Skip to content
FixSecurityHeadersScan a site

How to add Referrer-Policy on AWS CloudFront

Last updated · Reviewed by a CISSP-certified security practitioner

To add Referrer-Policy on AWS CloudFront, set the header in Response headers policy with the value strict-origin-when-cross-origin. Limits how much of your URLs leak to other sites. Attach the policy to the distribution's cache behavior and wait for deployment. Then confirm it with curl -I or a free FixSecurityHeaders scan.

What does Referrer-Policy do?

Referrer-Policy controls what URL information the browser sends to other sites when users click links or load resources.

Risk if missing: Full URLs — including reset tokens, search terms or internal paths — can leak to third parties.

What is the AWS CloudFront configuration?

Add this to Response headers policy:

Response headers policy
// aws cloudfront create-response-headers-policy --response-headers-policy-config file://policy.json
{
  "Name": "fixsecurityheaders-policy",
  "SecurityHeadersConfig": {
    "ReferrerPolicy": {
      "Override": true,
      "ReferrerPolicy": "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"
    }
  },
  "CustomHeadersConfig": {
    "Quantity": 0,
    "Items": []
  }
}

How do I add it step by step?

  1. Open Response headers policy.
  2. Paste the Referrer-Policy configuration shown below.
  3. Attach the policy to the distribution's cache behavior and wait for deployment.
  4. Run curl -I https://yourdomain.com and look for the referrer-policy line.
  5. Scan your site on FixSecurityHeaders to confirm the grade improved.

How do I verify it worked?

terminal
curl -sI https://yourdomain.com | grep -i "referrer-policy"
# expected:
# referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin

Check your site now

Free scan, instant grade, exact fixes for your stack.

What are the common mistakes?

  • no-referrer is stricter but can break analytics attribution and some payment flows.
  • AWS provides a managed SecurityHeadersPolicy, but a custom policy lets you set CSP.
  • Enable Override so origin headers don't win.

Quick reference

HeaderReferrer-Policy
Recommended valuestrict-origin-when-cross-origin
StackAWS CloudFront
WhereResponse headers policy
ComplianceOWASP ASVS V14.4.6, SOC 2 CC6.7

FAQ

What value should I use for Referrer-Policy?

A safe default is strict-origin-when-cross-origin. no-referrer is stricter but can break analytics attribution and some payment flows.

Why isn't Referrer-Policy showing up on AWS CloudFront?

AWS provides a managed SecurityHeadersPolicy, but a custom policy lets you set CSP. Also clear any CDN or page cache, and check you edited the config that actually serves your domain.

Does Referrer-Policy affect SEO or performance?

No measurable performance cost — it's a few bytes per response. It doesn't affect rankings directly, but a misconfigured policy can break page resources, so test before enforcing.

Which compliance frameworks reference Referrer-Policy?

OWASP ASVS V14.4.6, SOC 2 CC6.7.

Related guides