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Oblivious HTTP (OHTTP) is an IETF protocol that sends an encrypted HTTP request through two independent services: an oblivious relay and an oblivious gateway. The relay can identify the client’s network connection but cannot read the request. The gateway can decrypt and process the request but, when the relay and gateway are operated independently, it does not receive the client’s direct IP address.

That split is OHTTP’s privacy benefit: it separates network identity from request content for supported, specially designed applications. OHTTP is not an anonymous web-browsing mode, a replacement for HTTPS, or a way to hide information from the service that ultimately handles the request.

What OHTTP is

Oblivious HTTP is a protocol for sending selected HTTP messages without allowing one intermediary to associate the sender’s network identity with the message contents. It is defined in RFC 9458, an IETF Standards Track specification published in January 2024.

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OHTTP uses two distinct roles:

  • Oblivious relay: accepts a client connection, sees the client’s network address and routing information, and forwards an opaque encrypted payload.
  • Oblivious gateway: receives the relay’s connection, decrypts the HTTP message, and forwards it to the target service.

The design assumes that these roles are controlled by independent operators. If one organization can inspect both the relay’s connection logs and the gateway’s decrypted requests, the intended separation disappears.

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OHTTP is intended for request types that can work without a continuously identifiable session. Examples include telemetry submissions, measurement reports, public lookups and other narrowly defined API operations where the application does not need ordinary browser-style continuity.

How an OHTTP request travels

The protocol wraps a binary HTTP message in public-key encryption before it leaves the client. A typical exchange works as follows:

  1. The client builds the request. The application creates an HTTP request for a specific target. OHTTP encodes that request as a binary HTTP message rather than sending ordinary plaintext HTTP headers and body directly to the relay.
  2. The client obtains gateway configuration. It needs an authorized gateway URI and the gateway’s public-key configuration. The client must have a way to determine that this gateway is permitted to handle requests for the intended target.
  3. The client encrypts the message with HPKE. OHTTP uses Hybrid Public Key Encryption (HPKE) to encapsulate the binary HTTP message to the gateway. The relay cannot decrypt this encapsulated request.
  4. The client connects to the relay over HTTPS. The relay sees the transport connection, including the client’s network address, but receives an opaque payload. HTTPS also prevents a network observer on that connection from reading or modifying the exchange.
  5. The relay forwards the payload to the gateway over HTTPS. The relay sends the encrypted message to the associated gateway. It does not need to know the plaintext HTTP method, path, headers or body.
  6. The gateway decrypts and forwards. The gateway uses its private key to recover the HTTP request, then sends a normal request to the target service. The target sees a request coming from the gateway’s connection, not a direct client connection.
  7. The response returns through the same privacy split. The gateway encapsulates the response for the client, sends it back through the relay, and the client decrypts it. The relay transports the response but does not obtain its protected contents.

OHTTP protects the message while it is crossing the relay. It does not prevent the gateway or target from processing the request after the gateway has decrypted it.

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Who can see what?

Participant Normally sees Does not receive from OHTTP alone Important qualification
Client Its own request and response, plus the relay and gateway configuration it uses Not applicable The client must trust its application, gateway authorization mechanism and endpoint security.
Relay Client network address, connection timing, traffic volume, the selected relay and associated gateway routing Plaintext request and response contents Traffic analysis and identifying information in unfiltered fields can still reveal useful clues.
Gateway Decrypted HTTP request and response, target details and the relay’s network connection The client’s direct network address, when the relay and gateway are properly separated A gateway can link requests through cookies, credentials or application identifiers included in the message.
Target service The request after gateway forwarding, including whatever headers and body the application sends The client’s direct connection address in the normal OHTTP arrangement The target can still identify an account, token, device or other application-level identity.
Network observer Encrypted traffic between client and relay and between relay and gateway Plaintext OHTTP message contents Both connections need HTTPS; timing, size and volume are not automatically hidden.

The key distinction is not that every participant sees nothing. Each role sees a different portion of the exchange, and the privacy goal is achieved only if no single party can combine the client’s network identity with the decrypted request.

Why the relay and gateway must be independent

The relay necessarily knows where the client connected from. The gateway necessarily sees the request after decryption. If the same operator controls both systems, it can correlate the relay’s connection records with the gateway’s request logs and reconstruct the association OHTTP was designed to break.

