Content-Security-Policy

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since August 2016.

The HTTP Content-Security-Policy response header allows website administrators to control resources the user agent is allowed to load for a given page. With a few exceptions, policies mostly involve specifying server origins and script endpoints. This helps guard against cross-site scripting attacks.

For more information, see the introductory article on Content Security Policy (CSP).

Header type Response header
Forbidden header name no

Syntax

http
Content-Security-Policy: <policy-directive>; <policy-directive>

where <policy-directive> consists of: <directive> <value> with no internal punctuation.

Directives

Fetch directives

Fetch directives control the locations from which certain resource types may be loaded.

child-src

Defines the valid sources for web workers and nested browsing contexts loaded using elements such as <frame> and <iframe>.

Fallback for frame-src and worker-src.

connect-src

Restricts the URLs which can be loaded using script interfaces.

default-src

Serves as a fallback for the other fetch directives.

Fallback for all other fetch directives.

fenced-frame-src Experimental

Specifies valid sources for nested browsing contexts loaded into <fencedframe> elements.

font-src

Specifies valid sources for fonts loaded using @font-face.

frame-src

Specifies valid sources for nested browsing contexts loaded into elements such as <frame> and <iframe>.

img-src

Specifies valid sources of images and favicons.

manifest-src

Specifies valid sources of application manifest files.

media-src

Specifies valid sources for loading media using the <audio>, <video> and <track> elements.

object-src

Specifies valid sources for the <object> and <embed> elements.

prefetch-src Deprecated Non-standard

Specifies valid sources to be prefetched or prerendered.

script-src

Specifies valid sources for JavaScript and WebAssembly resources.

Fallback for script-src-elem and script-src-attr.

script-src-elem

Specifies valid sources for JavaScript <script> elements.

script-src-attr

Specifies valid sources for JavaScript inline event handlers.

style-src

Specifies valid sources for stylesheets.

Fallback for style-src-elem and style-src-attr.

style-src-elem

Specifies valid sources for stylesheets <style> elements and <link> elements with rel="stylesheet".

style-src-attr

Specifies valid sources for inline styles applied to individual DOM elements.

worker-src

Specifies valid sources for Worker, SharedWorker, or ServiceWorker scripts.

All fetch directives may be specified the single value 'none', indicating that the specific resource type should be completely blocked, or as one or more source expression values, indicating valid sources for that resource type. See Fetch directive syntax for more details.

Fallbacks

Some fetch directives function as fallbacks for other more granular directives. This means that if the more granular directive is not specified, then the fallback is used to provide a policy for that resource type.

  • default-src is a fallback for all other fetch directives.
  • script-src is a fallback for script-src-attr and script-src-elem.
  • style-src is a fallback for style-src-attr and style-src-elem.
  • child-src is a fallback for frame-src and worker-src.

For example:

  • If img-src is omitted but default-src is included, then the policy defined by default-src will be applied to images.
  • If script-src-elem is omitted but script-src is included, then the policy defined by script-src will be applied to <script> elements.
  • If script-src-elem and script-src are both omitted, but default-src is included, then the policy defined by default-src will be applied to <script> elements.

Document directives

Document directives govern the properties of a document or worker environment to which a policy applies.

base-uri

Restricts the URLs which can be used in a document's <base> element.

sandbox

Enables a sandbox for the requested resource similar to the <iframe> sandbox attribute.

Navigation directives govern to which locations a user can navigate or submit a form, for example.

form-action

Restricts the URLs which can be used as the target of a form submissions from a given context.

frame-ancestors

Specifies valid parents that may embed a page using <frame>, <iframe>, <object>, or <embed>.

Reporting directives

Reporting directives control the destination URL for CSP violation reports in Content-Security-Policy and Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only.

report-to

Provides the browser with a token identifying the reporting endpoint or group of endpoints to send CSP violation information to. The endpoints that the token represents are provided through other HTTP headers, such as Reporting-Endpoints and Report-To Deprecated .

Warning: This directive is intended to replace report-uri; in browsers that support report-to, the report-uri directive is ignored. However until report-to is broadly supported you should specify both headers as shown (where endpoint_name is the name of a separately provided endpoint):

http
Content-Security-Policy: …; report-uri https://endpoint.example.com; report-to endpoint_name

Other directives

require-trusted-types-for Experimental

Enforces Trusted Types at the DOM XSS injection sinks.

trusted-types Experimental

Used to specify an allowlist of Trusted Types policies. Trusted Types allows applications to lock down DOM XSS injection sinks to only accept non-spoofable, typed values in place of strings.

upgrade-insecure-requests

Instructs user agents to treat all of a site's insecure URLs (those served over HTTP) as though they have been replaced with secure URLs (those served over HTTPS). This directive is intended for websites with large numbers of insecure legacy URLs that need to be rewritten.

