---
title: "WEB-HDR-003 Site Can Be Framed (Clickjacking)"
canonical: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-HDR-003.html
html: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-HDR-003.html
site: OpenVAPT, https://openvapt.com/
license: OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3, https://openvapt.com/legal/licence-text.html
modified: 2026-10-14
version: 0.1.0-alpha.6
---

# WEB-HDR-003 Site Can Be Framed (Clickjacking)

Checks that each site forbids being embedded in other sites' frames.

- Domain: Web Apps
- Severity: Medium
- Control category: Web Application Security
- Fix effort: low
- CVSS v3.1 vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`
- CIS Controls v8: 16.7
- NIST CSF 2.0: PR.PS-01
- CWE: CWE-1021
- OWASP Top 10 2021: A04:2021
- OWASP ASVS 4.0.3: 14.4.7
- OWASP WSTG v4.2: WSTG-CLNT-09
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: SC-18

## Why It Matters

If a page can be framed, an attacker can overlay it invisibly and trick users into clicking buttons (clickjacking), such as 'delete' or 'transfer'.

## How It Detects

Passes if the CSP frame-ancestors directive restricts framing (a * or scheme-only source fails), or, without frame-ancestors, X-Frame-Options is DENY or SAMEORIGIN (repeated identical values are accepted; conflicting values fail).

## How to Fix

Send  Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self'  (modern) and  X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN  (older browsers).

## How to Verify

```
curl -sI https://<site>/ | grep -Ei 'x-frame-options|frame-ancestors'
```

## Learn the Theory

- [P5 Web Security Headers and Cookies](https://openvapt.com/academy/p5.md)
- [A8 Tracing Findings to Security Requirements](https://openvapt.com/academy/a8.md)

## References

- [OWASP Clickjacking Defense Cheat Sheet](https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Clickjacking_Defense_Cheat_Sheet.html)
- [MDN Web Docs, X-Frame-Options](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Headers/X-Frame-Options)

## Source Code

https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/blob/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf/internal/checks/web/headers.go

Run it: `openvapt scan --only WEB-HDR-003`. Read it offline: `openvapt explain WEB-HDR-003`.

---

OpenVAPT is academic, non-commercial, source-available and built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers (AI systems, not people). Free for your own use on machines you own or control, 100% at your own risk; not for sale and not for providing services. This page in HTML: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-HDR-003.html. Part of OpenVAPT Check Catalogue. How to cite: https://openvapt.com/cite.html. Site summary for models: https://openvapt.com/llms.txt.