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Reuse existing session token when refreshing sessions #948

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Reuse existing session token when refreshing sessions #948

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dcc7258
Reuse existing session token when refreshing sessions
goldenapples Mar 10, 2026
dfbde56
Update only the expiration field of the token
goldenapples Mar 12, 2026
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35 changes: 30 additions & 5 deletions src/Actions/Authentication.php
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -579,12 +579,37 @@ public function onShutdown(): void
if ('false' !== $this->getPlugin()->getOption('sessions', 'rolling_sessions')) {
$store = $this->getSdk()->configuration()->getSessionStorage();

/**
* @var CookieStore $store
*/
$store->setState(true);
if ($store instanceof CookieStore) {
$store->setState(true);
}

// Extend the existing session token's expiry and reissue the browser cookies.
//
// The naive approach — calling wp_set_auth_cookie() with no token — rotates the
// session token. Because nonces are cryptographically bound to the session token,
// any nonce generated during the current request (with the old token) becomes
// invalid the moment the new cookie is sent, causing REST requests to fail with
// rest_cookie_invalid_nonce.
//
// wp_set_auth_cookie() accepts a $token argument. Passing the existing token
// reissues the browser cookies with a fresh expiration without rotating the token,
// so nonces remain valid and the full rolling-session behaviour is preserved.
$userId = get_current_user_id();
$token = wp_get_session_token();

if ('' !== $token) {
/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/pluggable.php */
$expiration = apply_filters('auth_cookie_expiration', 14 * DAY_IN_SECONDS, $userId, true);
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@kishore7snehil kishore7snehil Mar 12, 2026

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The 14 * DAY_IN_SECONDS default mirrors what WordPress core uses inside wp_set_auth_cookie(), but it's an implicit coupling. If core ever changes that default, these two would diverge.

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@goldenapples goldenapples Mar 12, 2026

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True. I'm not sure what the best default value to use here is anyway, so I just went with the logic from core. Maybe the default should match the Auth0 session expiration lifetime, since we have access to that?

Regardless, sites can modify this using the core "auth_cookie_expiration" filter.

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@roborourke roborourke Mar 18, 2026

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The likelihood of core changing that default is very very low, and if you have to choose some other value regardless then you've already diverged. Given there are settings for this in the admin anyway it doesn't feel like this should be a blocker to me at least.


// Update the server-side session record (wp_set_auth_cookie does not do this
// when a token is supplied).
\WP_Session_Tokens::get_instance($userId)->update($token, [
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@kishore7snehil kishore7snehil Mar 12, 2026

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WP_Session_Tokens::update() merges into existing session data. Just confirming , is there any session metadata beyond expiration that should also be refreshed for rolling sessions?

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@goldenapples goldenapples Mar 12, 2026 •
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Oh, apparently I misunderstood how the token manager handles updates. Actually, from what I see, WP_Session_Tokens::update() overwrites all the data attached to the session, which would wipe out useful audit data like IP address, user agent, and original login date; as well as any custom data attached with the attach_session_information filter.

I think it's better here to read the existing token and only update the "expiration" field on it. Updated in dfbde56.

'expiration' => time() + $expiration,
]);

wp_set_auth_cookie(get_current_user_id(), true);
// Reissue the browser cookies with the same token and new expiration.
wp_set_auth_cookie($userId, true, '', $token);
}
}
}

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