How to fix x content type options weak on Magento Open Source

Steps for Magento Open Source

1. Follow the same Nginx/Apache steps as Adobe Commerce above.
2. Check for any third-party Magento extension labelled 'Security Headers' in your Admin → System → Extensions — if one exists, disable the server-level directive and manage it only via the extension, or vice versa, to avoid duplication.
3. Reload the web server and verify.

X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff

What is x content type options weak?

The `X-Content-Type-Options` HTTP response header is a one-line security instruction your web server sends to every visitor's browser. When set to `nosniff`, it tells the browser to trust the declared file type (e.g. "this is CSS" or "this is an image") and never try to guess or override it. A misconfigured header — such as sending the value twice (`nosniff, nosniff`), sending an empty value, or omitting it entirely — means the browser may ignore the instruction. This is classified as a Security Misconfiguration under OWASP A05:2021.

Without a valid `nosniff` directive, a browser may "MIME-sniff" a response — meaning it inspects the actual content of a file to decide what type it really is, overriding what your server declared. Attackers can exploit this to disguise a malicious script as an innocent image or text file; if a browser sniffs it and runs it as JavaScript, your customers can be exposed to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks that steal payment data, session tokens, or account credentials. Beyond the direct security risk, this misconfiguration is flagged by security scanners and PCI-DSS auditors, and a duplicate or malformed header value (like `nosniff, nosniff`) signals misconfigured infrastructure that may undermine trust with both auditors and customers.

See the complete X content type options weak guide for every platform and the full background.