The requestValidationMode attribute in ASP.NET is used to configure built-in validation to protect applications against code injections. Downgrading or disabling this configuration is not recommended. The default value of 4.5 is the only recommended value, as previous versions only test a subset of requests.

Always set requestValidationMode to 4.5, or leave it at its default value.

The following example shows the requestValidationMode attribute set to a value of 4.0, which disables some protections and ignores individual Page directives:

Setting the value to 4.5 enables request validation for all requests:

  • Microsoft: HttpRuntimeSection.RequestValidationMode Property .
  • OWASP: ASP.NET Request Validation.