Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) is a security feature implemented in web browsers that allows web servers to specify which origins (domains) are permitted to access the resources on a web page.
Here's how it works:
- Origin: An origin is a combination of protocol (like HTTP), domain, and port (if specified). For instance,
https://www.example.com
is an origin. - Same-Origin Policy: By default, web browsers enforce a same-origin policy, which means a web page can only make requests to the same origin it was loaded from. This policy is a security measure to prevent certain types of attacks, like cross-site scripting (XSS).
- Cross-Origin Requests: When a web page tries to make a request (such as fetching data via AJAX) to a different origin, the browser blocks the request due to the same-origin policy.
- CORS Headers: CORS allows servers to specify which origins are allowed to access their resources. When a browser makes a cross-origin request, the server can include specific HTTP headers in its response to inform the browser whether the request is allowed or not.
- Access-Control-Allow-Origin: This header specifies which origins are permitted to access the resource. For example,
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://www.example.com
allows only that specific origin to access the resource. - Other CORS Headers: There are additional headers like
Access-Control-Allow-Methods, Access-Control-Allow-Headers
, etc., that servers can use to specify the allowed HTTP methods, headers, etc.
- Access-Control-Allow-Origin: This header specifies which origins are permitted to access the resource. For example,
- Preflight Requests: For certain types of requests (e.g., those using methods other than GET, POST, or with custom headers), the browser first sends a preflight request (an OPTIONS request) to the server to check what methods and headers are allowed. The server responds with appropriate CORS headers indicating whether the actual request can proceed.
- Handling CORS: When developing web applications, developers need to ensure that their servers are configured to send the appropriate CORS headers to allow or deny cross-origin requests based on their requirements.
CORS is essential for allowing controlled access to resources across different origins while maintaining security on the web.