NULL reference exception while reading user sessions (Reflection)

Question

I have implemented the code for reading the active sessions using the reference Reading All Users Session and Get a list of all active sessions in ASP.NET.

Private List<String> getOnlineUsers()
{
    List<String> activeSessions = new List<String>();
    object obj = typeof(HttpRuntime).GetProperty("CacheInternal", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static).GetValue(null, null);
    object[] obj2 = (object[])obj.GetType().GetField("_caches", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(obj);
    for (int i = 0; i < obj2.Length; i++)
    {
        Hashtable c2 = (Hashtable)obj2[i].GetType().GetField("_entries", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(obj2[i]);
        foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in c2)
        {
            object o1 = entry.Value.GetType().GetProperty("Value", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(entry.Value, null);
            if (o1.GetType().ToString() == "System.Web.SessionState.InProcSessionState")
            {
                SessionStateItemCollection sess = (SessionStateItemCollection)o1.GetType().GetField("_sessionItems", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(o1);
                if (sess != null)
                {
                    if (sess["loggedInUserId"] != null)
                    {
                        activeSessions.Add(sess["loggedInUserId"].ToString());
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    return activeSessions;
}

It is working fine in local system (in windows XP and Windows 7). While I hosted the application in Windows server 2003 (IIS version 6), it gives an NULL object reference error in the line

object[] obj2 = (object[])obj.GetType().GetField("_caches", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(obj);

Is this anything related to the permission issue or trust level settings related to IIS? Please let know anyone came across such an issue. Any help is highly appreciable.

Answer 1

I've tried Paully's solution, which didn't compile in some points and lead to runtime errors in others. Anyway, inspired on his suggestion (thanks a lot! My vote goes for that), I came to my own, which compiles and gets me the expected data.

Also, I'm returning a IEnumerable and I'm using "yield return", which makes it more performatic for big lists (kind of lazy loading of data). Here it goes:

public static System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<SessionStateItemCollection> GetAllUserSessions()
{
    List<Hashtable> hTables = new List<Hashtable>();
    object obj = typeof(HttpRuntime).GetProperty("CacheInternal", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static).GetValue(null, null);
    dynamic fieldInfo = obj.GetType().GetField("_caches", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);

    //If server uses "_caches" to store session info
    if (fieldInfo != null)
    {
        object[] _caches = (object[])fieldInfo.GetValue(obj);
        for (int i = 0; i <= _caches.Length - 1; i++)
        {
            Hashtable hTable = (Hashtable)_caches[i].GetType().GetField("_entries", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(_caches[i]);
            hTables.Add(hTable);
        }
    }
    //If server uses "_cachesRefs" to store session info
    else
    {
        fieldInfo = obj.GetType().GetField("_cachesRefs", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
        object[] cacheRefs = fieldInfo.GetValue(obj);
        for (int i = 0; i <= cacheRefs.Length - 1; i++)
        {
            var target = cacheRefs[i].GetType().GetProperty("Target").GetValue(cacheRefs[i], null);
            Hashtable hTable = (Hashtable)target.GetType().GetField("_entries", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(target);
            hTables.Add(hTable);
        }
    }

    foreach (Hashtable hTable in hTables)
    {
        foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in hTable)
        {
            object o1 = entry.Value.GetType().GetProperty("Value", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(entry.Value, null);
            if (o1.GetType().ToString() == "System.Web.SessionState.InProcSessionState")
            {
                SessionStateItemCollection sess = (SessionStateItemCollection)o1.GetType().GetField("_sessionItems", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(o1);
                if (sess != null)
                     yield return sess;
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

Try using this, _cachesRefs if _caches is NULL. The function below will return all user sessions collections for all multiple versions of Windows and including Windows Server.

It works.

public List<SessionStateItemCollection> GetAllUserSessions() {

List<Hashtable> hTables = new List<Hashtable>();

PropertyInfo propInfo = typeof(HttpRuntime).GetProperty("CacheInternal", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static);

object CacheInternal = propInfo.GetValue(null, null);

dynamic fieldInfo = CacheInternal.GetType().GetField("_caches", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);

if (fieldInfo != null) {
    object[] _caches = (object[])fieldInfo.GetValue(CacheInternal);
    for (int i = 0; i <= _caches.Length - 1; i++) {
        Hashtable hTable = (Hashtable)_caches(i).GetType().GetField("_entries", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(_caches(i));
        hTables.Add(hTable);
    }
} else {
    fieldInfo = CacheInternal.GetType().GetField("_cachesRefs", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
    dynamic cacheRefs = fieldInfo.GetValue(CacheInternal);
    foreach (void cacheRef_loopVariable in cacheRefs) {
        cacheRef = cacheRef_loopVariable;
        dynamic target = cacheRef.Target;
        fieldInfo = target.GetType().GetField("_entries", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
        Hashtable hTable = fieldInfo.GetValue(target);
        hTables.Add(hTable);
    }
}

List<SessionStateItemCollection> sessionlist = new List<SessionStateItemCollection>();

foreach (void hTable_loopVariable in hTables) {
    hTable = hTable_loopVariable;
    foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in hTable) {
        object value = entry.Value.GetType().GetProperty("Value", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(entry.Value, null);
        if (value.GetType().ToString() == "System.Web.SessionState.InProcSessionState") {
            SessionStateItemCollection sCollection = (SessionStateItemCollection)value.GetType().GetField("_sessionItems", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance).GetValue(value);
            if (sCollection != null)
                sessionlist.Add(sCollection);
        }
    }
}

return sessionlist;

}