What are CORS headers and why are they important?

What are CORS headers and why are they important?

CORS stands for Cross-Origin Resource Sharing. CORS headers are HTTP headers that allow servers to specify who can access their resources. They are important because they help prevent security issues like cross-site request forgery.

How do CORS headers work in practice?

When a web application makes a request to a different domain, the browser checks the CORS headers in the response. If the headers allow the request, the browser proceeds; otherwise, it blocks the request.

Can you give me an example of CORS headers?

Sure! A common CORS header is 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin'. For example, 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://example.com' allows requests from that specific domain.

What happens if CORS headers are not set?

If CORS headers are not set, browsers will block cross-origin requests by default, which can lead to issues in web applications that rely on resources from different domains.