crossrequest

Crossrequest is an informal term in information technology used to describe a request that traverses a trust boundary, such as a client on one domain requesting a resource on another domain, or a call from one service to another in a different security or administrative domain. The concept highlights the crossing of domain, project, tenant, or security boundaries during a single operation or transaction. While not a formal standard, crossrequest is used to discuss patterns in web APIs, microservices, and distributed systems where components operate under separate trust assumptions.

Contexts and patterns

Crossrequests arise in web development, API integration, cloud services, and microservices architectures. They can involve browser-based cross-origin interactions, server-to-server calls, or inter-tenant communications in multi-tenant environments. Common implementation approaches include token-based authentication (OAuth 2.0, JWT), API gateways, request signing, and service meshes with mutual TLS. Architectural considerations often center on enabling legitimate cross-boundary communication while enforcing least privilege and traceability.

Security and best practices

Because crossrequests cross trust boundaries, proper safeguards are essential. Strong authentication and authorization, input validation, and comprehensive auditing are standard requirements. In browsers, CORS configuration and origin checks help manage cross-origin access, while server-to-server communications rely on secure channels and robust access controls. Mitigations for related risks include protecting against CSRF-like concepts, using same-site cookies where applicable, and ensuring proper scope and revocation mechanisms for tokens.

Examples

A frontend application on one domain calling a REST API on another domain; a backend service in one tenant calling a shared service in another tenant; a microservice in a service mesh authenticating requests to a different internal service.

See also

Cross-origin resource sharing, same-origin policy, CSRF, OAuth, JWT.