[Meeting SDK Web 6.1.0] Error 4017 occurs even though the OBF-authorized user is in the meeting

Meeting SDK Web
1

Hello Zoom Developer Support Team,

We are experiencing an intermittent issue where our Zoom Meeting SDK Web application cannot join a meeting using an On-Behalf Token (OBF token), even though the user associated with the token is already participating in the meeting.

Environment

  • SDK: Zoom Meeting SDK for Web

  • SDK version: 6.1.0

  • Authentication method: OBF token

  • Error code: 4017

Error message

Cannot join this meeting (error 4017: authorized user not in meeting), waiting for user to join

This error normally indicates that the user associated with the OBF token is not currently in the meeting.

However, in the affected meeting, the OBF-authorized user had already joined the meeting through the Zoom desktop application.

User environment

In the affected case, the user was signed in to Zoom with two different accounts on the same device:

  • Zoom desktop application: Account A

  • Zoom web browser: Account B

The OBF token was generated for Account A, and Account A joined the meeting through the desktop application.

However, the Meeting SDK application still received error 4017.

Participant data discrepancy

After the meeting, we checked the participant and user information using the following APIs:

GET /v2/past_meetings/{meetingId}/participants
GET /v2/users/{userId}

The participant response contained the user ID associated with Account A, but the participant name and email address appeared to belong to Account B.

For example:

// GET /v2/past_meetings/{meetingId}/participants
{
  "id": "USER_ID_A",
  "name": "Account B name",
  "user_email": "account-b@example.com",
  "status": "in_meeting"
}


// GET /v2/users/{userId}
{
  "id": "USER_ID_A",
  "display_name": "Account A name",
  "email": "account-a@example.com"
}

In other words:

  • The participant id corresponded to Account A.

  • The participant name and email address corresponded to Account B.

  • The OBF token was generated for Account A.

  • Account A was participating in the meeting.

  • The Meeting SDK nevertheless determined that the authorized user was not in the meeting.

This appears to suggest that the participant identity recognized by Zoom may become inconsistent when different Zoom accounts are simultaneously signed in to the desktop application and browser.

Temporary workaround

We have observed that signing out of one of the Zoom accounts may prevent the issue.

However, we have not yet confirmed whether this is the officially recommended workaround or whether it fully prevents the problem in all cases.

Questions

Could you please help clarify the following?

  1. Is this a known issue involving OBF tokens, participant identity resolution, or error 4017?

  2. Can simultaneous sign-in with different Zoom accounts in the desktop application and browser cause the participant identity to be resolved incorrectly?

  3. Is the OBF authorization check based on the participant user ID, email address, active session, or another internal identifier?

  4. Is signing out of the second Zoom account the recommended workaround?

  5. Has this issue been fixed in a newer Meeting SDK version?

  6. Are there any logs or additional information we can provide to help investigate this issue?

We previously contacted Zoom Technical Support, but the case was closed as a developer configuration-related issue and we were advised to ask in the Developer Forum.

Thank you for your assistance.

2

If needed, we can provide the affected meeting ID and the relevant API responses via direct message.

3

Thanks,

Error 4017 (Authorized user not in meeting) is returned by the Zoom server, not generated by the Meeting SDK. The SDK only displays what the server reports. The OBF authorization check verifies the full identity of the authorized user (user ID and email/session), not just the user ID.

In your case, having two different Zoom accounts signed in on the same device (Account A in the desktop app, Account B in the browser) caused the participant’s identity to be resolved incorrectly on the server side. This is exactly why your API data shows a mismatch:

participant.id = USER_ID_A (matches the OBF token)
participant.name = Account B name
participant.email = account-b@example.com ← contaminated by Account B

Because the participant’s email/identity in the meeting was mixed with Account B, the OBF check could not confirm that Account A was present, and returned 4017.

it’s better you can send affected meeting ID and the relevant API responses to me.

4

@JackYang

Thank you for the detailed explanation. That clarifies why the OBF authorization check returned error 4017 despite the user ID matching.

I would be happy to provide the affected meeting ID and the relevant API responses. However, I’m unable to initiate a direct message from my side. Could you please send me a DM first? Once I receive it, I will share the details with you there.