This version is still in development and is not considered stable yet. For the latest stable version, please use Spring Security 6.4.1!

Security HTTP Response Headers

Security HTTP Response Headers can be used to increase the security of web applications. This section is dedicated to WebFlux based support for Security HTTP Response Headers.

Default Security Headers

Spring Security provides a default set of Security HTTP Response Headers to provide secure defaults. While each of these headers are considered best practice, it should be noted that not all clients utilize the headers, so additional testing is encouraged.

You can customize specific headers. For example, assume that you want the defaults except you wish to specify SAMEORIGIN for X-Frame-Options.

You can easily do this with the following Configuration:

Customize Default Security Headers

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.frameOptions(frameOptions -> frameOptions
				.mode(Mode.SAMEORIGIN)
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            frameOptions {
                mode = Mode.SAMEORIGIN
            }
        }
    }
}

If you do not want the defaults to be added and want explicit control over what should be used, you can disable the defaults. An example is provided below:

Disable HTTP Security Response Headers

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers.disable());
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            disable()
        }
    }
}

Cache Control

Spring Security includes Cache Control headers by default.

However, if you actually want to cache specific responses, your application can selectively add them to the ServerHttpResponse to override the header set by Spring Security. This is useful to ensure things like CSS, JavaScript, and images are properly cached.

When using Spring WebFlux, this is typically done within your configuration. Details on how to do this can be found in the Static Resources portion of the Spring Reference documentation

If necessary, you can also disable Spring Security’s cache control HTTP response headers.

Cache Control Disabled

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.cache(cache -> cache.disable())
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            cache {
                disable()
            }
        }
    }
}

Content Type Options

Spring Security includes Content-Type headers by default. However, you can disable it with:

Content Type Options Disabled

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.contentTypeOptions(contentTypeOptions -> contentTypeOptions.disable())
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            contentTypeOptions {
                disable()
            }
        }
    }
}

HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

Spring Security provides the Strict Transport Security header by default. However, you can customize the results explicitly. For example, the following is an example of explicitly providing HSTS:

Strict Transport Security

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.hsts(hsts -> hsts
				.includeSubdomains(true)
				.preload(true)
				.maxAge(Duration.ofDays(365))
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            hsts {
                includeSubdomains = true
                preload = true
                maxAge = Duration.ofDays(365)
            }
        }
    }
}

X-Frame-Options

By default, Spring Security disables rendering within an iframe using X-Frame-Options.

You can customize frame options to use the same origin using the following:

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.frameOptions(frameOptions -> frameOptions
				.mode(SAMEORIGIN)
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            frameOptions {
                mode = SAMEORIGIN
            }
        }
    }
}

X-XSS-Protection

By default, Spring Security instructs browsers to block reflected XSS attacks using the <<headers-xss-protection,X-XSS-Protection header>. You can disable X-XSS-Protection with the following Configuration:

X-XSS-Protection Customization

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.xssProtection(xssProtection -> xssProtection.disable())
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            xssProtection {
                disable()
            }
        }
    }
}

Content Security Policy (CSP)

Spring Security does not add Content Security Policy by default, because a reasonable default is impossible to know without context of the application. The web application author must declare the security policy(s) to enforce and/or monitor for the protected resources.

For example, given the following security policy:

Content Security Policy Example

Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self' https://trustedscripts.example.com; object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/

You can enable the CSP header as shown below:

Content Security Policy

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.contentSecurityPolicy(policy -> policy
				.policyDirectives("script-src 'self' https://trustedscripts.example.com; object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/")
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            contentSecurityPolicy {
                policyDirectives = "script-src 'self' https://trustedscripts.example.com; object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/"
            }
        }
    }
}

To enable the CSP report-only header, provide the following configuration:

Content Security Policy Report Only

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.contentSecurityPolicy(policy -> policy
				.policyDirectives("script-src 'self' https://trustedscripts.example.com; object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/")
				.reportOnly()
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            contentSecurityPolicy {
                policyDirectives = "script-src 'self' https://trustedscripts.example.com; object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/"
                reportOnly = true
            }
        }
    }
}

Referrer Policy

Spring Security does not add Referrer Policy headers by default. You can enable the Referrer Policy header using configuration as shown below:

Referrer Policy Configuration

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.referrerPolicy(referrer -> referrer
				.policy(ReferrerPolicy.SAME_ORIGIN)
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            referrerPolicy {
                policy = ReferrerPolicy.SAME_ORIGIN
            }
        }
    }
}

Feature Policy

Spring Security does not add Feature Policy headers by default. The following Feature-Policy header:

Feature-Policy Example

Feature-Policy: geolocation 'self'

You can enable the Feature Policy header as shown below:

Feature-Policy Configuration

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.featurePolicy("geolocation 'self'")
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            featurePolicy("geolocation 'self'")
        }
    }
}

Permissions Policy

Spring Security does not add Permissions Policy headers by default. The following Permissions-Policy header:

Permissions-Policy Example

Permissions-Policy: geolocation=(self)

You can enable the Permissions Policy header as shown below:

Permissions-Policy Configuration

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	http
		// ...
		.headers(headers -> headers
			.permissionsPolicy(permissions -> permissions
				.policy("geolocation=(self)")
			)
		);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    return http {
        // ...
        headers {
            permissionsPolicy {
                policy = "geolocation=(self)"
            }
        }
    }
}

Clear Site Data

Spring Security does not add Clear-Site-Data headers by default. The following Clear-Site-Data header:

Clear-Site-Data Example

Clear-Site-Data: "cache", "cookies"

can be sent on log out with the following configuration:

Clear-Site-Data Configuration

Java
Kotlin

@Bean
SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) {
	ServerLogoutHandler securityContext = new SecurityContextServerLogoutHandler();
	ClearSiteDataServerHttpHeadersWriter writer = new ClearSiteDataServerHttpHeadersWriter(CACHE, COOKIES);
	ServerLogoutHandler clearSiteData = new HeaderWriterServerLogoutHandler(writer);
	DelegatingServerLogoutHandler logoutHandler = new DelegatingServerLogoutHandler(securityContext, clearSiteData);

	http
		// ...
		.logout()
			.logoutHandler(logoutHandler);
	return http.build();
}

@Bean
fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain {
    val securityContext: ServerLogoutHandler = SecurityContextServerLogoutHandler()
    val writer = ClearSiteDataServerHttpHeadersWriter(CACHE, COOKIES)
    val clearSiteData: ServerLogoutHandler = HeaderWriterServerLogoutHandler(writer)
    val customLogoutHandler = DelegatingServerLogoutHandler(securityContext, clearSiteData)

    return http {
        // ...
        logout {
            logoutHandler = customLogoutHandler
        }
    }
}