1. 7 Loading Web pages
    1. 7.1 Browsing contexts
      1. 7.1.1 Creating browsing contexts
      2. 7.1.2 Related browsing contexts
        1. 7.1.2.1 Navigating related browsing contexts in the DOM
      3. 7.1.3 Security
      4. 7.1.4 Groupings of browsing contexts
      5. 7.1.5 Browsing context names
    2. 7.2 Security infrastructure for Window, WindowProxy, and Location objects
      1. 7.2.1 Integration with IDL
      2. 7.2.2 Shared internal slot: [[CrossOriginPropertyDescriptorMap]]
      3. 7.2.3 Shared abstract operations
        1. 7.2.3.1 CrossOriginProperties ( O )
        2. 7.2.3.2 CrossOriginPropertyFallback ( P )
        3. 7.2.3.3 IsPlatformObjectSameOrigin ( O )
        4. 7.2.3.4 CrossOriginGetOwnPropertyHelper ( O, P )
        5. 7.2.3.5 CrossOriginGet ( O, P, Receiver )
        6. 7.2.3.6 CrossOriginSet ( O, P, V, Receiver )
        7. 7.2.3.7 CrossOriginOwnPropertyKeys ( O )

7 Loading Web pages

This section describes features that apply most directly to Web browsers. Having said that, except where specified otherwise, the requirements defined in this section do apply to all user agents, whether they are Web browsers or not.

7.1 Browsing contexts

A browsing context is an environment in which Document objects are presented to the user.

A tab or window in a Web browser typically contains a browsing context, as does an iframe or frames in a frameset.

A browsing context has a corresponding WindowProxy object.

A browsing context has an opener browsing context, which is null or a browsing context. It is initially null.

A browsing context has a disowned boolean. It is initially false.

A browsing context has a session history, which lists the Document objects that the browsing context has presented, is presenting, or will present. A browsing context's active document is its WindowProxy object's [[Window]] internal slot value's associated Document. A Document's browsing context is the browsing context whose session history contains the Document, if any such browsing context exists and has not been discarded.

In general, there is a 1-to-1 mapping from the Window object to the Document object, as long as the Document object has a browsing context. There is one exception. A Window can be reused for the presentation of a second Document in the same browsing context, such that the mapping is then 1-to-2. This occurs when a browsing context is navigated from the initial about:blank Document to another, with replacement enabled.

A Document does not necessarily have a browsing context associated with it. In particular, data mining tools are likely to never instantiate browsing contexts. A Document created using an API such as createDocument() never has a browsing context. And the Document originally created for an iframe element, which has since been removed from the document, has no associated browsing context, since that browsing context was discarded.

7.1.1 Creating browsing contexts

To set the active document of a browsing context browsingContext to a Document object document, run these steps:

  1. Let window be document's relevant global object.

    Per this standard document can be created before window, which does not make much sense. See issue #2688.

  2. Set browsingContext's WindowProxy object's [[Window]] internal slot value to window.

  3. Set window's associated Document to document.

  4. Set window's relevant settings object's execution ready flag.


A browsing context has an associated creator origin (null or returns an origin), creator URL (null or returns a URL), creator base URL (null or returns a URL), and creator referrer policy (null or returns a referrer policy). These are all initially null.

To create a new browsing context, given null or a Document object creator:

  1. Let browsingContext be a new browsing context.

  2. If creator is non-null, then set browsingContext's creator origin to return creator's origin, browsingContext's creator URL to return creator's URL, browsingContext's creator base URL to return creator's base URL, and browsingContext's creator referrer policy to return creator's referrer policy.

  3. Let realm execution context be the result of creating a new JavaScript realm with the following customizations:

  4. Set up a window environment settings object with realm execution context, and let settingsObject be the result.

  5. Let document be a new Document, marked as an HTML document in quirks mode, whose content type is "text/html", and which is both ready for post-load tasks and completely loaded immediately.

  6. Ensure that document has a single child html node, which itself has two empty child nodes: a head element, and a body element.

