CORS Header Explainer
Header Name
Header Value
Access-Control-Allow-Origin : *
Unsafe
What it does

Specifies which origins are allowed to access the resource.

Why it exists

Browsers enforce same-origin policy by default. This header relaxes it for trusted origins.

Recommendation

Use specific origin ('https://yourdomain.com') instead of '*' for authenticated resources. Wildcard disables credentials.

Header Name
Header Value
Access-Control-Allow-Origin : *
Unsafe
What it does

Specifies which origins are allowed to access the resource.

Why it exists

Browsers enforce same-origin policy by default. This header relaxes it for trusted origins.

Recommendation

Use specific origin ('https://yourdomain.com') instead of '*' for authenticated resources. Wildcard disables credentials.

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CORS Header Explainer

Enter any CORS-related HTTP header name and value to get a plain-English explanation of what it does, why it exists, whether the current value is safe, and what the recommendation is.

Use Cases

  • Debugging cross-origin fetch errors in web applications
  • Auditing API response headers for security vulnerabilities
  • Learning CORS concepts from real header values

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Access-Control-Allow-Origin: '*' cause issues?

Wildcard origin disables the ability to send credentials (cookies, Authorization headers) with cross-origin requests. It also removes one layer of server-side trust validation.

What is a CORS preflight request?

For non-simple requests, browsers first send an OPTIONS request to ask if the actual request is allowed. The server must respond with appropriate CORS headers.