X-Frame-Options Examples: Your Essential Guide to Website Security

Struggling to figure out X-Frame-Options for your website’s security? You’re not alone! It can feel like navigating a maze of technical terms, but trust me, understanding this HTTP header is a must for protecting your users and your brand. Think of it as putting up a “no trespassing” sign for your website content, specifically when it comes to embedding it in frames on other sites.

, where online threats constantly evolve, protecting your web applications is more critical than ever. One sneaky attack method, known as clickjacking or UI redressing, can trick your users into doing things they never intended, like making unauthorized purchases or revealing sensitive information. In fact, a Javelin 2022 Identity Fraud Study revealed that 22% of U.S. adults have been victims of account takeover attacks. That’s a pretty stark reminder of why web security measures like the X-Frame-Options header are so important.

This guide will walk you through X-Frame-Options with clear, real-world examples. We’ll break down its different values, show you how to set it up on popular web servers like Apache, Nginx, and IIS, and even talk about the newer, more flexible alternative: Content-Security-Policy with frame-ancestors. By the end of this, you’ll have a solid grasp on how to use X-Frame-Options to beef up your website’s defenses and make your users feel safer.

What Are X-Frame-Options Anyway?

So, what exactly is X-Frame-Options? Simply put, it’s an HTTP response header that your web server sends to a user’s browser. Its main job is to tell the browser whether your web page can be displayed inside a <frame>, <iframe>, <embed>, or <object> HTML element on another website. This might sound a bit technical, but the core idea is pretty simple: it helps you prevent other websites from embedding your content without your permission.

Why Does This Matter? The Threat of Clickjacking

The biggest reason we even need X-Frame-Options is to combat clickjacking. Imagine this: an attacker sets up a fake website that looks harmless, maybe with a button saying “Claim Your Free Gift!”. But secretly, they’ve embedded your website like your banking login page or an e-commerce checkout as an invisible iframe on top of their fake site. When you click that “Free Gift” button, you’re actually clicking on a hidden button on your bank’s website, potentially authorizing a transaction or changing a setting without realizing it. Pretty scary, right?

This “UI redress attack” or “user interface overlay attack” is super deceptive because it exploits the trust you have in familiar interfaces. By using X-Frame-Options, you’re essentially telling browsers, “Hey, this page should not be framed by anyone I don’t explicitly trust!” This helps protect your users from these kinds of sneaky tricks, safeguarding sensitive actions and data..

The Three Main X-Frame-Options Values

The X-Frame-Options header works with three primary directives or values, each offering a different level of protection: DENY, SAMEORIGIN, and ALLOW-FROM uri. Let’s break them down with some practical x-frame options examples. Unpacking the Work of Dr. Xin Wang at Stony Brook University: A Deep Dive into Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing

X-Frame-Options: DENY

The DENY directive is like putting up a solid wall around your content. When you set X-Frame-Options: DENY, you’re telling the browser that your web page cannot be displayed in any frame whatsoever, no matter where the frame is coming from. This includes pages from the same domain and definitely pages from different domains.

• When to use it: This is the most secure option and is generally recommended for highly sensitive pages, like login screens, payment gateways, or any page where user actions have significant consequences. If you absolutely do not want your content embedded anywhere, DENY is your go-to.

• Example Header:

  X-Frame-Options: DENY
  

• What happens: If an attacker tries to embed a page with X-Frame-Options: DENY in an iframe on their site, the browser will simply refuse to load the content, often showing an empty frame or an error message in the console.

• Real-life scenario: Imagine your bank’s login page. They’d almost certainly use X-Frame-Options: DENY. This way, even if a phishing site tried to embed their login form, your browser would block it, preventing you from accidentally typing your credentials into a malicious frame. How to Effectively Find “Xi Wang” (and Similar Names) on LinkedIn

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

The SAMEORIGIN directive is a bit more flexible. It tells the browser that your web page can only be displayed in a frame if the site attempting to frame it is on the same origin as your page itself.

