JavaScript – XMLHttpRequest, Access-Control-Allow-Origin errors

I’m attempting to send a XMLHttpRequest to a paste site. I’m sending an object containing all the fields that the api requires, but I keep getting this issue. I have read over the issue, and I thought:

httpReq.setRequestHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', '*');

Would fix it,but it didn’t. Does anyone have any information on this error and/or how I can fix it?

Here is my code:

(function () {

    'use strict';

    var httpReq = new XMLHttpRequest();
    var url = 'http://paste.ee/api';
    var fields = 'key=public&description=test&paste=this is a test paste&format=JSON';
    var fields2 = {key: 'public', description: 'test', paste: 'this is a test paste', format: 'JSON'};

    httpReq.open('POST', url, true);
    console.log('good');

    httpReq.setRequestHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', '*');
    httpReq.setRequestHeader('Content-type', 'application/ecmascript');
    httpReq.setRequestHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');
    console.log('ok');

    httpReq.onreadystatechange = function () {
        console.log('test');
        if (httpReq.readyState === 4 && httpReq.status === 'success') {
            console.log('test');
            alert(httpReq.responseText);
        }
    };

    httpReq.send(fields2);

}());

And here is the exact console output:

good
ok
Failed to load resource: No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource. Origin 'http://127.0.0.1:40217' is therefore not allowed access. http://paste.ee/api
XMLHttpRequest cannot load http://paste.ee/api. No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource. Origin 'http://127.0.0.1:40217' is therefore not allowed access. index.html:1
test

Here is the console output when I test it locally on a regular Chromium browser:

good
ok
XMLHttpRequest cannot load http://paste.ee/api. No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource. Origin 'null' is therefore not allowed access. index.html:1
test

Answer

I think you’ve missed the point of access control.

A quick recap on why CORS exists: Since JS code from a website can execute XHR, that site could potentially send requests to other sites, masquerading as you and exploiting the trust those sites have in you(e.g. if you have logged in, a malicious site could attempt to extract information or execute actions you never wanted) – this is called a CSRF attack. To prevent that, web browsers have very stringent limitations on what XHR you can send – you are generally limited to just your domain, and so on.

Now, sometimes it’s useful for a site to allow other sites to contact it – sites that provide APIs or services, like the one you’re trying to access, would be prime candidates. CORS was developed to allow site A(e.g. paste.ee) to say “I trust site B, so you can send XHR from it to me”. This is specified by site A sending “Access-Control-Allow-Origin” headers in its responses.

In your specific case, it seems that paste.ee doesn’t bother to use CORS. Your best bet is to contact the site owner and find out why, if you want to use paste.ee with a browser script. Alternatively, you could try using an extension(those should have higher XHR privileges).