  7. Set the active document of browsingContext to document.

  8. If browsingContext's creator origin is non-null, then set document's origin to it.

  9. Otherwise, set document's origin to a unique opaque origin.

  10. If browsingContext's creator URL is non-null, then set document's referrer to the serialization of it.

  11. If browsingContext's creator referrer policy is non-null, then set document's referrer policy to it.

  12. Implement the sandboxing for document.

  13. Execute the Initialize document’s Feature Policy algorithm on document. [FEATUREPOLICY]

  14. Add document to browsingContext's session history.

  15. Return browsingContext.

To create a new top-level browsing context:

  1. Return the result of creating a new browsing context with null.

This creates a top-level browsing context.

To create a new auxiliary browsing context, given a browsing context opener:

  1. Let browsingContext be the result of creating a new browsing context with opener's active document.

  2. Set browsingContext's opener browsing context to opener.

  3. Assert: browsingContext's creator origin is non-null.

  4. If browsingContext's creator origin is same origin with browsingContext's active document's origin, then copy the sessionStorage storage area of opener into browsingContext's set of session storage areas. These areas must be considered separate, not affecting each other in any way.

  5. Return browsingContext.

This creates a top-level browsing context that is also an auxiliary browsing context.

To create a new nested browsing context, given an element element:

  1. Let browsingContext be the result of creating a new browsing context with element's node document.

  2. Set element's nested browsing context to browsingContext.

  3. If element has a name attribute, then set browsingContext's name to the value of this attribute.

7.1.2 Related browsing contexts

Certain elements (for example, iframe elements) can instantiate further browsing contexts. These elements are called browsing context containers.

Each browsing context container has a nested browsing context, which is either a browsing context or null.

If a browsing context is the nested browsing context of a browsing context container, then the browsing context is said to be nested through the browsing context container's node document.

A browsing context child is said to be a child browsing context of another browsing context parent, if all of the following conditions hold:

A browsing context child is then a document-tree child browsing context of parent if it is a child browsing context and its browsing context container is not just connected, but also in a document tree.

A browsing context child may have a parent browsing context. This is the unique browsing context that has child as a child browsing context, if any such browsing context exists. Otherwise, the browsing context has no parent browsing context.

A browsing context A is said to be an ancestor of a browsing context B if there exists a browsing context A' that is a child browsing context of A and that is itself an ancestor of B, or if the browsing context A is the parent browsing context of B.

A browsing context that has no parent browsing context is the top-level browsing context for itself and all of the browsing contexts for which it is an ancestor browsing context.

It is possible to create new browsing contexts that are related to a top-level browsing context without being nested through an element. Such browsing contexts are called auxiliary browsing contexts. Auxiliary browsing contexts are always top-level browsing contexts.

The transitive closure of parent browsing contexts for a browsing context that is a nested browsing context gives the list of ancestor browsing contexts.

The list of the descendant browsing contexts of a Document d is the (ordered) list returned by the following algorithm:

  1. Let list be an empty list.

  2. For each child browsing context of d that is nested through an element that is in the Document d, in the tree order of the elements nesting those browsing contexts, run these substeps:

    1. Append that child browsing context to the list list.

    2. Append the list of the descendant browsing contexts of the active document of that child browsing context to the list list.

  3. Return the constructed list.

A Document is said to be fully active when it has a browsing context and it is the active document of that browsing context, and either its browsing context is a top-level browsing context, or it has a parent browsing context and the Document through which it is nested is itself fully active.

Because they are associated with an element, child browsing contexts are always tied to a specific Document in their parent browsing context. User agents must not allow the user to interact with child browsing contexts of elements that are in Documents that are not themselves fully active.

The following example illustrates the differences between active and fully active Document objects. Here a.html is loaded into a browser window, b-1.html starts out loaded into an iframe as shown, and b-2.html and c.html are omitted (they can simply be an empty document).

<!-- a.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<title>Browsing context A</title>

<iframe src="b-1.html"></iframe>
<button onclick="frames[0].location.href = 'b-2.html'">Click me</button>

<!-- b-1.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<title>Browsing context B</title>

<iframe src="c.html"></iframe>

At this point, the documents given by a.html, b-1.html, and c.html are all the active documents of their respective browsing contexts. They are also all fully active.

After clicking on the button, and thus loading a new Document from b-2.html into browsing context B, we have the following results:

For more explorations of the complexities involved here, especially as it impacts the session history, see A Model of Navigation History. [NAVMODEL]

A browsing context that is a nested browsing context can be put into a delaying load events mode. This is used when it is navigated, to delay the load event of its browsing context container before the new Document is created.

