You can use Security HTTP Response Headers to increase the security of web applications. This section is dedicated to WebFlux-based support for Security HTTP Response 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 use the headers, so additional testing is encouraged.
You can customize specific headers.
For example, assume that you want the defaults but you wish to specify SAMEORIGIN
for X-Frame-Options
.
You can do so with the following configuration:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .frameOptions(frameOptions -> frameOptions .mode(Mode.SAMEORIGIN) ) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@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:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers.disable()); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { disable() } } }
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 that such things as CSS, JavaScript, and images are properly cached.
When using Spring WebFlux, you typically do so within your configuration. You can find details on how to do so in the Static Resources portion of the Spring Reference documentation.
If necessary, you can also disable Spring Security’s cache control HTTP response headers.
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .cache(cache -> cache.disable()) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { cache { disable() } } } }
By default, Spring Security includes Content-Type headers. However, you can disable it:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .contentTypeOptions(contentTypeOptions -> contentTypeOptions.disable()) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { contentTypeOptions { disable() } } } }
By default, Spring Security provides the Strict Transport Security header. However, you can customize the results explicitly. For example, the following example explicitly provides HSTS:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .hsts(hsts -> hsts .includeSubdomains(true) .preload(true) .maxAge(Duration.ofDays(365)) ) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { hsts { includeSubdomains = true preload = true maxAge = Duration.ofDays(365) } } } }
By default, Spring Security disables rendering within an iframe by using X-Frame-Options
.
You can customize frame options to use the same origin:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .frameOptions(frameOptions -> frameOptions .mode(SAMEORIGIN) ) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { frameOptions { mode = SAMEORIGIN } } } }
By default, Spring Security instructs browsers to disable the XSS Auditor by using <<headers-xss-protection,X-XSS-Protection header>.
You can disable the X-XSS-Protection
header entirely:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .xssProtection(xssProtection -> xssProtection.disable()) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { xssProtection { disable() } } } }
You can also change the header value:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .xssProtection(xssProtection -> xssProtection.headerValue(XXssProtectionServerHttpHeadersWriter.HeaderValue.ENABLED_MODE_BLOCK)) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { xssProtection { headerValue = XXssProtectionServerHttpHeadersWriter.HeaderValue.ENABLED_MODE_BLOCK } } } }
By default, Spring Security does not add Content Security Policy, because a reasonable default is impossible to know without the context of the application. The web application author must declare the security policies to enforce and/or monitor for the protected resources.
For example, consider the following security policy:
Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self' https://trustedscripts.example.com; object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/
Given the preceding policy, you can enable the CSP header:
- Java
-
@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(); }
- Kotlin
-
@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:
- Java
-
@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(); }
- Kotlin
-
@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 } } } }
Spring Security adds the Referrer Policy header by default with the directive no-referrer
.
You can change the Referrer Policy header using configuration as shown below:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .referrerPolicy(referrer -> referrer .policy(ReferrerPolicy.SAME_ORIGIN) ) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { referrerPolicy { policy = ReferrerPolicy.SAME_ORIGIN } } } }
By default, Spring Security does not add Feature Policy headers.
Consider the following Feature-Policy
header:
Feature-Policy: geolocation 'self'
You can enable the preceding Feature Policy header:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .featurePolicy("geolocation 'self'") ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { featurePolicy("geolocation 'self'") } } }
By default, Spring Security does not add Permissions Policy headers.
Consider the following Permissions-Policy
header:
Permissions-Policy: geolocation=(self)
You can enable the preceding Permissions Policy header:
- Java
-
@Bean SecurityWebFilterChain springSecurityFilterChain(ServerHttpSecurity http) { http // ... .headers(headers -> headers .permissionsPolicy(permissions -> permissions .policy("geolocation=(self)") ) ); return http.build(); }
- Kotlin
-
@Bean fun webFilterChain(http: ServerHttpSecurity): SecurityWebFilterChain { return http { // ... headers { permissionsPolicy { policy = "geolocation=(self)" } } } }
By default, Spring Security does not add Clear-Site-Data headers.
Consider the following Clear-Site-Data
header:
Clear-Site-Data: "cache", "cookies"
You can send the Clear-Site-Data
header on logout:
- Java
-
@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(); }
- Kotlin
-
@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 } } }