Category: Application

application/octet-stream

application/octet-stream is the RFC 2046 fallback MIME type for unknown binary files. Web browsers typically prompt the user to download the file rather than rendering it.

MIME / CONTENT-TYPE

ASSOCIATED EXTENSIONS

.bin, .exe, .dll, .iso

PRIMARY CATEGORY

Application

HTTP Headers & Web Server Configurations

Standard HTTP Response Header

Content-Type: application/octet-stream

Send this exact header in HTTP responses to instruct browsers how to decode and render the payload.

Node.js / Express / Web API

res.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
res.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=data.bin");

NGINX Configuration (mime.types)

default_type application/octet-stream;

Apache (.htaccess / httpd.conf)

DefaultType application/octet-stream

Security Advisory & Hardening

Never serve user-uploaded untrusted files as HTML/SVG; fallback to application/octet-stream with "Content-Disposition: attachment" to eliminate stored XSS risks.

Frequently Asked Questions

application/octet-stream Questions & Answers

Common questions regarding MIME types, Content-Type headers, and web server configurations.

The standard HTTP response header is: "Content-Type: application/octet-stream".

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