The document family of a browsing context consists of the union of all the Document objects in that browsing context's session history and the document families of all those Document objects. The document family of a Document object consists of the union of all the document families of the browsing contexts that are nested through the Document object.

The content document of a browsing context container container is the result of the following algorithm:

  1. If container's nested browsing context is null, then return null.

  2. Let context be container's nested browsing context.

  3. Let document be context's active document.

  4. If document's origin and the origin specified by the current settings object are not same origin-domain, then return null.

  5. Return document.

window . top

Returns the WindowProxy for the top-level browsing context.

window . opener [ = value ]

Returns the WindowProxy for the opener browsing context.

Returns null if there isn't one or if it has been set to null.

Can be set to null.

window . parent

Returns the WindowProxy for the parent browsing context.

window . frameElement

Returns the Element for the browsing context container.

Returns null if there isn't one, and in cross-origin situations.

The top IDL attribute, on getting, must run the following algorithm:

  1. Let windowProxy be this Window object's WindowProxy object.

  2. If there is no browsing context with windowProxy as its WindowProxy object, then return null.

  3. Let context be that browsing context.

  4. If context is a top-level browsing context, then return context's WindowProxy object.

  5. Otherwise, context must have a top-level browsing context (i.e. an ancestor browsing context with no parent browsing context). Return that top-level browsing context's WindowProxy object.

The opener attribute's getter must run these steps:

  1. If the current browsing context's disowned is true, then return null.

  2. If the current browsing context's opener browsing context is null, then return null.

  3. Return the current browsing context's opener browsing context's WindowProxy object.

The opener attribute's setter, must run these steps:

  1. If the given value is null, then set the current browsing context's disowned to true and return.

  2. Return ? OrdinaryDefineOwnProperty(this Window object, "opener", { [[Value]]: the given value, [[Writable]]: true, [[Enumerable]]: true, [[Configurable]]: true }).

If a browsing context's disowned is true, its window.opener attribute is null. That prevents scripts in the browsing context from changing any properties of its opener browsing context's Window object (i.e., the Window object from which the browsing context was created).

Otherwise, if a browsing context's disowned is false, then scripts in that browsing context can use window.opener to change properties of its opener browsing context's Window object. For example, a script running in the browsing context can change the value of window.opener.location, causing the opener browsing context to navigate to a completely different document.

The parent IDL attribute, on getting, must run the following algorithm:

  1. Let windowProxy be this Window object's WindowProxy object.

  2. If there is no browsing context with windowProxy as its WindowProxy object, then return null.

  3. Let context be that browsing context.

  4. If context is a child browsing context of another browsing context parent, then return parent's WindowProxy object.

  5. Otherwise, context must be a top-level browsing context. Return context's WindowProxy object.

The frameElement IDL attribute, on getting, must run the following algorithm:

  1. Let windowProxy be this Window object's WindowProxy object.

  2. If there is no browsing context with windowProxy as its WindowProxy object, then return null.

  3. Let context be that browsing context.

  4. If context is not a nested browsing context, then return null.

  5. Let container be context's browsing context container.

  6. If container's node document's origin is not same origin-domain with the current settings object's origin, then return null.

  7. Return container.

An example of when these IDL attributes can return null is as follows:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<iframe></iframe>

<script>
"use strict";
const element = document.querySelector("iframe");
const iframeWindow = element.contentWindow;
element.remove();

console.assert(iframeWindow.top === null);
console.assert(iframeWindow.parent === null);
console.assert(iframeWindow.frameElement === null);
</script>

Here the browsing context corresponding to iframeWindow was discarded when element was removed from the document.

7.1.3 Security

A browsing context A is familiar with a second browsing context B if one of the following conditions is true:


A browsing context A is allowed to navigate a second browsing context B if the following algorithm returns true:

  1. If A is not the same browsing context as B, and A is not one of the ancestor browsing contexts of B, and B is not a top-level browsing context, and A's active document's active sandboxing flag set has its sandboxed navigation browsing context flag set, then return false.