• What “same origin” means: Two URLs have the same origin if they share the same scheme like http or https, host the domain name, like example.com, and port like 80 or 443. So, https://www.example.com/page1 and https://www.example.com/page2 are same-origin. But https://sub.example.com is not same-origin with https://www.example.com because the host is different subdomain. http://example.com is also not same-origin with https://example.com due to the different scheme.
• When to use it: This option is great when you have legitimate reasons to frame your own content within your own website. For example, some web applications use iframes for internal dashboards, rich text editors, or specific modules. It’s a good balance between security and functionality for internal use cases.
  X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
• What happens: If https://myblog.com/article has X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN, then https://myblog.com/dashboard can embed it in an iframe. But https://evil-site.com cannot..
• Real-life scenario: Many content management systems or administrative interfaces use iframes internally. By setting X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN, they ensure that these internal tools work correctly while still protecting against external clickjacking attacks. Popular sites like Twitter, Amazon, eBay, and LinkedIn have been known to use SAMEORIGIN.

X-Frame-Options: ALLOW-FROM uri

The ALLOW-FROM uri directive is designed to let you specify a single, specific URL that is permitted to frame your content.

• When to use it: In theory, you’d use this if you need to allow a trusted third-party website to embed your content.
  X-Frame-Options: ALLOW-FROM https://trusted-partner.com/

• Important Caveat: This directive is deprecated and not widely supported by modern browsers. If you rely on ALLOW-FROM, many browsers will simply ignore the header, leaving your site vulnerable. For this reason, it’s generally recommended to avoid ALLOW-FROM and instead use the Content-Security-Policy header’s frame-ancestors directive for more flexible and reliable control we’ll cover that next!. Finding an Xfinity Hotspot Near You: Your Ultimate Guide to Staying Connected

• What happens: If a browser does support ALLOW-FROM and https://your-site.com sends X-Frame-Options: ALLOW-FROM https://trusted-partner.com, then https://trusted-partner.com could embed your content. But https://another-site.com would be blocked. However, since many modern browsers ignore it, this often provides no protection at all.

How to Implement X-Frame-Options

Implementing the X-Frame-Options header usually involves making a small change to your web server’s configuration. Remember, this must be sent as an HTTP response header, not within an HTML <meta> tag, as the browser will ignore the latter for security reasons.

Let’s look at how to set this up for some common web servers.

Apache Server Example

For Apache, you typically use the Header always set directive, which is part of the mod_headers module. Make sure mod_headers is enabled in your Apache configuration you might need to uncomment LoadModule headers_module modules/mod_headers.so in your httpd.conf file. What is HubSpot Academy?

You can add these lines in your httpd.conf file, a VirtualHost section, or even in an .htaccess file if you’re on shared hosting and don’t have direct access to the main configuration.

• To deny framing for all pages:

  Header always set X-Frame-Options "DENY"
  This line tells Apache to always include the `X-Frame-Options: DENY` header in every response, effectively preventing your site from being framed by any other site.
  

• To allow framing only from the same origin:
  Header always set X-Frame-Options “SAMEORIGIN”
  This is a common x-frame-options header example for Apache, ensuring that your content can only be framed by other pages on your domain.
• Using .htaccess for shared hosting:
  If you don’t have access to your main server configuration, you can often add this to your .htaccess file in your website’s root directory:
  Header append X-FRAME-OPTIONS “SAMEORIGIN”
  After making these changes, you’ll usually need to restart your Apache web server for the new settings to take effect.

