CORS Headers Checker

Free CORS Headers Checker

Check how a URL or API endpoint handles Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS). Enter a URL to see its Access-Control-Allow-* headers from a real cross-origin request and preflight, plus a graded report that flags risky configurations like wildcards, origin reflection, and over-shared credentials. Free, no sign-up.

What is CORS?

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) is the browser mechanism that decides whether a web page on one origin may read a response from another origin. By default, the same-origin policy blocks this. A server opts in by sending Access-Control-Allow-* headers. Getting these right is important: too restrictive and legitimate front-ends break, too permissive and other websites can read data they shouldn't.

How the checker works

The tool sends two requests to your URL on your behalf:

• A simple cross-origin GET carrying a test Origin header.
• A preflight OPTIONS request, like a browser sends before non-simple requests.
• It then reads the Access-Control-Allow-Origin, Allow-Credentials, Allow-Methods, Allow-Headers, Max-Age, and Expose-Headers values.
• Finally it grades the configuration and explains any risks.

The CORS headers explained

A handful of response headers control everything:

• Access-Control-Allow-Origin — which origin(s) may read the response ('*' means any).
• Access-Control-Allow-Credentials — whether cookies and credentials may be sent.
• Access-Control-Allow-Methods — which HTTP methods are permitted cross-origin.
• Access-Control-Allow-Headers — which request headers are permitted.
• Access-Control-Max-Age — how long the browser may cache the preflight result.
• Access-Control-Expose-Headers — which response headers scripts may read.

The most dangerous CORS misconfiguration

The classic vulnerability is a server that reflects whatever Origin it receives back in Access-Control-Allow-Origin and also sets Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true. That combination lets any website make authenticated requests to your API and read the responses — including a logged-in user's private data. This checker deliberately sends an arbitrary test Origin so it can detect exactly this reflection behaviour and warn you about it.

Wildcard vs specific origins

Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * is perfectly fine for genuinely public, non-authenticated resources like a public font or open data API. It becomes a problem the moment private or authenticated data is involved. Note that browsers do not allow '*' together with credentials, so a server trying to do both is misconfigured. For anything sensitive, allowlist specific trusted origins rather than using a wildcard or reflecting the request origin.

Pro tip

Maintain an explicit allowlist of the exact origins your front-ends use, and only enable Allow-Credentials when you truly need cookies cross-origin — and never alongside a wildcard or reflected origin. Keep Allow-Methods and Allow-Headers limited to what you actually use. To review the rest of a response's headers, pair this with our HTTP Response Headers Viewer and Security Headers Checker.

FAQ

Related tools

Pro tip: pair this tool with Robots.txt Exposure Checker and Cookie Security Checker for a faster SEO workflow.

• Robots.txt Exposure Checker — Find sensitive paths exposed in robots.txt like admin panels, backups, and databases.
• Cookie Security Checker — Analyze cookies for Secure, HttpOnly, and SameSite flags. GDPR compliance checker.
• XML-RPC Exposure Checker — Check if WordPress XML-RPC is exposed and assess attack surface risks.
• Mixed Content Checker — Detect insecure HTTP resources loaded on HTTPS pages that break browser security.
• Robots.txt Security Analyzer — Analyze robots.txt to detect exposed admin, login, and sensitive paths.