  2. Otherwise, if B is a top-level browsing context, and is one of the ancestor browsing contexts of A, then:

    1. If this algorithm is triggered by user activation and A's active document's active sandboxing flag set has its sandboxed top-level navigation with user activation browsing context flag set, then return false.

    2. Otherwise, if this algorithm is not triggered by user activation and A's active document's active sandboxing flag set has its sandboxed top-level navigation without user activation browsing context flag set, then return false.

  3. Otherwise, if B is a top-level browsing context, and is neither A nor one of the ancestor browsing contexts of A, and A's Document's active sandboxing flag set has its sandboxed navigation browsing context flag set, and A is not the one permitted sandboxed navigator of B, then return false.

  4. Return true.


An element has a browsing context scope origin if its Document's browsing context is a top-level browsing context or if all of its Document's ancestor browsing contexts all have active documents whose origin are the same origin as the element's node document's origin. If an element has a browsing context scope origin, then its value is the origin of the element's node document.

7.1.4 Groupings of browsing contexts

Each browsing context is defined as having a list of one or more directly reachable browsing contexts. These are:

The transitive closure of all the browsing contexts that are directly reachable browsing contexts forms a unit of related browsing contexts.

Each unit of related browsing contexts is then further divided into the smallest number of groups such that every member of each group has an active document with an origin that, through appropriate manipulation of the document.domain attribute, could be made to be same origin-domain with other members of the group, but could not be made the same as members of any other group. Each such group is a unit of related similar-origin browsing contexts.

7.1.5 Browsing context names

Browsing contexts can have a browsing context name. Unless stated otherwise, it is the empty string.

A valid browsing context name is any string with at least one character that does not start with a U+005F LOW LINE character. (Names starting with an underscore are reserved for special keywords.)

A valid browsing context name or keyword is any string that is either a valid browsing context name or that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for one of: _blank, _self, _parent, or _top.

These values have different meanings based on whether the page is sandboxed or not, as summarized in the following (non-normative) table. In this table, "current" means the browsing context that the link or script is in, "parent" means the parent browsing context of the one the link or script is in, "top" means the top-level browsing context of the one the link or script is in, "new" means a new top-level browsing context or auxiliary browsing context is to be created, subject to various user preferences and user agent policies, "none" means that nothing will happen, and "maybe new" means the same as "new" if the "allow-popups" keyword is also specified on the sandbox attribute (or if the user overrode the sandboxing), and the same as "none" otherwise.

Keyword Ordinary effect Effect in an iframe with...
sandbox="" sandbox="allow-top-navigation"
none specified, for links and form submissions current current current
empty string current current current
_blank new maybe new maybe new
_self current current current
_parent if there isn't a parent current current current
_parent if parent is also top parent/top none parent/top
_parent if there is one and it's not top parent none none
_top if top is current current current current
_top if top is not current top none top
name that doesn't exist new maybe new maybe new
name that exists and is a descendant specified descendant specified descendant specified descendant
name that exists and is current current current current
name that exists and is an ancestor that is top specified ancestor none specified ancestor/top
name that exists and is an ancestor that is not top specified ancestor none none
other name that exists with common top specified none none
name that exists with different top, if familiar and one permitted sandboxed navigator specified specified specified
name that exists with different top, if familiar but not one permitted sandboxed navigator specified none none
name that exists with different top, not familiar new maybe new maybe new

Most of the restrictions on sandboxed browsing contexts are applied by other algorithms, e.g. the navigation algorithm, not the rules for choosing a browsing context given below.


The rules for choosing a browsing context, given a browsing context name name, a browsing context current, and a boolean noopener are as follows:

  1. Let chosen be null.

  2. Let new be false.

  3. Let sandboxingFlagSet be current's active document's active sandboxing flag set.

  4. If name is the empty string or an ASCII case-insensitive match for "_self", then set chosen to current.

  5. Otherwise, if name is an ASCII case-insensitive match for "_parent", set chosen to current's parent browsing context, if any, and current otherwise.

  6. Otherwise, if name is an ASCII case-insensitive match for "_top", set chosen to current's top-level browsing context, if any, and current otherwise.

  7. Otherwise, if name is not an ASCII case-insensitive match for "_blank", there exists a browsing context whose name is the same as name, current is familiar with that browsing context, and the user agent determines that the two browsing contexts are related enough that it is ok if they reach each other, set chosen to that browsing context. If there are multiple matching browsing contexts, the user agent should set chosen to one in some arbitrary consistent manner, such as the most recently opened, most recently focused, or more closely related.

