---
title: "Internal server error when logging in with Google OIDC"
slug: "internal-server-error-when-logging-in-with-google-oidc"
updated: 2026-05-06T19:46:15Z
published: 2026-05-06T19:46:15Z
canonical: "help.hyperscience.ai/internal-server-error-when-logging-in-with-google-oidc"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.hyperscience.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Internal server error when logging in with Google OIDC

## Issue

Sometimes, a user authenticating with Google OIDC sees a 500 error message when logging in to the application.

![ServerError500.png](https://cdn.us.document360.io/87894cef-4958-4f3f-be6f-b75a78c82548/Images/Documentation/7335878425997.png)

An example error appears below, which is logged in the *gunicorn* container logs.

```plaintext
[2022-05-16 12:46:41.640 | INFO | hs.oidc:184 | 3c029b56-d516-11ec-b1e9-12fd3d8d8023 : 

AnonymousUser : GET : /oidc/callback/ : 127.0.0.1 : 0.195684] constructred username: firstname.lastname@example.com

[2022-05-16 12:46:41.649 | INFO | hs.oidc:52 | 3c029b56-d516-11ec-b1e9-12fd3d8d8023 : 

AnonymousUser : GET : /oidc/callback/ : 127.0.0.1 : 0.205099] Creating google svc object with credential file 

/etc/nginx/certs/hyperscience-343015-2969910942f8.json and user welcome@example.com

[2022-05-16 12:46:41.651 | ERROR | common.signals:75 | 3c029b56-d516-11ec-b1e9-12fd3d8d8023 : 

AnonymousUser : GET : /oidc/callback/ : 127.0.0.1 : 0.207201] Request failed. Handled by None.

[2022-05-16 12:46:41.660 | ERROR | MainThread | django.request:230] Internal Server Error: /oidc/callback/

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/exception.py\", line 47, in inner

    response = get_response(request)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py\", line 181, in _get_response

    response = wrapped_callback(request, *callback_args, **callback_kwargs)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/views/generic/base.py\", line 70, in view

    return self.dispatch(request, *args, **kwargs)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/views/generic/base.py\", line 98, in dispatch

    return handler(request, *args, **kwargs)

  File \"/var/www/forms/forms/user_profile/openid.py\", line 316, in get

    return super(OIDCAuthenticationCallbackView, self).get(request)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/mozilla_django_oidc/views.py\", line 101, in get

    self.user = auth.authenticate(**kwargs)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/views/decorators/debug.py\", line 42, in sensitive_variables_wrapper

    return func(*func_args, **func_kwargs)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/__init__.py\", line 76, in authenticate

    user = backend.authenticate(request, **credentials)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/mozilla_django_oidc/auth.py\", line 289, in authenticate

    return self.get_or_create_user(access_token, id_token, payload)

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/mozilla_django_oidc/auth.py\", line 328, in get_or_create_user

    user = self.create_user(user_info)

  File \"/var/www/forms/forms/user_profile/openid.py\", line 200, in create_user

    return self._sync_user(user, claims)

  File \"/var/www/forms/forms/user_profile/openid.py\", line 156, in _sync_user

    group_names = get_google_groups(user.username)

  File \"/var/www/forms/forms/user_profile/openid.py\", line 72, in get_google_groups

    google_directory = get_google_directory_service_object()

  File \"/var/www/forms/forms/user_profile/openid.py\", line 57, in get_google_directory_service_object

    subject=user_email,

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/google/oauth2/service_account.py\", line 226, in from_service_account_file

    filename, require=[\"client_email\", \"token_uri\"]

  File \"/var/www/venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/google/auth/_service_account_info.py\", line 73, in from_filename

    data = json.load(json_file)

  File \"/opt/hs/python/lib/python3.7/json/__init__.py\", line 296, in load

    parse_constant=parse_constant, object_pairs_hook=object_pairs_hook, **kw)

  File \"/opt/hs/python/lib/python3.7/json/__init__.py\", line 348, in loads

    return _default_decoder.decode(s)

  File \"/opt/hs/python/lib/python3.7/json/decoder.py\", line 337, in decode

    obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())

  File \"/opt/hs/python/lib/python3.7/json/decoder.py\", line 353, in raw_decode

    obj, end = self.scan_once(s, idx)

json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Invalid control character at: line 5 column 205 (char 338)
```

## Affected versions

All versions

## Affected configurations

All configurations with Google OIDC authentication

## Causes

The JSON decoder cannot decode the JSON object. In most cases, this issue is due to the JSON not being in a valid format.

## Solution / Workaround

Validate the JSON’s formatting and fix the error.

To learn more about configuring Google OIDC, see “External Authentication Providers” for your version of Hyperscience ( [v38](/v38/docs/external-authentication-providers) | [v39](/v39/docs/external-authentication-providers) | [v40](/v40/docs/external-authentication-providers) | [v41](/v41/docs/external-authentication-providers) | [v42](/v42/docs/external-authentication-providers) | [v43](/v43/docs/external-authentication-providers) ).