Middleware

Middleware

This document explains all middleware components that come with Django. For information on how to use them and how to write your own middleware, see the middleware usage guide.

Available middleware

Cache middleware

class UpdateCacheMiddleware[source]

class FetchFromCacheMiddleware[source]

Enable the site-wide cache. If these are enabled, each Django-powered page will be cached for as long as the CACHE_MIDDLEWARE_SECONDS setting defines. See the cache documentation.

“Common” middleware

class CommonMiddleware[source]

Adds a few conveniences for perfectionists:

If APPEND_SLASH is True and the initial URL doesn’t end with a slash, and it is not found in the URLconf, then a new URL is formed by appending a slash at the end. If this new URL is found in the URLconf, then Django redirects the request to this new URL. Otherwise, the initial URL is processed as usual.

For example, foo.com/bar will be redirected to foo.com/bar/ if you don’t have a valid URL pattern for foo.com/bar but do have a valid pattern for foo.com/bar/.

If PREPEND_WWW is True, URLs that lack a leading “www.” will be redirected to the same URL with a leading “www.”

Both of these options are meant to normalize URLs. The philosophy is that each URL should exist in one, and only one, place. Technically a URL foo.com/bar is distinct from foo.com/bar/ – a search-engine indexer would treat them as separate URLs – so it’s best practice to normalize URLs.

