What may cause an ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error, on xampp while using session

Question

I have problem with xampp (Windows) where I have session_start(); in my file but it like drops that request...

When I try to access page with localhost/folder/index.php it works but when i try external ip/folder/index.php or 127.0.0.1/folder/index.php or [::1]/folder/index.php it just drops connection (tried multiple browsers and chrome gives ERR_CONNECTION_RESET... I am clueless and I desperately need help... It worked when I removed session_start(); from my file... When I make new file with session_start(); it still doesn't work...

Some error.log lines

[Sun Jan 10 19:33:45.805036 2016] [:error] [pid 3176:tid 1888] [client myip:50143] script 'C:/xampp/htdocs/h3x1t/i\xc2\xb4\xc2\xb4.php' not found or unable to stat
[Sun Jan 10 20:02:40.330149 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 24588:tid 552] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:02:40.373728 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 24588:tid 552] AH00354: Child: Starting 150 worker threads.
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:25.949925 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00428: Parent: child process 24588 exited with status 3221225477 -- Restarting.
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:26.568746 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:26.615700 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00455: Apache/2.4.18 (Win32) OpenSSL/1.0.2e PHP/7.0.1 configured -- resuming normal operations
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:26.615700 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC14 Server built: Dec  9 2015 10:17:39
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:26.615700 2016] [core:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00094: Command line: 'c:\\xampp\\apache\\bin\\httpd.exe -d C:/xampp/apache'
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:26.622190 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 26200
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:27.302705 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 26200:tid 560] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:27.475560 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 26200:tid 560] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:27.518770 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 26200:tid 560] AH00354: Child: Starting 150 worker threads.
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:28.693791 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00428: Parent: child process 26200 exited with status 3221225477 -- Restarting.
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:29.379751 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:29.425188 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00455: Apache/2.4.18 (Win32) OpenSSL/1.0.2e PHP/7.0.1 configured -- resuming normal operations
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:29.425188 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC14 Server built: Dec  9 2015 10:17:39
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:29.425188 2016] [core:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00094: Command line: 'c:\\xampp\\apache\\bin\\httpd.exe -d C:/xampp/apache'
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:29.430191 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 29460:tid 564] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 30668
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:30.081357 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 30668:tid 608] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:30.254197 2016] [ssl:warn] [pid 30668:tid 608] AH01909: www.example.com:443:0 server certificate does NOT include an ID which matches the server name
[Sun Jan 10 20:04:30.297173 2016] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 30668:tid 608] AH00354: Child: Starting 150 worker threads.
[Sun Jan 10 20:06:24.444492 2016] [:error] [pid 30668:tid 1896] [client ::1:60405] script 'C:/xampp/htdocs/h3x1t/contracts.php' not found or unable to stat, referer: http://localhost/h3x1t/index

Solution 1

I reinstalled xampp with older PHP Version...

Looks like culprit was PHP 7.0.0

EDIT: Found something probably linked to it https://community.apachefriends.org/viewtopic.php?p=248070&sid=0b7559defe15317f41699d1ce9194e3f

EDIT2: Found this (bitnami developers)

we have been checking the configuration of XAMPP and we found that the issue is related to the use_only_cookies variable that you can find in the Session's section of the php.ini file. Apache will crash if the use_only_cookies variable in the Session's section is set to 0 and everything is fine if it's set to 1.

http://php.net/manual/en/session.configuration.php#ini.session.use-only-cookies

We also checked that the use_strict_mode should be set to 1.

https://wiki.php.net/rfc/strict_sessions http://php.net/manual/en/session.configuration.php#ini.session.use-strict-mode

We'll include those changes in the next version of XAMPP with PHP 7. We are building the installers with the version 7.0.2 and we'll release them as soon as possible.

Solution 2

I have XAMPP with PHP7 and the same problem...

I've changed in php.ini: session.use_only_cookies from 0 to 1 and all works.

Solution 3

In my case, Windows Event Viewer showed more useful data. It pointed to VCRUNTIME140.dll constantly crashing Apache (which caused the console to show ERR_CONNECTION_RESET), so I updated libraries to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=52685 - then, it showed faulting module as php7ts.dll - so I've followed instructions from http://ibraransari.blogspot.com/2017/01/how-to-solve-apache-crash-fault-module.html and I was good to go.