    This will be made more precise in issue #1440.

  8. Otherwise, a new browsing context is being requested, and what happens depends on the user agent's configuration and abilities — it is determined by the rules given for the first applicable option from the following list:

    The user agent may inform the user that a popup has been blocked.

    If sandboxingFlagSet has the sandboxed auxiliary navigation browsing context flag set

    The user agent may offer the user one of:

    1. Set chosen to the result of creating a new top-level browsing context and set new to true.

    2. Set chosen to an existing top-level browsing context.

    If this case occurs, it means that an author has explicitly sandboxed the document that is trying to open a link.

    If the user declines or the user agent doesn't offer the above, the variables remain unchanged.

    If the user agent has been configured such that in this instance it will create a new browsing context
    1. Set new to true.

    2. If noopener is true, then set chosen to the result of creating a new top-level browsing context.

    3. Otherwise:

      1. Set chosen to the result of creating a new auxiliary browsing context with current.

      2. If sandboxingFlagSet's sandboxed navigation browsing context flag is set, then current must be set as chosen's one permitted sandboxed navigator.

    4. If sandboxingFlagSet's sandbox propagates to auxiliary browsing contexts flag is set, then all the flags that are set in sandboxingFlagSet must be set in chosen's popup sandboxing flag set.

    5. If name is not an ASCII case-insensitive match for "_blank", then set chosen's name to name.

    If the newly created browsing context is immediately navigated, then the navigation will be done with replacement enabled.

    If the user agent has been configured such that in this instance it will reuse current

    Set chosen to current.

    If the user agent has been configured such that in this instance it will not find a browsing context

    Do nothing.

    User agents are encouraged to provide a way for users to configure the user agent to always reuse current.

  9. Return chosen and new.

7.2 Security infrastructure for Window, WindowProxy, and Location objects

Although typically objects cannot be accessed across origins, the web platform would not be true to itself if it did not have some legacy exceptions to that rule that the web depends upon.

7.2.1 Integration with IDL

When perform a security check is invoked, with a platformObject, identifier, and type, run these steps:

  1. If platformObject is a Window or Location object, then:

    1. Repeat for each e that is an element of ! CrossOriginProperties(platformObject):

      1. If SameValue(e.[[Property]], identifier) is true, then:

        1. If type is "method" and e has neither [[NeedsGet]] nor [[NeedsSet]], then return.

        2. Otherwise, if type is "getter" and e.[[NeedsGet]] is true, then return.

        3. Otherwise, if type is "setter" and e.[[NeedsSet]] is true, then return.

  2. If ! IsPlatformObjectSameOrigin(platformObject) is false, then throw a "SecurityError" DOMException.

7.2.2 Shared internal slot: [[CrossOriginPropertyDescriptorMap]]

Window and Location objects both have a [[CrossOriginPropertyDescriptorMap]] internal slot, whose value is initially an empty map.

The [[CrossOriginPropertyDescriptorMap]] internal slot contains a map with entries whose keys are (currentGlobal, objectGlobal, propertyKey)-tuples and values are property descriptors, as a memoization of what is visible to scripts when currentGlobal inspects a Window or Location object from objectGlobal. It is filled lazily by CrossOriginGetOwnPropertyHelper, which consults it on future lookups.

User agents should allow a value held in the map to be garbage collected along with its corresponding key when nothing holds a reference to any part of the value. That is, as long as garbage collection is not observable.

For example, with const href = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(crossOriginLocation, "href").set the value and its corresponding key in the map cannot be garbage collected as that would be observable.

User agents may have an optimization whereby they remove key-value pairs from the map when document.domain is set. This is not observable as document.domain cannot revisit an earlier value.

For example, setting document.domain to "example.com" on www.example.com means user agents can remove all key-value pairs from the map where part of the key is www.example.com, as that can never be part of the origin again and therefore the corresponding value could never be retrieved from the map.

7.2.3 Shared abstract operations

7.2.3.1 CrossOriginProperties ( O )
  1. Assert: O is a Location or Window object.

  2. If O is a Location object, then return « { [[Property]]: "href", [[NeedsGet]]: false, [[NeedsSet]]: true }, { [[Property]]: "replace" } ».

