Re: [fetch] `user-agent` header control (#37)

Yes, a high-pri bug. That doesn't mean it wouldn't take the vendor months to fix it, or that users would upgrade instantly once the fix was out.

Let's say that 10% of users have browsers that are vulnerable to a bug. Let's say when this particular vulnerability is exploited, there is a detectable header anomaly. Let's say 1% of all users happen to be behind various crappy firewalls that introduce the same anomaly for legitimate requests.

With a working user-agent header, we can block the attack by telling 0.1% of users that they must upgrade their browser before they can use the site. Without, the choice would be to force-upgrade 10% of users, outright block 1% of users, or hope no one finds the bug.

...

It's not the end of the world, of course. We can add a few bits to some cookie; it'll just be one more layer of web cruft to carry around. You asked for a rationale for keeping a working UA header. What I have is "those of us who need it will have to reimplement the feature if you take it away". To be fair there's probably not that many of us. If the benefit of `User-Agent` over `X-Requested-With` is great, we can live with it.

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Received on Tuesday, 7 April 2015 15:00:22 UTC