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title	author	description	ms.author	ms.date	uid
Enforce HTTPS in ASP.NET Core	rick-anderson	Shows how to require HTTPS/TLS in a ASP.NET Core web app.	riande	2/9/2018	security/enforcing-ssl

Enforce HTTPS in ASP.NET Core

By Rick Anderson

This document shows how to:

Require HTTPS for all requests.
Redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS.

[!WARNING] Do not use RequireHttpsAttribute on Web APIs that receive sensitive information. RequireHttpsAttribute uses HTTP status codes to redirect browsers from HTTP to HTTPS. API clients may not understand or obey redirects from HTTP to HTTPS. Such clients may send information over HTTP. Web APIs should either:

Not listen on HTTP.

Close the connection with status code 400 (Bad Request) and not serve the request.

Require HTTPS

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.1"

We recommend all ASP.NET Core web apps call HTTPS Redirection Middleware (UseHttpsRedirection) to redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS.

The following code calls UseHttpsRedirection in the Startup class:

[!code-csharp]

The following code calls AddHttpsRedirection to configure middleware options:

[!code-csharp]

The preceding highlighted code:

Sets HttpsRedirectionOptions.RedirectStatusCode to Status307TemporaryRedirect, which is the default value. Production apps should call UseHsts.
Sets the HTTPS port to 5001. The default value is 443.

The following mechanisms set the port automatically:

The middleware can discover the ports via IServerAddressesFeature when the following conditions apply:
- Kestrel or HTTP.sys is used directly with HTTPS endpoints (also applies to running the app with Visual Studio Code's debugger).
- Only one HTTPS port is used by the app.
Visual Studio is used:
- IIS Express has HTTPS enabled.
- launchSettings.json sets the sslPort for IIS Express.

[!NOTE] When an app is run behind a reverse proxy (for example, IIS, IIS Express), IServerAddressesFeature isn't available. The port must be manually configured. When the port isn't set, requests aren't redirected.

The port can be configured by setting the:

ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORT environment variable.
http_port host configuration key (for example, via hostsettings.json or a command line argument).
HttpsRedirectionOptions.HttpsPort. See the preceding example that shows how to set the port to 5001.

[!NOTE] The port can be configured indirectly by setting the URL with the ASPNETCORE_URLS environment variable. The environment variable configures the server, and then the middleware indirectly discovers the HTTPS port via IServerAddressesFeature.

If no port is set:

Requests aren't redirected.
The middleware logs a warning.

[!NOTE] An alternative to using HTTPS Redirection Middleware (UseHttpsRedirection) is to use URL Rewriting Middleware (AddRedirectToHttps). AddRedirectToHttps can also set the status code and port when the redirect is executed. For more information, see URL Rewriting Middleware.

When redirecting to HTTPS without the requirement for additional redirect rules, we recommend using HTTPS Redirection Middleware (UseHttpsRedirection) described in this topic.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="< aspnetcore-2.1"

The RequireHttpsAttribute is used to require HTTPS. [RequireHttpsAttribute] can decorate controllers or methods, or can be applied globally. To apply the attribute globally, add the following code to ConfigureServices in Startup:

[!code-csharp]

The preceding highlighted code requires all requests use HTTPS; therefore, HTTP requests are ignored. The following highlighted code redirects all HTTP requests to HTTPS:

[!code-csharp]

For more information, see URL Rewriting Middleware. The middleware also permits the app to set the status code or the status code and the port when the redirect is executed.

Requiring HTTPS globally (options.Filters.Add(new RequireHttpsAttribute());) is a security best practice. Applying the [RequireHttps] attribute to all controllers/Razor Pages isn't considered as secure as requiring HTTPS globally. You can't guarantee the [RequireHttps] attribute is applied when new controllers and Razor Pages are added.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.1"

HTTP Strict Transport Security Protocol (HSTS)

Per OWASP, HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) is an opt-in security enhancement that is specified by a web application through the use of a special response header. Once a supported browser receives this header that browser will prevent any communications from being sent over HTTP to the specified domain and will instead send all communications over HTTPS. It also prevents HTTPS click through prompts on browsers.

ASP.NET Core 2.1 or later implements HSTS with the UseHsts extension method. The following code calls UseHsts when the app isn't in development mode:

[!code-csharp]

UseHsts isn't recommended in development because the HSTS header is highly cacheable by browsers. By default, UseHsts excludes the local loopback address.

The following code:

[!code-csharp]

Sets the preload parameter of the Strict-Transport-Security header. Preload is not part of the RFC HSTS specification, but is supported by web browsers to preload HSTS sites on fresh install. See https://hstspreload.org/ for more information.
Enables includeSubDomain, which applies the HSTS policy to Host subdomains.
Explicitly sets the max-age parameter of the Strict-Transport-Security header to to 60 days. If not set, defaults to 30 days. See the max-age directive for more information.
Adds example.com to the list of hosts to exclude.

UseHsts excludes the following loopback hosts:

localhost : The IPv4 loopback address.
127.0.0.1 : The IPv4 loopback address.
[::1] : The IPv6 loopback address.

The preceding example shows how to add additional hosts. ::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.1"

Opt-out of HTTPS on project creation

The ASP.NET Core 2.1 or later web application templates (from Visual Studio or the dotnet command line) enable HTTPS redirection and HSTS. For deployments that don't require HTTPS, you can opt-out of HTTPS. For example, some backend services where HTTPS is being handled externally at the edge, using HTTPS at each node is not needed.

To opt-out of HTTPS: