Understanding Content Security Policy (CSP) for Enhanced Web Security

Content Security Policy (CSP) - HTTP | MDN 🔗

Content Security Policy (CSP) is a feature that helps to prevent or minimize the risk of certain types of security threats. It consists of a series of instructions from a website to a browser, which instruct the browser to place restrictions on the things that the code comprising the site is allowed to do.

Content Security Policy (CSP) is a security feature that helps websites protect against various types of attacks, especially cross-site scripting (XSS). It involves a set of directives sent from a website to a browser, dictating what resources can be loaded. CSP aims to block unauthorized scripts and resources, ensuring that only trusted sources are allowed. The policy can be specified in the HTTP headers or within HTML meta tags. Different directives control the loading of scripts, images, and other resources. CSP can enhance security by preventing the execution of potentially harmful code, and it can also provide protection against clickjacking. Developers are encouraged to use nonce or hash-based directives for better security.

CSP helps prevent security threats like XSS and clickjacking.
It specifies what resources a browser can load via directives.
Nonce and hash-based CSPs are recommended for enhanced security.
CSP can be delivered in HTTP headers or HTML meta tags.
It allows automatic upgrading of insecure HTTP requests to HTTPS.

What is the main purpose of Content Security Policy (CSP)?

CSP primarily aims to prevent various security threats, particularly cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, by controlling which resources a webpage can load.

How are CSP directives specified?

CSP directives can be specified in the HTTP response headers or within the HTML meta tags of a document, outlining what resources are permitted to be loaded by the browser.

What are some recommended practices for implementing CSP?

Using nonce or hash-based directives is recommended, as they provide stronger security by restricting script execution to only those that are explicitly allowed by the server.