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RFC 9458 states the requirement directly: “To achieve the stated privacy goals, the Oblivious Relay Resource cannot be operated by the same entity as the Oblivious Gateway Resource.” Independence is an operational condition, not merely a setting in the client. Contracts, logging practices, retention periods and the possibility of collusion all matter.

Even separate companies can weaken the design if they exchange identifiers, share detailed timestamps or retain enough information to join records later. A deployment should minimize relay logs, avoid unnecessary gateway identifiers and document which metadata each operator retains.

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What OHTTP protects

  • Separation of source address and content: the relay can carry traffic without reading the protected HTTP message, while the gateway can process the message without receiving the client’s direct connection.
  • Confidentiality on the relay leg: HPKE keeps the encapsulated HTTP message opaque to the relay. HTTPS protects the transport connections in addition to the message encryption.
  • Reduced need to expose client addresses to an application: a target can receive a gateway-forwarded request instead of a direct client request.
  • Protocol-level, selective deployment: an application can apply OHTTP to a particular API or report type without turning every network request into an oblivious request.

What OHTTP does not hide

  • The request from the gateway or target: the gateway must decrypt the message to forward it, and the target receives the forwarded request.
  • Traffic patterns: RFC 9458 places traffic analysis outside the protocol’s protection claim. Packet timing, message sizes, frequency and connection metadata may still support correlation.
  • Application identity: cookies, authorization headers, API keys, account IDs, device identifiers and distinctive payloads can tell the gateway or target who is making a request.
  • All browsing activity: OHTTP requires explicit client and service support. It is not a drop-in proxy for arbitrary websites, browser tabs or applications that have not implemented the protocol.
  • Target authentication: OHTTP itself does not authenticate the target to the client. The client needs a separate mechanism to authorize the gateway and validate that the request is intended for the correct service.
  • Every identifying header: a relay that forwards unknown or unnecessary request fields can pass through information that defeats unlinkability. Deployments should define and enforce an allowed request shape.

Cookies, authentication and request unlinkability

OHTTP works best when each request can stand on its own. Traditional web state often creates a stable identifier that defeats the privacy objective even when the network path is split.

Cookies

A cookie can let the gateway or target recognize that multiple supposedly oblivious requests came from the same browser or account. A deployment that needs unlinkable reports should avoid cookies or replace them with carefully designed, privacy-preserving tokens whose reuse and lifetime are limited.

Authorization headers and API keys

Bearer tokens, account credentials and long-lived API keys directly identify the caller to the gateway or target. If authentication is necessary, the application must decide whether the privacy benefit is still meaningful and whether it can use an authorization design that does not reveal a stable identity on every request.

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Application-generated identifiers

Unique device IDs, detailed timestamps, rare combinations of fields and distinctive payloads can be identifying even without an IP address. OHTTP cannot remove information that the application intentionally places inside its own message.

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Deployment requirements and safeguards

An organization evaluating OHTTP needs more than an encryption library. The protocol depends on coordinated roles and explicit policy.

  1. Define a supported request type. Specify the HTTP methods, target paths, headers and body formats that may be sent. Avoid turning OHTTP into an unrestricted forwarding service.
  2. Choose independent operators. Separate relay and gateway administration, logging and access to records. The intended privacy property does not hold when one entity can inspect both sides.
  3. Provide gateway authorization. Give clients a trustworthy way to learn which gateway key and URI are valid for a target. OHTTP does not itself decide whether a gateway is authorized.
  4. Use HTTPS on both hops. The client-to-relay and relay-to-gateway connections both require HTTPS. Message encryption does not make an unsecured transport safe from active network attacks or metadata exposure.
  5. Filter request fields. The relay should avoid forwarding unknown fields that might contain identifying information. The gateway and target should also reject malformed or unexpected input.
  6. Plan logging and retention. Minimize relay connection logs, avoid unnecessary correlation identifiers and set retention periods that limit later reconstruction of a request’s path.
  7. Test state behavior. Verify that cookies, authentication, retries, error reports and client-generated IDs do not create a persistent link between requests.

