HttpCookie.HttpOnly Property

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.Web

Assembly:: System.Web.dll

Important

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Gets or sets a value that specifies whether a cookie is accessible by client-side script.

public:
 property bool HttpOnly { bool get(); void set(bool value); };

public bool HttpOnly { get; set; }

member this.HttpOnly : bool with get, set

Public Property HttpOnly As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true if the cookie has the HttpOnly attribute and cannot be accessed through a client-side script; otherwise, false. The default is false.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to write an HttpOnly cookie and shows how it is not accessible by the client through ECMAScript.

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>


<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">
    void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // Create a new HttpCookie.
        HttpCookie myHttpCookie = new HttpCookie("LastVisit", DateTime.Now.ToString());

        // By default, the HttpOnly property is set to false 
        // unless specified otherwise in configuration.

        myHttpCookie.Name = "MyHttpCookie";
        Response.AppendCookie(myHttpCookie);

        // Show the name of the cookie.
        Response.Write(myHttpCookie.Name);

        // Create an HttpOnly cookie.
        HttpCookie myHttpOnlyCookie = new HttpCookie("LastVisit", DateTime.Now.ToString());

        // Setting the HttpOnly value to true, makes
        // this cookie accessible only to ASP.NET.

        myHttpOnlyCookie.HttpOnly = true;
        myHttpOnlyCookie.Name = "MyHttpOnlyCookie";
        Response.AppendCookie(myHttpOnlyCookie);

        // Show the name of the HttpOnly cookie.
        Response.Write(myHttpOnlyCookie.Name);
    }
</script>


<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
    <title>ASP.NET Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
function getCookie(NameOfCookie)
{
    if (document.cookie.length > 0) 
{ 
    begin = document.cookie.indexOf(NameOfCookie+"="); 
    if (begin != -1)
   { 
    begin += NameOfCookie.length+1; 
      end = document.cookie.indexOf(";", begin);
      if (end == -1) end = document.cookie.length;
      return unescape(document.cookie.substring(begin, end));       
      } 
  }
return null;  
}
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">

    // This code returns the cookie name.
    alert("Getting HTTP Cookie");
    alert(getCookie("MyHttpCookie"));

    // Because the cookie is set to HttpOnly,
    // this returns null.
    alert("Getting HTTP Only Cookie");
    alert(getCookie("MyHttpOnlyCookie"));

</script> 


</body>
</html>

<%@ Page Language="VB" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<script runat="server">

  Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
    
    ' Create a new HttpCookie.
    Dim myHttpCookie As New HttpCookie("LastVisit", DateTime.Now.ToString())

    ' By default, the HttpOnly property is set to false 
    ' unless specified otherwise in configuration.

    myHttpCookie.Name = "MyHttpCookie"
    Response.AppendCookie(myHttpCookie)

    ' Show the name of the cookie.
    Response.Write(myHttpCookie.Name)

    ' Create an HttpOnly cookie.
    Dim myHttpOnlyCookie As New HttpCookie("LastVisit", DateTime.Now.ToString())

    ' Setting the HttpOnly value to true, makes
    ' this cookie accessible only to ASP.NET.

    myHttpOnlyCookie.HttpOnly = True
    myHttpOnlyCookie.Name = "MyHttpOnlyCookie"
    Response.AppendCookie(myHttpOnlyCookie)

    ' Show the name of the HttpOnly cookie.
    Response.Write(myHttpOnlyCookie.Name)

  End Sub
  
</script>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
    <title>ASP.NET Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
function getCookie(NameOfCookie)
{
  if (document.cookie.length > 0) 
  { 
    begin = document.cookie.indexOf(NameOfCookie+"="); 
    if (begin != -1)
    { 
    begin += NameOfCookie.length+1; 
      end = document.cookie.indexOf(";", begin);
      if (end == -1) end = document.cookie.length;
      return unescape(document.cookie.substring(begin, end));       
    } 
  }
  return null;  
}
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">

// This code returns the cookie name.
alert("Getting HTTP Cookie");
alert(getCookie("MyHttpCookie"));

// Because the cookie is set to HttpOnly,
// this returns null.
alert("Getting HTTP Only Cookie");
alert(getCookie("MyHttpOnlyCookie"));

</script> 

</body>
</html>

Remarks

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 Service Pack 1 and later supports a cookie property, HttpOnly, that can help mitigate cross-site scripting threats that result in stolen cookies. Stolen cookies can contain sensitive information identifying the user to the site, such as the ASP.NET session ID or forms authentication ticket, and can be replayed by the attacker in order to masquerade as the user or obtain sensitive information. When an HttpOnly cookie is received by a compliant browser, it is inaccessible to client-side script.

Caution

Setting the HttpOnly property to true does not prevent an attacker with access to the network channel from accessing the cookie directly. Consider using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to help protect against this. Workstation security is also important, as a malicious user could use an open browser window or a computer containing persistent cookies to obtain access to a Web site with a legitimate user's identity.

Applies to

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