How to Handle SecurityError in Playwright?

Anushree Chatterjee

You might have encountered security errors in Playwright testing when accessing a website with an invalid SSL certificate. In this case, the browser typically throws an SSL certificate error, preventing the test script from accessing the website. This is common when working with local development servers that might use self-signed certificates.

Likewise, other issues can also crop up that cause such errors, though Playwright does provide ways to deal with signing in before each test by reusing existing authentication state, managing cookies and local storage-based authentication, and ways to load or save session storage.

Let’s take a look at what kind of security errors can occur when testing using Playwright and how to handle them.

Causes for security issues in Playwright

Security errors encountered in Playwright can be due to a variety of factors. You can broadly categorize them into:

• Browser security features: Modern browsers have built-in security features that can block certain actions, especially around cross-origin requests, cookies, and local storage.
• Website configurations: Websites themselves might have security measures that prevent automated tools like Playwright from performing certain actions, or they might have SSL/TLS certificate issues.
• Playwright configuration: The way Playwright is set up, including its permissions and settings, can impact how it interacts with websites and the browser’s security features.

Determining the exact cause requires analyzing the specific context and error messages you are receiving. It could be a mix of these factors or something specific to your environment.

Resolution for security issues in Playwright

First, try to understand why the error is being thrown before you jump in to change configurations.

• Check HTTPS certificates: If the error is related to an SSL/TLS certificate, common in environments like local development servers, you might consider bypassing the HTTPS checks. You can do this by launching the browser with the argument --ignore-certificate-errors. However, be wary of doing so, as this exposes your system to insecure territories.
• CORS issues: If the error is due to CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) policies, check the server configuration to ensure proper CORS settings are in place. For testing purposes, you can use browser settings to bypass CORS checks, but like the certificate checks, this is not recommended for production environments.
• Browser security settings: Sometimes, browser security settings can trigger an error. You can modify these settings in Playwright by using context options or launch arguments, depending on what exactly is causing the issue.
• Update Playwright: Ensure you are using the latest version of Playwright, as updates often include fixes for various issues.

Utilize Playwright’s debugging tools to get more information about the error. This can include using console.log to print out error messages or running Playwright in headful mode to see what’s happening in the browser. You should also refer to Playwright’s documentation and community forums, as these resources can provide specific solutions for different instances of 'SecurityError'.

Opting for a smarter alternative

When it comes to end-to-end testing across platforms, you can shift focus to better test frameworks like testRigor. This generative AI-driven, cloud-based platform is best suited for anyone who wants to automate, as there are no restrictions on using a coding language to do so; plain English is all you need to write fully functional test scripts.

Security errors are not going to bog you if you’re working with testRigor. However, if you do encounter some browser-specific ones, then there are settings available that let you configure different aspects of the test environment setup, including whether to accept such insecure certificates automatically. Read an article to know if testRigor is secure.

That’s not all. You can integrate testRigor with different frameworks and tools that offer infrastructure, CI/CD, or test management services to build a full-fledged ecosystem.

You can read more about testRigor’s features or get your free account and see for yourself.

“We spent so much time on maintenance when using Selenium, and we spend nearly zero time with maintenance using testRigor.”

Keith Powe VP Of Engineering - IDT