Cisco WLC 5520 running 8.8.125.0. Get 401 error in Microsoft Edge

[Steve Lattray]

When trying to log into the GUI using Microsoft Edge I get error 401. 

401 Unauthorized<script language="javascript">var agt=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();if (agt.indexOf("msie") != -1) {document.execCommand("ClearAuthenticationCache");top.location = "/";}</script>

When going to the URL i am presented with the welcome screen and can push the login button. I then get the 401. I am not presented with the username and password screen. 

I can log in with IE and chrome this is only an issue in Edge. 

[Steve Lattray]

This is the header inspection if it helps:

Request URL: https://nc93-wc-wlan1/screens/preframeset.html
Request Method: GET
Status Code: 401 Unauthorized
Remote Address: 172.16.250.30:443
Referrer Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
Connection: close
Date: Wed, 04 May 2022 16:25:06 GMT
Set-Cookie: sessionId=fYtaTmJp9AATnobioR08PGcS9ain3jS;PATH=/;Secure;HttpOnly
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Cisco Controller"
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.9
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.9
Connection: keep-alive
Cookie: sessionId=zvMKnZzOrW5wjDyc4EfCjrKRytihA1f
DNT: 1
Host: nc93-wc-wlan1
Referer: https://nc93-wc-wlan1/
sec-ch-ua: " Not A;Brand";v="99", "Chromium";v="100", "Microsoft Edge";v="100"
sec-ch-ua-mobile: ?0
sec-ch-ua-platform: "Windows"
Sec-Fetch-Dest: document
Sec-Fetch-Mode: navigate
Sec-Fetch-Site: same-origin
Sec-Fetch-User: ?1
Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/100.0.4896.60 Safari/537.36 Edg/100.0.1185.29

[marce1000]

 - I would not spend to much energy in browser incompatibilities , especially for management purposes (only). The advice  then becomes : use the browser that works. Other options may include software upgrade : https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286284738/type/280926587/release/8.10.171.0?catid=278875243 , not always applicable though when you need to remain compatible with certain access point models

 M.

[Steve Lattray]

Unfortunately I work for a large company that locks down the Workstation to only approved software. Microsoft Edge is the approved software so I am hoping to get it working with that Browser.

[Leo Laohoo]

Either use an old browser, talk to the people who manages the SOE and explain the situation or upgrade the firmware of the WLC to 8.10.X.X.

[Flavio Miranda]

Well, in this situation I just use the browser that works and lifes goes on but if you need to use Edge,  then, make sure you dont have proxy enable. Clean up all browser information, cookies, temp files, credentials and try again.

 This is not WLC fault as you are accessing with different browser.

[Steve Lattray]

Thank you for the reply. I am unable to see the proxy settings since they are blocked by our security team. I will have them check the setting for me and report back.

[Flavio Miranda]

netsh winhttp show proxy

[Haydn Andrews]

probably the reason every network admin i know, has firefox, chrome, edge, old IE and safari all available to them.
Then they have a VM with ability to install old versions of each of those browsers to make crap that hasn't been upgraded in years work

[Rich R · Accepted solution]

First off you're running an end of life release https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/8500-series-wireless-controllers/bulletin-c25-743863.html which means you're already exposed to dozens of critical security vulnerabilities - isn't security concerned about that?

Second - have you looked at the documentation for the software you're using?  That will tell you what it was actually tested with - anything else is pot luck.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/8-8/config-guide/b_cg88/initial_setup.html

"Open any one of the following supported web browsers and type http://192.168.1.1 in the address bar.

• Mozilla Firefox version 32 or later (Windows, Mac)

• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 10 or later (Windows)

• Apple Safari version 7 or later (Mac)"

Notice there's no Chrome in that list (Edge is based on Chrome).  And although it says "or later" in reality anything later can also have problems as many have found before.

So as the others have said:

1. Update your software

2. Get your company to provide the correct tools for performing your job.

We currently use Firefox 68.12.0esr which seems to work reliably for AireOS WLCs running 8.0, 8.5 & 8.10 and 9800s on 17.6