Http response with "Content-Encoding: gzip", but the content is not gzipped

Question

I have a question regarding gzip. Suppose the server adds the “Content-Encoding: gzip” header. But, the actual content is not gzipped (assuming the compression failed and it is sending the data without compression). What will be the impact of this? How will http clients (especially browsers) handle this?

Thanks, Narendra

Jay · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-09 12:53:01Z

1

The HTTP specifications state that the Content-Encoding response header specifies the encoding to be used to decode the content. However, it doesn't state what client should do in case of encoding mismatch. So it's up to the clients to decide.

answered Sep 9, 2012 at 12:53

Jay

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Jo Liss Over a year ago

Chrome for instance will discard the response. (If you load a page that has Content-Encoding: gzip but isn't a valid gzip stream, it will display a generic error message, and the Network tab in the devtools will show the request as "Pending" forever. I assume something similar happens with invalid images/JS/CSS etc.)

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