If necessary, individual views may be excluded from the APPEND_SLASH behavior using the no_append_slash() decorator:

``` from django.views.decorators.common import no_append_slash

@no_append_slash
def sensitive_fbv(request, *args, **kwargs):
    """View to be excluded from APPEND_SLASH."""
    return HttpResponse()

  * Sets the `Content-Length` header for non-streaming responses.

`CommonMiddleware.response_redirect_class`

Defaults to [HttpResponsePermanentRedirect](</read/django-5.1-en/44843fd42cf5d34e.md#django.http.HttpResponsePermanentRedirect> "django.http.HttpResponsePermanentRedirect"). Subclass `CommonMiddleware` and override the attribute to customize the redirects issued by the middleware.

_class_ `BrokenLinkEmailsMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/middleware/common.py#L118>)

  * Sends broken link notification emails to [MANAGERS](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-MANAGERS) (see [How to manage error reporting](/read/django-5.1-en/d083.md)).

### GZip middleware

 _class_ `GZipMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/middleware/gzip.py#L9>)

  * `max_random_bytes`

Defaults to 100. Subclass `GZipMiddleware` and override the attribute to change the maximum number of random bytes that is included with compressed responses.

Note

Security researchers revealed that when compression techniques (including `GZipMiddleware`) are used on a website, the site may become exposed to a number of possible attacks.

To mitigate attacks, Django implements a technique called _Heal The Breach (HTB)_. It adds up to 100 bytes (see max_random_bytes) of random bytes to each response to make the attacks less effective.

For more details, see the [BREACH paper (PDF)](<https://www.breachattack.com/resources/BREACH%20-%20SSL,%20gone%20in%2030%20seconds.pdf>), [breachattack.com](<https://www.breachattack.com/>), and the [Heal The Breach (HTB) paper](<https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9754554>).

The `django.middleware.gzip.GZipMiddleware` compresses content for browsers that understand GZip compression (all modern browsers).

This middleware should be placed before any other middleware that need to read or write the response body so that compression happens afterward.

It will NOT compress content if any of the following are true:

  * The content body is less than 200 bytes long.
  * The response has already set the `Content-Encoding` header.
  * The request (the browser) hasn’t sent an `Accept-Encoding` header containing `gzip`.

If the response has an `ETag` header, the ETag is made weak to comply with [RFC 9110#section-8.8.1](<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9110.html#section-8.8.1>).

You can apply GZip compression to individual views using the [gzip_page()](</read/django-5.1-en/2f637476eb8bc0b2.md#django.views.decorators.gzip.gzip_page> "django.views.decorators.gzip.gzip_page") decorator.

### Conditional GET middleware

 _class_ `ConditionalGetMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/middleware/http.py#L6>)

Handles conditional GET operations. If the response doesn’t have an `ETag` header, the middleware adds one if needed. If the response has an `ETag` or `Last-Modified` header, and the request has `If-None-Match` or `If-Modified-Since`, the response is replaced by an [HttpResponseNotModified](</read/django-5.1-en/44843fd42cf5d34e.md#django.http.HttpResponseNotModified> "django.http.HttpResponseNotModified").

### Locale middleware

 _class_ `LocaleMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/middleware/locale.py#L10>)

Enables language selection based on data from the request. It customizes content for each user. See the [internationalization documentation](<https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/topics/i18n/translation>).

`LocaleMiddleware.response_redirect_class`

Defaults to [HttpResponseRedirect](</read/django-5.1-en/44843fd42cf5d34e.md#django.http.HttpResponseRedirect> "django.http.HttpResponseRedirect"). Subclass `LocaleMiddleware` and override the attribute to customize the redirects issued by the middleware.

### Message middleware

 _class_ `MessageMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/contrib/messages/middleware.py#L6>)

Enables cookie- and session-based message support. See the [messages documentation](/read/django-5.1-en/d122.md).

### Security middleware

Warning

If your deployment situation allows, it’s usually a good idea to have your front-end web server perform the functionality provided by the `SecurityMiddleware`. That way, if there are requests that aren’t served by Django (such as static media or user-uploaded files), they will have the same protections as requests to your Django application.

_class_ `SecurityMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/middleware/security.py#L8>)

The `django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware` provides several security enhancements to the request/response cycle. Each one can be independently enabled or disabled with a setting.

  * [SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF)
  * [SECURE_CROSS_ORIGIN_OPENER_POLICY](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_CROSS_ORIGIN_OPENER_POLICY)
  * [SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS)
  * [SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD)
  * [SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS)
  * [SECURE_REDIRECT_EXEMPT](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_REDIRECT_EXEMPT)
  * [SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY)
  * [SECURE_SSL_HOST](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_SSL_HOST)
  * [SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT)

