leases....blank screen again. 6-7 refreshes later, the DHCP Leases screen appears!!
Have tested with Firefox, Chrome, and Edge - all the same behavior.
Very irritating. Is anyone else experiencing this? Any advice?
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Have you disabled Javascript in your browsers?
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Negative. Javascript is enabled.
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Hmm, is pfSense nearly out of memory? Check output of
topat diagnostics/command prompt. Also look for errors in the nginx logs, if you can, at status/system logs/system/GUI Service. -
Oh boy, I'm wearing out the refresh button with all this testing, lol.
Not out of memory. Below is from top output and below that is from the dashboard.
For the logs...not seeing a GUI Service option:
Thanks for your advice so far!
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@lyle817 Hmm, it appears that there is something wrong with nginx, which provides pfSense's GUI. There should be "GUI Service" and then "OS Boot" items after "Wireless". Is your pfSense nearly out of disk space (diagnostics/command prompt, then
df)? -
Here's the output. All Greek to me!
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@bpsdtzpw said in browser gui misery:
There should be "GUI Service" and then "OS Boot" items after "Wireless".
Those are relatively recent additions so this is probably an older pfSense version? Upgrade if it's not 2.5.2.
When you see the login but then nothing it's usually because php is locked up on something. What widgets do you have on your dashboard? Try removing everything except the defaults.
Steve
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Hi, there. I see that I'm currently on 2.4, so will consider upgrading in hopes it will solve the problem. A little nervous about upgrading since everything else is working perfectly.
I only have two default widgets on the Dashboard:
I have been ignoring a notice on my dashboard that reads:
pfSense has detected a crash report or programming bug. Click here for more information.
I had assumed that this was an old alert and not relevant. Following the link led me to a "PHP error log". The last two lines of that log here:
[01-Jan-2022 16:43:11 Etc/UTC] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 536870912 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 71050266 bytes) in /usr/local/www/csrf/csrf-magic.php on line 161
[01-Jan-2022 16:43:15 Etc/UTC] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 536870912 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 142096808 bytes) in /usr/local/www/csrf/csrf-magic.php on line 159
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[01-Jan-2022 16:43:15 Etc/UTC] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 536870912 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 142096808 bytes) in /usr/local/www/csrf/csrf-magic.php on line 159
The CSRF code shouldn't be allocating that much memory. It simply generates and checks a session token that's used to prevent certain attacks on pfSense sessions. What's the content of your /usr/local/www/csrf/csrf-magic.php ?
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Hmmm....not sure how to access that file. Can I do it from the webgui?
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@lyle817 In diagnostics/command prompt/execute shell command enter
cat /usr/local/www/csrf/csrf-magic.phpThen post the resulting output here.
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thanks! it's a long output. does this link work for you?
https://pastebin.com/wvKa9cEP
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@lyle817 said in browser gui misery:
I see that I'm currently on 2.4
Like actually 2.4.0-release ? That's really old! You are probably hitting some php bug that was fixed years ago.
If you're concerned about getting back to a functioning firewall the safest thing to do is install 2.5.2 clean to a new drive and import the existing config. Keep your existing 2.4 install on the existing drive so you can boot from that again if you have to.
Unless you're doing something 'custom' or unusual I wouldn't expect an issue. It looks like you only have two interfaces which is a relatively simple setup.Steve
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It's 2.4.4, so "only" a couple years old, but still good advice. A perfect New Years day project!
Found these instructions online, look OK?
https://withblue.ink/2019/09/14/reinstalling-pfsense-and-restoring-from-backup.html
Now just need to check the drawers for a spare drive now...
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@lyle817 said in browser gui misery:
https://pastebin.com/wvKa9cEP
It looks like something has created a gigantic page, which it then attempts to protect using csrf_ob_handler(), which then fails because the lines cited in your crash report attempt to replace strings in it with something potentially larger. Looks like a bug or possibly a penetration attempt.
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<<deep sigh>>
I guess a re-install was in my future anyway, so here I go....
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I would use the instructions here:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/index.htmlAnd I'd probably do this to save time:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/backup/restore-during-install.html#restore-configuration-from-usb-during-installSteve
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Woohoo, back in business and my white screen of death is a distant memory!!
Thank you, thank you @stephenw10 & @bPsdTZpW and Happy New Year!!
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@lyle817 And a happy New Year to you as well!
