HttpContext.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated throwing System.NullReferenceException

Question

Why is HttpContext.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated throwing System.NullReferenceException in the base controller from where my all other controllers are inheriting from.

I think the HttpContext is not ready inside the constructor of my base controller.

This is the code:

public abstract class BasicController : Controller
  {
    private IUserProfileRepository _userProfileRepository;

    protected BasicController()
            : this(new UserProfileRepository())
        {}


    protected BasicController(IUserProfileRepository userProfileRepository)
    {
      _userProfileRepository = userProfileRepository;
      if (HttpContext.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
      {
        var user = _userProfileRepository.Getuser(HttpContext.User.Identity.Name);
        ViewData["currentlyLoggedInUser"] = user;
      }
      else
      {
        ViewData["currentlyLoggedInUser"] = null;
      }
    }

HttpContext was not ready in the base controller constructor. So this is what I did, now its working fine:

public abstract class BasicController : Controller
  {
    private IUserProfileRepository _userProfileRepository;

    protected BasicController()
            : this(new UserProfileRepository())
        {}


    protected BasicController(IUserProfileRepository userProfileRepository)
    {
      _userProfileRepository = userProfileRepository;
    }

    protected override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
    {
      if (filterContext.HttpContext.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
      {
        var user = _userProfileRepository.Getuser(filterContext.HttpContext.User.Identity.Name);
        filterContext.Controller.ViewData["currentlyLoggedInUser"] = user;
      }
      else
      {
        filterContext.Controller.ViewData["currentlyLoggedInUser"] = null;
      }
    }

  }

Answer 1

Because HttpContext.User has not been set by any authentication module. Are you requiring authenticated users for this site? Did you disable the DefaultAuthenticationModule? Or perhaps the controller instance is created before the AuthenticateRequest event of HttpApplication is fired?