Discovery through DNS service binding

RFC 9540 defines a way to discover oblivious services using DNS Service Binding records. Its ohttp service parameter indicates that access is available through an associated oblivious gateway.

This is a discovery mechanism, not a claim that every browser, operating system or website supports OHTTP. A client still needs protocol implementation, gateway authorization and an application designed to use the discovered service safely.

Current implementation example

Cloudflare documents a managed Cloudflare OHTTP Relay, formerly called Privacy Gateway, as an implementation of part of the OHTTP standard. Its documentation and getting-started material can help an organization evaluate relay deployment.

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This example should be understood narrowly: a managed relay demonstrates that deployment is available; it does not show that all browsers, websites or HTTP clients use OHTTP. Support remains application-specific and must be confirmed for the client and service being evaluated.

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OHTTP compared with other privacy-routing designs

Different tools protect different relationships. The useful comparison is which party sees the source address, which party reads the request, how application state links requests and whether a cooperating service deployment is required. The table describes architectural tendencies rather than a performance ranking; no adoption, latency or security winner is established here.

Approach Source-address visibility Content visibility State and deployment considerations
Conventional forward proxy The proxy normally sees the client address. The proxy may see requests that are not protected end to end; HTTPS limits it to transport metadata and the encrypted stream. Usually easier to use, but it does not inherently split identity from content across independent operators.
VPN tunnel The VPN operator sees the subscriber connection; destinations generally see the VPN exit. End-to-end HTTPS still controls application content. The VPN operator may observe metadata and any traffic not otherwise encrypted. Broad device-level routing is possible, but trust is concentrated in the VPN operator.
Tor-style multi-hop routing No single relay is intended to learn the complete path in the same way as a single proxy. Exit and destination handling depend on end-to-end encryption and the application. Designed for broader browsing anonymity, with different usability and traffic-analysis trade-offs.
OHTTP The relay sees the client address; the gateway receives the relay connection instead of the direct address. The relay cannot decrypt the encapsulated message; the gateway and target can process it. Requires explicit client and service support, independent relay and gateway operators, and careful handling of state.

When OHTTP is a good fit

OHTTP is a strong candidate when all of the following are true:

  • The application can define a narrow HTTP operation rather than support arbitrary browsing.
  • The service wants useful request content but should not receive the client’s direct network address.
  • The request can avoid cookies, long-lived credentials and other stable identifiers.
  • Independent relay and gateway operators are available and willing to coordinate.
  • The application can tolerate an extra relay-to-gateway hop and the operational work of key configuration, authorization and logging controls.

It is a poor fit when the application requires a continuously authenticated, stateful browser session, when one provider must control both relay and gateway, or when the target must know the caller’s network address for its security policy.

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Common failure modes

The relay and gateway are secretly the same organization

This allows direct correlation of connection and content records. Use genuinely independent operators and review ownership, access controls and data-sharing agreements.

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A cookie or token identifies every request

Remove unnecessary state, shorten token lifetimes or redesign authentication so that the privacy objective is not defeated by an application-level identifier.

The client connects directly to the target

That bypasses the identity/content split. The client must send the supported request to the relay using the gateway configuration rather than falling back to an ordinary endpoint.

A network observer can correlate both encrypted hops

HTTPS prevents plaintext inspection but not all metadata analysis. Reduce distinctive timing and batching patterns where the application permits, and do not describe OHTTP as protection against traffic analysis.

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The target is assumed to be anonymous

The target can read the gateway-forwarded request and any identity information inside it. OHTTP protects a network relationship; it does not erase account, credential or payload identity.

The practical privacy promise

OHTTP should be described precisely: under a deployment with HTTPS, authorized gateway configuration, independent relay and gateway operators, and requests that avoid identifying state, it separates a client’s network identity from the contents of a supported HTTP message. The relay sees where the connection came from but not the protected message; the gateway sees the message but not the client’s direct address.

That is a narrower promise than anonymity, and the distinction matters. OHTTP leaves the gateway and target able to process the request, leaves traffic analysis outside the standard’s scope, and requires application cooperation. Used for the right stateless APIs and deployed with independent operators, it provides a focused way to reduce address-to-content linkability without pretending that ordinary web browsing has become invisible.

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