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Let's consider the following scenario. I need to access a resource hosted on server X. I want to get this resource in a Y format, so along with my request I send the Accept: Y header. Unfortunately X does not support Y and I'm not not allowed to access the resource on X as well. I've included valid Authorization header.

How should X reply? With a 415 - telling me that it cannot talk to me in a requested format or 403 (with some body that I probably cannot read because the body parser I use supports only Y format).

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From a security viewpoint, you want to disclose as little information as possible to an attacker.

By responding with a 415 code until they hit a supported format and sending a 403 then, you are giving an attacker a mechanism to figure out which formats are supported.

If you always reply with a 403, then an attacker can't tell if there are additional reasons why the request might fail, such as an unsupported format.

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  • Ok, and from HTTP point of view? – Opal Oct 2 '19 at 10:58
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    @Opal, to my knowledge, HTTP does not care. – Bart van Ingen Schenau Oct 2 '19 at 11:02
  • That's why I'm asking. Because I think that HTTP does care. I have no idea why today we use the protocol and disobey its rules. – Opal Oct 2 '19 at 11:12
  • @Opal, I checked the HTTP specification and it doesn't mention a priority order of response codes. It does not even acknowledge that a server might have to choose between several appropriate codes. – Bart van Ingen Schenau Oct 2 '19 at 11:35
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    @Opal, it is kinda hard to give a reference to something that doesn't exist. The closest I can give you is the section on status codes. – Bart van Ingen Schenau Oct 2 '19 at 12:18

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