This directive sets policy applied when checking whether the
+Host request header in an HTTP request
+is compatible with the
The policy also applies to TLS connections where an SNI extension +is not sent during the handshake, implicitly using the default or +first virtual host definition. If the Host header in an HTTP request +on such a connection identifies any other non-default virtual host, +the compatibility policy is tested.
+ +The strict policy blocks all HTTP requests which are
+identified with a different virtual host to that identifed by SNI.
+The insecure policy allows all HTTP requests regardless
+of virtual host identified; such a configuration may be vulnerable to
+CVE-2025-23048.
+
The (default) secure, and authonly
+policies compare specific aspects of the SSL configuration for the two
+virtual hosts, which are grouped into two categories:
This table illustrates whether an HTTP request will be blocked or +allowed when the virtual host configurations differ as described, +under each different policy setting:
+ +| Policy mode | +Any VirtualHost mismatch | +Server certificate/key, or protocol/cipher restrictions |
+ Client verification/ authentication settings |
+
|---|---|---|---|
strict | blocked | blocked | blocked | +
secure | allowed | blocked | blocked | +
authonly | allowed | allowed | blocked | +
insecure | allowed | allowed | allowed | +