Problems with CAS ticket containing ":" in your stirring

[Marcelo Dalmao]

I'm using the Apache CAS module to connect to a service. The problem I've detected is that the ticket contains ":" as part of the ticket content. Therefore, the validation is failing.

The validCasTicketFormat function checks the ticket format. The current code restricts the postfix state to alphanumeric characters (isalnum), hyphens (-), and periods (.). The colon (:) character is not allowed in that state, causing tickets with the format being generated to be considered invalid.

I'm sharing an example of the ticket:

ticket=ST-450102-gFMHJgdIpbqHWfmweZaJ-cas.01:cas.01

[Ray Bon]

Marcelo,

What is generating (application, version, etc.) the ST?

Ray

---

From: 'Marcelo Dalmao' via CAS Community <cas-...@apereo.org>
Sent: December 10, 2025 11:04
To: CAS Community <cas-...@apereo.org>
Subject: [cas-user] Problems with CAS ticket containing ":" in your stirring

 

--
- Website: https://apereo.github.io/cas
- List Guidelines: https://goo.gl/1VRrw7
- Contributions: https://goo.gl/mh7qDG
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CAS Community" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cas-user+u...@apereo.org.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/apereo.org/d/msgid/cas-user/cb316b7b-0183-40ee-b85d-d02daa7a79a2n%40apereo.org.

[Marcelo Dalmao]

I don't have the exact version of CAS that generates the ticket. The limitation is that I need to be able to validate the ticket in its current format.

The problem is that the Apache-CAS module, which is the one I need to use, isn't working due to technical limitations, because the ticket contains the ":" character.

The source code for the module I'm using is in the following repository:  https://github.com/apereo/mod_auth_cas.git

Is there a way to consume a ticket with ":", using the Apache CAS module?

[Ray Bon]

Marcelo,

My old brain seems to recall that an [very] old version of cas could add a label to the ST (such as the host that generated it).

The cas specification lists only alpha numerics and hyphen allowed in the ST [0], as you found in mod_auth_cas code.

Contact the cas operator and have them update cas or remove that configuration.

Ray

[0] https://apereo.github.io/cas/7.3.x/protocol/CAS-Protocol-Specification.html#37-ticket-and-ticket-granting-cookie-character-set

---

From: Marcelo Dalmao <mda...@sisinfo.com.uy>
Sent: December 12, 2025 03:10
To: CAS Community <cas-...@apereo.org>
Cc: Ray Bon <rb...@uvic.ca>
Subject: Re: [cas-user] Problems with CAS ticket containing ":" in your stirring

 

You don't often get email from mda...@sisinfo.com.uy. Learn why this is important