Deprecated directives

block-all-mixed-content Deprecated

Prevents loading any assets using HTTP when the page is loaded using HTTPS.

report-uri Deprecated

Provides the browser with a URL where CSP violation reports should be sent. This has been superseded by the report-to directive.

Fetch directive syntax

All fetch directives may be specified as one of the following:

  • the single value 'none', indicating that the specific resource type should be completely blocked
  • one or more source expression values, indicating valid sources for that resource type.

Each source expression takes one of the forms listed below. Note that not all forms are applicable to all fetch directives: see the documentation for each fetch directive to find out which forms are applicable to it.

The <host-source> and <scheme-source> formats must be unquoted, and all other formats must be enclosed in single quotes.

'nonce-<nonce_value>'

This value consists of the string nonce- followed by a base64-encoded string. This string is a random value that the server generates for every HTTP response. For example:

'nonce-416d1177-4d12-4e3b-b7c9-f6c409789fb8'

The server can then include the same value as the value of the nonce attribute of any <script> or <style> resources that they intend to load from the document.

The browser compares the value from the CSP directive against the value in the element attribute, and loads the resource only if they match.

If a directive contains a nonce and unsafe-inline, then the browser ignores unsafe-inline.

See Nonces in the CSP guide for more usage information.

Note: Nonce source expressions are only applicable to <script> and <style> elements.

'<hash_algorithm>-<hash_value>'

This value consists of a string identifying a hash algorithm, followed by -, followed by a base64-encoded string representing the hash value.

  • The hash algorithm identifier must be one of sha256, sha384, or sha512.
  • The hash value is the base64-encoded hash of a <script> or <style> resource, calculated using one of the following hash functions: SHA-256, SHA-384, or SHA-512.

For example:

'sha256-cd9827ad...'

When the browser receives the document, it hashes the contents of any <script> and <style> elements, compares the result with any hashes in the CSP directive, and loads the resource only if there is a match.

If the element loads an external resource (for example, using the src attribute), then the element must also have the integrity attribute set.

If a directive contains a hash and unsafe-inline, then the browser ignores unsafe-inline.

See Hashes in the CSP guide for more usage information.

Note: Hash source expressions are only applicable to <script> and <style> elements.

<host-source>

The URL or IP address of a host that is a valid source for the resource.

The scheme, port number, and path are optional.

If the scheme is omitted, the scheme of the document's origin is used.

When matching schemes, secure upgrades are allowed. For example:

  • http://example.com will also permit resources from https://example.com
  • ws://example.org will also permit resources from wss://example.org.

Wildcards ('*') can be used for subdomains, host address, and port number, indicating that all legal values of each are valid. For example:

  • http://*.example.com permits resources from any subdomain of example.com, over HTTP or HTTPS.

Paths that end in / match any path they are a prefix of. For example:

  • example.com/api/ will permit resources from example.com/api/users/new.

Paths that do not end in / are matched exactly. For example:

  • https://example.com/file.js permits resources from https://example.com/file.js but not https://example.com/file.js/file2.js.

<scheme-source>

A scheme, such as https:. The colon is required.

Secure upgrades are allowed, so:

  • http: will also permit resources loaded using HTTPS
  • ws: will also permit resources loaded using WSS.

'self'

Resources of the given type may only be loaded from the same origin as the document.

Secure upgrades are allowed. For example:

  • If the document is served from http://example.com, then a CSP of 'self' will also permit resources from https://example.com.
  • If the document is served from ws://example.org, then a CSP of 'self' will also permit resources from wss://example.org.

'unsafe-eval'

By default, if a CSP contains a default-src or a script-src directive, then JavaScript functions which evaluate their arguments as JavaScript are disabled. This includes eval(), the code argument to setTimeout(), or the Function() constructor.

The unsafe-eval keyword can be used to undo this protection, allowing dynamic evaluation of strings as JavaScript.

Warning: Developers should avoid 'unsafe-eval', because it defeats much of the purpose of having a CSP.

See eval() and similar APIs in the CSP guide for more usage information.

'wasm-unsafe-eval'

By default, if a CSP contains a default-src or a script-src directive, then a page won't be allowed to compile WebAssembly using functions like WebAssembly.compileStreaming().

The wasm-unsafe-eval keyword can be used to undo this protection. This is a much safer alternative to 'unsafe-eval', since it does not enable general evaluation of JavaScript.

'unsafe-inline'

By default, if a CSP contains a default-src or a script-src directive, then inline JavaScript is not allowed to execute. This includes:

  • inline <script> tags
  • inline event handler attributes
  • javascript: URLs.

