HTTP Headers

HTTP headers are key-value pairs of metadata sent in HTTP requests and responses, by both the client (such as your web browser) and the server (such as the AMI's nginx install). This metadata provides essential information about the connection, helping the client & server sync up for data transfer.

HTTP headers are processed by the client application and the web server, and are usually invisible to the end user. Data sent as HTTP headers includes, but is not limited to:

How information sent through the connection is encoded.
Compatibility & version information about the client & server
Cache control
Session verification & authentication
Remote access policies

By understanding how HTTP headers work, you can begin to manipulate HTTP transmissions.

Manipulating Headers

Manually changing the values HTTP headers is fairly easy to do, and provides for some tactical opportunities on the field. Spoofing your User-Agent or Referer headers is a great way to familiarize yourself with the concept of manipulating this data.

Header security is also a thing! Many websites are poorly developed, and use client-defined HTTP headers to delegate access to the system. The way to defend against this is making sure header inputs are sanitized and tested against spoofed headers, but not everyone does it. Poke around with your browser's developer tools and see what you can find!

Consult the articles below for more thorough information on other header types you can screw with.

Table of Contents

HTTP Headers

Manipulating Headers

Further Reading

User Tools

Site Tools

Table of Contents

HTTP Headers

Manipulating Headers

Further Reading