#### HTTP Strict Transport Security

For sites that should only be accessed over HTTPS, you can instruct modern browsers to refuse to connect to your domain name via an insecure connection (for a given period of time) by setting the [“Strict-Transport-Security” header](<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Strict-Transport-Security>). This reduces your exposure to some SSL-stripping man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

`SecurityMiddleware` will set this header for you on all HTTPS responses if you set the [SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS) setting to a non-zero integer value.

When enabling HSTS, it’s a good idea to first use a small value for testing, for example, [SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 3600](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS) for one hour. Each time a web browser sees the HSTS header from your site, it will refuse to communicate non-securely (using HTTP) with your domain for the given period of time. Once you confirm that all assets are served securely on your site (i.e. HSTS didn’t break anything), it’s a good idea to increase this value so that infrequent visitors will be protected (31536000 seconds, i.e. 1 year, is common).

Additionally, if you set the [SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS) setting to `True`, `SecurityMiddleware` will add the `includeSubDomains` directive to the `Strict-Transport-Security` header. This is recommended (assuming all subdomains are served exclusively using HTTPS), otherwise your site may still be vulnerable via an insecure connection to a subdomain.

If you wish to submit your site to the [browser preload list](<https://hstspreload.org/>), set the [SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD) setting to `True`. That appends the `preload` directive to the `Strict-Transport-Security` header.

Warning

The HSTS policy applies to your entire domain, not just the URL of the response that you set the header on. Therefore, you should only use it if your entire domain is served via HTTPS only.

Browsers properly respecting the HSTS header will refuse to allow users to bypass warnings and connect to a site with an expired, self-signed, or otherwise invalid SSL certificate. If you use HSTS, make sure your certificates are in good shape and stay that way!

Note

If you are deployed behind a load-balancer or reverse-proxy server, and the `Strict-Transport-Security` header is not being added to your responses, it may be because Django doesn’t realize that it’s on a secure connection; you may need to set the [SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER) setting.

#### Referrer Policy

Browsers use [the Referer header](<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Referer>) as a way to send information to a site about how users got there. When a user clicks a link, the browser will send the full URL of the linking page as the referrer. While this can be useful for some purposes – like figuring out who’s linking to your site – it also can cause privacy concerns by informing one site that a user was visiting another site.

Some browsers have the ability to accept hints about whether they should send the HTTP `Referer` header when a user clicks a link; this hint is provided via [the Referrer-Policy header](<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Referrer-Policy>). This header can suggest any of three behaviors to browsers:

  * Full URL: send the entire URL in the `Referer` header. For example, if the user is visiting `https://example.com/page.html`, the `Referer` header would contain `"https://example.com/page.html"`.
  * Origin only: send only the “origin” in the referrer. The origin consists of the scheme, host and (optionally) port number. For example, if the user is visiting `https://example.com/page.html`, the origin would be `https://example.com/`.
  * No referrer: do not send a `Referer` header at all.

There are two types of conditions this header can tell a browser to watch out for:

  * Same-origin versus cross-origin: a link from `https://example.com/1.html` to `https://example.com/2.html` is same-origin. A link from `https://example.com/page.html` to `https://not.example.com/page.html` is cross-origin.
  * Protocol downgrade: a downgrade occurs if the page containing the link is served via HTTPS, but the page being linked to is not served via HTTPS.

Warning

When your site is served via HTTPS, [Django’s CSRF protection system](/read/django-5.1-en/d129.md#how-csrf-works) requires the `Referer` header to be present, so completely disabling the `Referer` header will interfere with CSRF protection. To gain most of the benefits of disabling `Referer` headers while also keeping CSRF protection, consider enabling only same-origin referrers.

`SecurityMiddleware` can set the `Referrer-Policy` header for you, based on the [SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY) setting (note spelling: browsers send a `Referer` header when a user clicks a link, but the header instructing a browser whether to do so is spelled `Referrer-Policy`). The valid values for this setting are:

`no-referrer`

Instructs the browser to send no referrer for links clicked on this site.

`no-referrer-when-downgrade`

Instructs the browser to send a full URL as the referrer, but only when no protocol downgrade occurs.

`origin`

Instructs the browser to send only the origin, not the full URL, as the referrer.

`origin-when-cross-origin`

Instructs the browser to send the full URL as the referrer for same-origin links, and only the origin for cross-origin links.

`same-origin`

Instructs the browser to send a full URL, but only for same-origin links. No referrer will be sent for cross-origin links.

`strict-origin`

Instructs the browser to send only the origin, not the full URL, and to send no referrer when a protocol downgrade occurs.

`strict-origin-when-cross-origin`

Instructs the browser to send the full URL when the link is same-origin and no protocol downgrade occurs; send only the origin when the link is cross-origin and no protocol downgrade occurs; and no referrer when a protocol downgrade occurs.

