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All glossary terms

Proxy & networking

CONNECT tunnel

An HTTP CONNECT request asks a proxy to establish a bidirectional tunnel to a destination authority. After the proxy accepts the tunnel, it normally relays bytes rather than interpreting the application protocol carried inside it.

Also known as HTTP CONNECT tunnel.

Why it matters in practice

Clients commonly use CONNECT to carry TLS traffic through an HTTP proxy. When TLS remains opaque, the proxy cannot rewrite encrypted headers or inspect the HTTP method and path. Request-level policy or credential injection needs a separate inspection or termination design, which changes the connection trust model.

Example

A client asks its proxy to connect to api.example.com, then sends TLS bytes through the established tunnel.

Educational note

This definition is general information, not legal advice. It may omit facts that matter to a specific situation and does not establish or guarantee compliance.