The HTTP Proxy-Authorization request header contains the credentials to authenticate a user agent to a proxy server, usually after the server has responded with a 407 Proxy Authentication Required status and the Proxy-Authenticate header.
| Header type | Request header |
|---|---|
| Forbidden header name | no |
Syntax
Proxy-Authorization: <type> <credentials>
Directives
- <type>
- Authentication type. A common type is "Basic". See also the IANA registry of Authentication schemes.
- <credentials>
- The credentials are constructed like this:
- The username and the password are combined with a colon (
aladdin:opensesame). - The resulting string is base64 encoded (
YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l).
Note: Base64 encoding does not mean encryption or hashing! This method is equally secure as sending the credentials in clear text (base64 is a reversible encoding). Prefer to use HTTPS in conjunction with Basic Authentication.
- The username and the password are combined with a colon (
Examples
Proxy-Authorization: Basic YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l
Specifications
| Specification | Title |
|---|---|
| RFC 7235, section 4.4: Proxy-Authorization | HTTP/1.1: Authentication |
| RFC 7617 | The 'Basic' HTTP Authentication Scheme |