`unsafe-url`

Instructs the browser to always send the full URL as the referrer.

Unknown Policy Values

Where a policy value is [unknown](<https://w3c.github.io/webappsec-referrer-policy/#unknown-policy-values>) by a user agent, it is possible to specify multiple policy values to provide a fallback. The last specified value that is understood takes precedence. To support this, an iterable or comma-separated string can be used with [SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY).

#### Cross-Origin Opener Policy

Some browsers have the ability to isolate top-level windows from other documents by putting them in a separate browsing context group based on the value of the [Cross-Origin Opener Policy](<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy>) (COOP) header. If a document that is isolated in this way opens a cross-origin popup window, the popup’s `window.opener` property will be `null`. Isolating windows using COOP is a defense-in-depth protection against cross-origin attacks, especially those like Spectre which allowed exfiltration of data loaded into a shared browsing context.

`SecurityMiddleware` can set the `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy` header for you, based on the [SECURE_CROSS_ORIGIN_OPENER_POLICY](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_CROSS_ORIGIN_OPENER_POLICY) setting. The valid values for this setting are:

`same-origin`

Isolates the browsing context exclusively to same-origin documents. Cross-origin documents are not loaded in the same browsing context. This is the default and most secure option.

`same-origin-allow-popups`

Isolates the browsing context to same-origin documents or those which either don’t set COOP or which opt out of isolation by setting a COOP of `unsafe-none`.

`unsafe-none`

Allows the document to be added to its opener’s browsing context group unless the opener itself has a COOP of `same-origin` or `same-origin-allow-popups`.

#### `X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff`

Some browsers will try to guess the content types of the assets that they fetch, overriding the `Content-Type` header. While this can help display sites with improperly configured servers, it can also pose a security risk.

If your site serves user-uploaded files, a malicious user could upload a specially-crafted file that would be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript by the browser when you expected it to be something harmless.

To prevent the browser from guessing the content type and force it to always use the type provided in the `Content-Type` header, you can pass the [X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff](<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/X-Content-Type-Options>) header. `SecurityMiddleware` will do this for all responses if the [SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF) setting is `True`.

Note that in most deployment situations where Django isn’t involved in serving user-uploaded files, this setting won’t help you. For example, if your [MEDIA_URL](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-MEDIA_URL) is served directly by your front-end web server (nginx, Apache, etc.) then you’d want to set this header there. On the other hand, if you are using Django to do something like require authorization in order to download files and you cannot set the header using your web server, this setting will be useful.

#### SSL Redirect

If your site offers both HTTP and HTTPS connections, most users will end up with an unsecured connection by default. For best security, you should redirect all HTTP connections to HTTPS.

If you set the [SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT) setting to True, `SecurityMiddleware` will permanently (HTTP 301) redirect all HTTP connections to HTTPS.

Note

For performance reasons, it’s preferable to do these redirects outside of Django, in a front-end load balancer or reverse-proxy server such as [nginx](<https://nginx.org/>). [SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT) is intended for the deployment situations where this isn’t an option.

If the [SECURE_SSL_HOST](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_SSL_HOST) setting has a value, all redirects will be sent to that host instead of the originally-requested host.

If there are a few pages on your site that should be available over HTTP, and not redirected to HTTPS, you can list regular expressions to match those URLs in the [SECURE_REDIRECT_EXEMPT](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_REDIRECT_EXEMPT) setting.

Note

If you are deployed behind a load-balancer or reverse-proxy server and Django can’t seem to tell when a request actually is already secure, you may need to set the [SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER) setting.

### Session middleware

 _class_ `SessionMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/contrib/sessions/middleware.py#L12>)

Enables session support. See the [session documentation](/read/django-5.1-en/d039.md).

### Site middleware

 _class_ `CurrentSiteMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/contrib/sites/middleware.py#L6>)

Adds the `site` attribute representing the current site to every incoming `HttpRequest` object. See the [sites documentation](/read/django-5.1-en/d126.md#site-middleware).

### Authentication middleware

 _class_ `AuthenticationMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/contrib/auth/middleware.py#L27>)

Adds the `user` attribute, representing the currently-logged-in user, to every incoming `HttpRequest` object. See [Authentication in web requests](<https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/topics/auth/default/#auth-web-requests>).

_class_ `LoginRequiredMiddleware`[[source]](<https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/5.1.x/django/contrib/auth/middleware.py#L41>)

