Scope cookies by domain, path, security attributes, and storage rules

Use this document to resolve one bounded operational decision: Scope cookies by domain, path, security attributes, and storage rules. Only the official source and traced locations below supply facts. Confirm applicability before acting.

Source fact:

The official RFC 6265 — HTTP State Management Mechanism from RFC Editor / Internet Engineering Task Force supports the following bounded statements:

• A user agent sends a cookie only when a host-only cookie exactly matches the request host or a domain cookie domain-matches it, and the request path path-matches the cookie path. The research record locates this support at Section 5.4 (The Cookie Header), cookie-list selection.
• A Secure cookie is included only for a scheme the user agent considers secure, and an HttpOnly cookie is excluded when the cookie string is generated for a non-HTTP API. The research record locates this support at Section 5.4 (The Cookie Header), secure-only and http-only selection.
• Max-Age takes precedence over Expires when both are present; without either attribute, the cookie lasts until the user agent’s current session ends. The research record locates this support at Section 4.1.2.2 (The Max-Age Attribute).

The source support ends with the statements listed above. Use them to examine clients, origin services, intermediaries, caches, proxies, gateways, protocol versions, and security-policy enforcement points in the applicable environment, not to imply a wider guarantee.

What the source does not establish

This RFC evidence supports only the named web or transport decision; it does not prove browser, intermediary, library, or service compatibility. It does not establish a deployment’s current state, authorize a production change, prove compliance, or show that DNS, certificates, identity providers, time, content delivery, network paths, and application ownership are healthy. Documented options are review inputs, not universal mandates.

Applicability questions

• For source statement 1 at Section 5.4 (The Cookie Header), cookie-list selection, which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here?
• For source statement 2 at Section 5.4 (The Cookie Header), secure-only and http-only selection, which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here?
• For source statement 3 at Section 4.1.2.2 (The Max-Age Attribute), which observable configuration, record, or test can confirm applicability here?
• What inventory proves which parts of clients, origin services, intermediaries, caches, proxies, gateways, protocol versions, and security-policy enforcement points are in and out of scope?
• Which condition in DNS, certificates, identity providers, time, content delivery, network paths, and application ownership must be healthy before evidence is trustworthy?
• What result would disprove the working assumption and return the issue to the owner?

DSE recommendation:

DSE recommends using the cited source as the evidence anchor for this decision. Make the source, asset scope, owner, and expected outcome explicit in the review record. Record the source location, examined part of clients, origin services, intermediaries, caches, proxies, gateways, protocol versions, and security-policy enforcement points, observed and expected states, owner, and reason for deviation.

For an approved change, define prerequisites, a limited test path, success and stop conditions, monitoring, and rollback. Check DNS, certificates, identity providers, time, content delivery, network paths, and application ownership in design order. Protect credentials, keys, recovery material, personal data, and sensitive topology in evidence.

Verification and evidence

Tie each conclusion back to Section 5.4 (The Cookie Header), cookie-list selection; Section 5.4 (The Cookie Header), secure-only and http-only selection; Section 4.1.2.2 (The Max-Age Attribute) and to observable material such as request and response captures, negotiated protocol details, headers, cache behavior, certificate state, and server or proxy logs. Preserve provenance and stable identifiers without copying secrets into the evidence set.

Record the decision even when no change is made, including uncertainty and the next trigger. Use safe testing conditions for disruptive work, preserve rollback proof, and revisit the conclusion after relevant platform, dependency, vendor, or ownership changes.

Official references

• RFC 6265 — HTTP State Management Mechanism — RFC Editor / Internet Engineering Task Force