Nginx Server Example

For Nginx, you’ll add the add_header directive to your http, server, or location block within your nginx.conf file or an equivalent configuration file.

 ```nginx
 add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always.
 add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always.
 This `x-frame-options nginx example` is straightforward and widely used. The `always` keyword ensures the header is added even for error responses.
 After editing the `nginx.conf` file, remember to restart Nginx to apply the changes.

IIS Server Example

For Microsoft’s Internet Information Services IIS, you can configure X-Frame-Options through the IIS Manager GUI or by editing the web.config file.

Using IIS Manager:

1. Open Internet Information Services IIS Manager.
2. In the Connections pane, expand “Sites” and select the website you want to protect.
3. Double-click “HTTP Response Headers” in the features list.
4. In the Actions pane, click “Add.”
5. In the dialog box:
   * For “Name”, type X-Frame-Options.
   * For “Value”, type DENY or SAMEORIGIN.
6. Click “OK” to save.
   You might need to reset IIS iisreset for the changes to take effect.

Using web.config for application-level control:
You can also add this within the <system.webServer> section of your web.config file: Does HubSpot Integrate with Xero? Your Ultimate Guide to Connecting Sales and Finance

<system.webServer>
  <httpProtocol>
    <customHeaders>
      <add name="X-Frame-Options" value="SAMEORIGIN" />
    </customHeaders>
  </httpProtocol>
</system.webServer>

This is a common x frame options example html configuration that works for IIS.

HTML meta tag Not Recommended for Security

You might sometimes see people try to set X-Frame-Options using a <meta> tag in their HTML, like this:

<meta http-equiv="X-Frame-Options" content="DENY">
However, this is largely ineffective and not a reliable security measure.. Browsers are designed to *only* enforce `X-Frame-Options` when it comes from the HTTP response header sent by the server. An attacker could easily strip this meta tag from their framed version of your page, rendering your protection useless. Always configure `X-Frame-Options` at the server level.

 X-Frame-Options vs. Content Security Policy CSP frame-ancestors

While `X-Frame-Options` has been around for a while and still provides a basic layer of clickjacking protection, the web security world keeps moving forward. Modern best practice increasingly points towards using Content Security Policy CSP with its `frame-ancestors` directive as a more robust and flexible alternative.

# Why CSP `frame-ancestors` is the Newer, Better Way

`X-Frame-Options` has some limitations:
*   Limited Granular Control: You basically only get `DENY` or `SAMEORIGIN`. The `ALLOW-FROM` directive, as we discussed, is deprecated and poorly supported.
*   Single Origin for `ALLOW-FROM`: Even where `ALLOW-FROM` was supported, you could only specify *one* URI. What if you needed multiple trusted partners to embed your content? `X-Frame-Options` couldn't handle that.
*   No Reporting: If someone tries to frame your content in violation of your policy, `X-Frame-Options` doesn't give you any feedback.

This is where `Content-Security-Policy` shines. CSP is a broader security header that lets you control a whole range of resources your browser is allowed to load for a given page scripts, styles, images, fonts, and yes, frames too!. The `frame-ancestors` directive within CSP specifically addresses framing policies and offers much more flexibility.

*   Syntax for `frame-ancestors`:
    Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self' https://trusted-partner1.com https://trusted-partner2.com.
   Notice how you can specify multiple allowed origins and use `'self'` to refer to your own domain, similar to `SAMEORIGIN`. You can also use `'none'` to completely prevent framing, just like `DENY`.

*   Better Browser Support for Multiple Origins: Modern browsers widely support `frame-ancestors` for allowing multiple domains.
*   Report-Only Mode: CSP allows you to deploy policies in a "report-only" mode, meaning violations are reported e.g., to a logging service but not blocked. This is fantastic for testing new policies without breaking your site.
*   More Powerful: CSP `frame-ancestors` is considered more powerful because it can cover "ancestors," not just the immediate parent frame, offering more effective blocking in complex scenarios.

# The Interaction Between `X-Frame-Options` and CSP `frame-ancestors`

What happens if you set both `X-Frame-Options` and `Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors`?
Modern browsers will generally prioritize the `frame-ancestors` directive and ignore `X-Frame-Options` completely. So, if you're using `frame-ancestors`, you effectively don't need `X-Frame-Options` for those modern browsers.