Similarly, if a CSP contains default-src or a style-src directive, then inline CSS will not be loaded, including:

  • inline <style> tags
  • style attributes.

The unsafe-inline keyword can be used to undo this protection, allowing all these forms to be loaded.

Warning: Developers should avoid 'unsafe-inline', because it defeats much of the purpose of having a CSP.

See Inline JavaScript in the CSP guide for more usage information.

'unsafe-hashes'

By default, if a CSP contains a default-src or a script-src directive, then inline event handler attributes like onclick and inline style attributes are not allowed to execute.

The 'unsafe-hashes' expression allows the browser to use hash expressions for inline event handlers and style attributes. For example, a CSP might contain a directive like this:

http
script-src 'unsafe-hashes' 'sha256-cd9827ad...'

If the hash value matches the hash of an inline event handler attribute value or of a style attribute value, then the code will be allowed to execute.

Warning: The 'unsafe-hashes' value is unsafe.

In particular, it enables an attack in which the content of the inline event handler attribute is injected into the document as an inline <script> element. Suppose the inline event handler is:

html
<button onclick="transferAllMyMoney()">Transfer all my money</button>

If an attacker can inject an inline <script> element containing this code, the CSP will allow it to execute automatically.

However, 'unsafe-hashes' is much safer than 'unsafe-inline'.

'inline-speculation-rules'

By default, if a CSP contains a default-src or a script-src directive, then inline JavaScript is not allowed to execute. The 'inline-speculation-rules' allows the browser to load inline <script> elements that have a type attribute of speculationrules.

See the Speculation Rules API for more information.

'strict-dynamic'

The 'strict-dynamic' keyword makes the trust conferred on a script by a nonce or a hash extend to scripts that this script dynamically loads, for example by creating new <script> tags using Document.createElement() and then inserting them into the document using Node.appendChild().

If this keyword is present in a directive, then the following source expression values are all ignored:

See The strict-dynamic keyword in the CSP guide for more usage information.

'report-sample'

If this expression is included in a directive controlling scripts or styles, and the directive causes the browser to block any inline scripts, inline styles, or event handler attributes, then the violation report that the browser generates will contain a sample property containing the first 40 characters of the blocked resource.

CSP in workers

Workers are in general not governed by the content security policy of the document (or parent worker) that created them. To specify a content security policy for the worker, set a Content-Security-Policy response header for the request which requested the worker script itself.

The exception to this is if the worker script's origin is a globally unique identifier (for example, if its URL has a scheme of data or blob). In this case, the worker does inherit the content security policy of the document or worker that created it.

Multiple content security policies

The CSP mechanism allows multiple policies being specified for a resource, including via the Content-Security-Policy header, the Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only header and a <meta> element.

You can use the Content-Security-Policy header more than once, as in the example below. Pay special attention to the connect-src directive here. Even though the second policy would allow the connection, the first policy contains connect-src 'none'. Adding additional policies can only further restrict the capabilities of the protected resource, which means that there will be no connection allowed and, as the strictest policy, connect-src 'none' is enforced.

http
Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self' http://example.com;
                          connect-src 'none';
Content-Security-Policy: connect-src http://example.com/;
                          script-src http://example.com/

Examples

Disable unsafe inline code and only allow HTTPS resources

This HTTP header sets the default policy to only allow resource loading (images, fonts, scripts, etc.) over HTTPS. Because the unsafe-inline and unsafe-eval directives are not set, inline scripts will be blocked.

http
Content-Security-Policy: default-src https:

The same restrictions can be applied using the HTML <meta> element.

html
<meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="default-src https:" />

Allow inline code and HTTPS resources, but disable plugins

This policy could be used on a pre-existing site that uses too much inline code to fix, to ensure resources are loaded only over HTTPS and disable plugins:

http
Content-Security-Policy: default-src https: 'unsafe-eval' 'unsafe-inline'; object-src 'none'

Report but don't enforce violations when testing

This example sets the same restrictions as the previous example, but using the Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only header and the report-to directive. This approach is used during testing to report violations but not block code from executing.

Endpoints (URLs) to send reports to are defined using the Reporting-Endpoints HTTP response header.

http
Reporting-Endpoints: csp-endpoint="https://example.com/csp-reports"

A particular endpoint is then selected as the report target in the CSP policy using the report-to directive.

http
Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only: default-src https:; report-uri /csp-violation-report-url/; report-to csp-endpoint

Note that the report-uri Deprecated directive is also specified above because report-to is not yet broadly supported by browsers.

See Content Security Policy (CSP) implementation for more examples.

Specifications

Specification
Content Security Policy Level 3
# csp-header

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also