Top 7 CORS Misconfigurations in Laravel (With Fixes)

Introduction

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) is a critical browser mechanism that allows or restricts resources to be shared between different domains. Unfortunately, CORS misconfigurations in Laravel are among the most common yet dangerous vulnerabilities found in Laravel applications today.

Misconfigured CORS settings can expose your Laravel app to data leaks, session hijacking, and even cross-site request forgery (CSRF). In this article, we’ll dive deep into the top 7 CORS misconfigurations in Laravel, with step-by-step coding examples, security tips, and automated testing methods to help you harden your Laravel application.

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1. Allowing All Origins (*) in Production

One of the most dangerous CORS misconfigurations in Laravel is allowing * (wildcard) as an origin in production environments.

🚨 Vulnerable Code in config/cors.php

'paths' => ['api/*'],
'allowed_origins' => ['*'],

This permits any origin to send requests to your Laravel backend. Attackers can exploit this by hosting a malicious page that interacts with your API.

✅ Secure Alternative

'allowed_origins' => ['https://your-frontend.com'],

Always use specific origins in production and avoid using * unless absolutely necessary (and safe).

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2. Enabling Credentials with Wildcard Origins

You must never combine allowed_origins as * with supports_credentials set to true.

🚨 Misconfiguration

'allowed_origins' => ['*'],
'supports_credentials' => true,

This violates the CORS specification and can expose sensitive cookie-based authentication tokens.

✅ Correct Configuration

'allowed_origins' => ['https://trusted-frontend.com'],
'supports_credentials' => true,

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3. Overly Broad Allowed Methods

Allowing all HTTP methods such as PUT, DELETE, and PATCH can be unnecessarily risky.

🚨 Insecure Setup

'allowed_methods' => ['*'],

✅ Best Practice

'allowed_methods' => ['GET', 'POST'],

Restrict access to only the methods your frontend actually uses.

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4. Incorrect Headers Settings

If you allow custom headers without sanitization, attackers might inject unexpected headers like Authorization.

🚨 Misconfiguration

'allowed_headers' => ['*'],

✅ Secure Setup

'allowed_headers' => ['Content-Type', 'X-Requested-With'],

List only headers your application requires.

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5. CORS Not Configured for API Subdomain

Many Laravel applications use API subdomains (e.g., api.example.com). Failing to configure CORS correctly here leads to blocked frontend requests.

✅ Code for Subdomain Support

'paths' => ['api/*'],
'allowed_origins' => ['https://app.example.com'],

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6. Misconfigured CORS Middleware

Always ensure your HandleCors middleware is correctly added in app/Http/Kernel.php.

✅ Check Middleware Stack

protected $middleware = [
    \Fruitcake\Cors\HandleCors::class,
];

Without this, Laravel won’t process CORS headers, leading to frontend errors.

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7. Using Old or Unsupported Laravel CORS Packages

Many developers still rely on deprecated packages or custom middleware. Use the officially supported fruitcake/laravel-cors package.

✅ Install Properly

composer require fruitcake/laravel-cors

Then publish the config:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag="cors"

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📌 Real-World Exploit Example

Let’s say you configured your Laravel API to allow * as an origin and support credentials. Here’s a real attack vector:

// Malicious frontend hosted at evil.com
fetch('https://api.yoursite.com/user-info', {
  credentials: 'include'
}).then(r => r.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

If CORS is not correctly configured, this code can steal user data from authenticated sessions.

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📸 Screenshot of the free website vulnerability scanner tool

📸 Screenshot of an assessment report using our free tool to check Website Vulnerability

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🔗 Related Security Blog Posts

Boost your Laravel and React.js security knowledge further:

• 🔒 Stop Session Fixation in Laravel
• 🛡️ Weak SSL/TLS Configuration in Laravel
• 🧪 OpenCart Penetration Testing
• ✅ Prevent Session Fixation in React.js

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✅ Laravel CORS Security Testing Checklist

Here’s a quick checklist to verify CORS configurations in your Laravel app:

Checkpoint	Description
✅ Use specific origins	Never use * in production
✅ Disable credentials for public APIs	Avoid leaking sessions
✅ Restrict allowed methods	Only permit required ones
✅ Define headers explicitly	Avoid wildcard headers
✅ Enable CORS middleware	Ensure HandleCors is active
✅ Use fruitcake/laravel-cors	Don’t use deprecated CORS libraries

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🎯 Conclusion

CORS misconfigurations in Laravel can expose your backend to cross-origin attacks that compromise data and user trust. The good news is that they’re easy to fix with the right knowledge and configuration.

Always validate your CORS setup, avoid wildcards, and consider professional testing to future-proof your Laravel applications.

Stay secure, stay smart. Subscribe to our blog for more Laravel security insights.

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