Skip to content

Interview question · Application & API Security

What is HTTP request smuggling, and why does it happen?

Two servers disagree about where one request ends and the next begins. The scored answer explains the ambiguity, what an attacker gains, and why consistent parsing and HTTP/2 end to end fix it.

hardNewPreparation tags: Google, Amazon, MicrosoftUpdated Nov 2026

Two servers disagree about where one request ends and the next begins. The scored answer explains the ambiguity, what an attacker gains, and why consistent parsing and HTTP/2 end to end fix it.

Make your first attempt

What would you say before reading the answer?

  1. 01 State the assumptions your answer depends on.
  2. 02 Explain the mechanism and choose a control.
  3. 03 Name a condition that would change your decision.

The worked answer includes an approach, scoring criteria and follow-up questions. Compare the reasoning with your own.

10 answers per topic instead of 5, plus saved progress and bookmarks · costs nothingor unlock all 529 remaining answers · $25

Every worked answer in all 17 topics, every lesson in every course, the full concept curriculum, the complete practice-test bank, and the downloadable security field guides.

6 months · One payment · No auto-renewal

What if · the follow-ups in this answer

The answer works through 6 follow-ups like an interviewer would

A CDN forwards requests to an origin server over shared HTTP/1.1 connections, and a tester reports that the two disagree on request boundaries.

  1. What is request smuggling?
  2. Why does HTTP/1.1 make this possible?
  3. What can an attacker achieve?
  4. How do you fix it?
  5. How would you verify the fix?
  6. What would you recommend?

Each rung has a nudge, a model answer, the principle that carries over and the weak answer to avoid. Premium opens every answer and ladder.

UP NEXT ON YOUR JOURNEY
DISCUSSION · 0

No comments yet. Share a correction or a different way to answer it.