However, some older browsers especially Internet Explorer and older versions of Edge/Safari might still rely on `X-Frame-Options`. So, to cover all your bases and provide protection for the widest range of users, some experts still suggest using both headers. If you do, make sure your `X-Frame-Options` policy is at least as restrictive as your `frame-ancestors` policy to avoid inadvertently weakening your security for older browsers.

For instance, you might set `X-Frame-Options: DENY` for older browsers and then use `Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self' https://your-cdn.com.` for modern browsers.

 Common Pitfalls and Best Practices

Even with seemingly simple headers like `X-Frame-Options`, it's easy to make mistakes. Here are some common pitfalls and best practices to keep in mind:

*   Don't Rely on `ALLOW-FROM`: I can't stress this enough: `ALLOW-FROM` is outdated and often ignored. If you need to allow framing from specific external sites, use `Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors`.
*   Set it on All HTML Responses: Ensure the `X-Frame-Options` header is present on *all* HTTP responses that serve HTML content, especially sensitive ones. Missing the header on just one page can create a vulnerability.
*   Test Your Configuration: After implementing, always test your website to ensure the header is being sent correctly and that legitimate framing if you have any isn't accidentally blocked. You can use browser developer tools Network tab, then Headers or online security header checkers to verify.
*   Combine with Other Security Measures: `X-Frame-Options` or `frame-ancestors` is just one piece of the security puzzle. It's best used alongside other robust security practices like input validation, strong authentication, and a comprehensive Content Security Policy to provide full protection.
*   Understand Your Site's Needs: Not all pages need the same `X-Frame-Options` value. Your public blog post might be fine with `SAMEORIGIN`, but your administrative login page definitely needs `DENY`. Tailor your directives to the sensitivity of the content.
*   Avoid Multiple `X-Frame-Options` Headers: While technically you *can* have multiple `X-Frame-Options` declarations, browsers often handle this inconsistently. Some might use the last one, others might ignore the header entirely. Stick to a single, clear `X-Frame-Options` header per response.

By following these guidelines and understanding the nuances of `X-Frame-Options` and `frame-ancestors`, you'll be well on your way to building a more secure web presence and protecting your users from the increasingly sophisticated attacks out there.

 Frequently Asked Questions

# What is the primary purpose of the X-Frame-Options header?
The main purpose of the `X-Frame-Options` HTTP response header is to protect web applications from clickjacking attacks also known as UI redress attacks. It tells a web browser whether or not a page can be displayed within a `<frame>`, `<iframe>`, `<embed>`, or `<object>` on another website, thereby preventing malicious sites from embedding your content and tricking users into unintended actions.

# What are the three possible values for X-Frame-Options?
The `X-Frame-Options` header supports three directives:
1.  `DENY`: Completely prevents the page from being displayed in any frame, regardless of the origin.
2.  `SAMEORIGIN`: Allows the page to be displayed in a frame only if the site attempting to frame it is from the same origin scheme, host, and port as the page itself.
3.  `ALLOW-FROM uri`: Theoretically allows the page to be displayed in a frame only on a specified URI. However, this directive is deprecated and not reliably supported by modern browsers.

# Can I use X-Frame-Options in an HTML `<meta>` tag?
No, you shouldn't rely on setting `X-Frame-Options` within an HTML `<meta>` tag e.g., `<meta http-equiv="X-Frame-Options" content="DENY">`. Browsers are designed to enforce this security header *only* when it is sent as an HTTP response header by the web server. If placed in an HTML meta tag, it is largely ineffective and offers no real protection against clickjacking.

# How do X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy CSP `frame-ancestors` differ?
`X-Frame-Options` is an older, simpler header with limited directives `DENY`, `SAMEORIGIN`, and a deprecated `ALLOW-FROM`. CSP's `frame-ancestors` directive is a more modern, flexible, and powerful alternative that allows you to specify multiple trusted origins, offers better browser support for those multiple origins, and can even be tested in a "report-only" mode. Modern browsers generally prioritize `frame-ancestors` over `X-Frame-Options` if both are present.

# Should I use X-Frame-Options or CSP `frame-ancestors`?
For robust and future-proof clickjacking protection, it's generally recommended to use the `frame-ancestors` directive within your `Content-Security-Policy` header. It offers more control and better browser compatibility for complex scenarios like allowing multiple specific origins. However, because some older browsers might still rely on `X-Frame-Options`, some developers choose to implement both headers for maximum compatibility, ensuring their `X-Frame-Options` setting is at least as restrictive as their `frame-ancestors` policy.