New in Django 5.1.

Redirects all unauthenticated requests to a login page, except for views excluded with [login_not_required()](<https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/topics/auth/default/#django.contrib.auth.decorators.login_not_required> "django.contrib.auth.decorators.login_not_required"). The login page defaults to [settings.LOGIN_URL](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-LOGIN_URL), but can be customized.

Enable this middleware by adding it to the [MIDDLEWARE](/read/django-5.1-en/d165.md#std-setting-MIDDLEWARE) setting **after** AuthenticationMiddleware:

MIDDLEWARE = [ "...", "django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware", "django.contrib.auth.middleware.LoginRequiredMiddleware", "...", ]


Make a view public, allowing unauthenticated requests, with [login_not_required()](<https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/topics/auth/default/#django.contrib.auth.decorators.login_not_required> "django.contrib.auth.decorators.login_not_required"). For example:

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_not_required

@login_not_required def contact_us(request): ...


Customize the login URL or field name for authenticated views with the [login_required()](<https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/topics/auth/default/#django.contrib.auth.decorators.login_required> "django.contrib.auth.decorators.login_required") decorator to set `login_url` or `redirect_field_name` respectively. For example:

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator from django.views.generic import View

@login_required(login_url="/books/login/", redirect_field_name="redirect_to") def book_dashboard(request): ...

@method_decorator( login_required(login_url="/books/login/", redirect_field_name="redirect_to"), name="dispatch", ) class BookMetrics(View): pass ```

Ensure that your login view does not require a login.

To prevent infinite redirects, ensure you have enabled unauthenticated requests to your login view.

Methods and Attributes

Subclass the middleware and override these to customize behavior for unauthenticated requests.

redirect_field_name

Defaults to "next".

get_login_url()

Returns the URL that unauthenticated requests will be redirected to. If defined, this returns the login_url set on the login_required() decorator. Defaults to settings.LOGIN_URL.

get_redirect_field_name()

Returns the name of the query parameter that contains the URL the user should be redirected to after a successful login. If defined, this returns the redirect_field_name set on the login_required() decorator. Defaults to redirect_field_name. If None is returned, a query parameter won’t be added.

class RemoteUserMiddleware[source]

Middleware for utilizing web server provided authentication. See How to authenticate using REMOTE_USER for usage details.

class PersistentRemoteUserMiddleware[source]

Middleware for utilizing web server provided authentication when enabled only on the login page. See Using REMOTE_USER on login pages only for usage details.

CSRF protection middleware

class CsrfViewMiddleware[source]

Adds protection against Cross Site Request Forgeries by adding hidden form fields to POST forms and checking requests for the correct value. See the Cross Site Request Forgery protection documentation.

X-Frame-Options middleware

class XFrameOptionsMiddleware[source]

Simple clickjacking protection via the X-Frame-Options header.

Middleware ordering

Here are some hints about the ordering of various Django middleware classes:

  1. SecurityMiddleware

It should go near the top of the list if you’re going to turn on the SSL redirect as that avoids running through a bunch of other unnecessary middleware.

  1. UpdateCacheMiddleware

Before those that modify the Vary header (SessionMiddleware, GZipMiddleware, LocaleMiddleware).

  1. GZipMiddleware

Before any middleware that may change or use the response body.

After UpdateCacheMiddleware: Modifies Vary header.

  1. SessionMiddleware

Before any middleware that may raise an exception to trigger an error view (such as PermissionDenied) if you’re using CSRF_USE_SESSIONS.

After UpdateCacheMiddleware: Modifies Vary header.

  1. ConditionalGetMiddleware

Before any middleware that may change the response (it sets the ETag header).

After GZipMiddleware so it won’t calculate an ETag header on gzipped contents.

  1. LocaleMiddleware

One of the topmost, after SessionMiddleware (uses session data) and UpdateCacheMiddleware (modifies Vary header).

  1. CommonMiddleware

Before any middleware that may change the response (it sets the Content-Length header). A middleware that appears before CommonMiddleware and changes the response must reset Content-Length.

Close to the top: it redirects when APPEND_SLASH or PREPEND_WWW are set to True.

After SessionMiddleware if you’re using CSRF_USE_SESSIONS.

  1. CsrfViewMiddleware

Before any view middleware that assumes that CSRF attacks have been dealt with.

Before RemoteUserMiddleware, or any other authentication middleware that may perform a login, and hence rotate the CSRF token, before calling down the middleware chain.

After SessionMiddleware if you’re using CSRF_USE_SESSIONS.

  1. AuthenticationMiddleware

After SessionMiddleware: uses session storage.

  1. LoginRequiredMiddleware

New in Django 5.1.

After AuthenticationMiddleware: uses user object.

  1. MessageMiddleware

After SessionMiddleware: can use session-based storage.

  1. FetchFromCacheMiddleware

After any middleware that modifies the Vary header: that header is used to pick a value for the cache hash-key.

  1. FlatpageFallbackMiddleware

Should be near the bottom as it’s a last-resort type of middleware.

  1. RedirectFallbackMiddleware

Should be near the bottom as it’s a last-resort type of middleware.