  3. Let crossOriginWindowProperties be « { [[Property]]: "window", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "self", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "location", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: true }, { [[Property]]: "close" }, { [[Property]]: "closed", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "focus" }, { [[Property]]: "blur" }, { [[Property]]: "frames", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "length", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "top", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "opener", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "parent", [[NeedsGet]]: true, [[NeedsSet]]: false }, { [[Property]]: "postMessage" } ».

  4. Repeat for each e that is an element of O's document-tree child browsing context name property set:

    1. Add { [[Property]]: e, [[HideFromKeys]]: true } as the last element of crossOriginWindowProperties.

  5. Return crossOriginWindowProperties.

Indexed properties do not need to be safelisted as they are handled directly by the WindowProxy object.

7.2.3.2 CrossOriginPropertyFallback ( P )
  1. If P is "then", @@toStringTag, @@hasInstance, or @@isConcatSpreadable, then return PropertyDescriptor{ [[Value]]: undefined, [[Writable]]: false, [[Enumerable]]: false, [[Configurable]]: true }.

  2. Throw a "SecurityError" DOMException.

7.2.3.3 IsPlatformObjectSameOrigin ( O )
  1. Return true if the current settings object's origin is same origin-domain with O's relevant settings object's origin, and false otherwise.

7.2.3.4 CrossOriginGetOwnPropertyHelper ( O, P )

If this abstract operation returns undefined and there is no custom behavior, the caller needs to throw a "SecurityError" DOMException. In practice this is handled by the caller calling CrossOriginPropertyFallback.

  1. Let crossOriginKey be a tuple consisting of the current settings object, O's relevant settings object, and P.

  2. Repeat for each e that is an element of ! CrossOriginProperties(O):

    1. If SameValue(e.[[Property]], P) is true, then:

      1. If the value of the [[CrossOriginPropertyDescriptorMap]] internal slot of O contains an entry whose key is crossOriginKey, then return that entry's value.

      2. Let originalDesc be OrdinaryGetOwnProperty(O, P).

      3. Let crossOriginDesc be undefined.

      4. If e.[[NeedsGet]] and e.[[NeedsSet]] are absent, then:

        1. Let value be originalDesc.[[Value]].

        2. If ! IsCallable(value) is true, then set value to an anonymous built-in function, created in the current Realm Record, that performs the same steps as the IDL operation P on object O.

        3. Set crossOriginDesc to PropertyDescriptor{ [[Value]]: value, [[Enumerable]]: false, [[Writable]]: false, [[Configurable]]: true }.

      5. Otherwise:

        1. Let crossOriginGet be undefined.

        2. If e.[[NeedsGet]] is true, then set crossOriginGet to an anonymous built-in function, created in the current Realm Record, that performs the same steps as the getter of the IDL attribute P on object O.

        3. Let crossOriginSet be undefined.

        4. If e.[[NeedsSet]] is true, then set crossOriginSet to an anonymous built-in function, created in the current Realm Record, that performs the same steps as the setter of the IDL attribute P on object O.

        5. Set crossOriginDesc to PropertyDescriptor{ [[Get]]: crossOriginGet, [[Set]]: crossOriginSet, [[Enumerable]]: false, [[Configurable]]: true }.

      6. Create an entry in the value of the [[CrossOriginPropertyDescriptorMap]] internal slot of O with key crossOriginKey and value crossOriginDesc.

      7. Return crossOriginDesc.

  3. Return undefined.

The reason that the property descriptors produced here are configurable is to preserve the invariants of the essential internal methods required by the JavaScript specification. In particular, since the value of the property can change as a consequence of navigation, it is required that the property be configurable. (However, see tc39/ecma262 issue #672 and references to it elsewhere in this specification for cases where we are not able to preserve these invariants, for compatibility with existing Web content.) [JAVASCRIPT]

The reason the property descriptors are non-enumerable, despite this mismatching the same-origin behavior, is for compatibility with existing Web content. See issue #3183 for details.

7.2.3.5 CrossOriginGet ( O, P, Receiver )
  1. Let desc be ? O.[[GetOwnProperty]](P).

  2. Assert: desc is not undefined.

  3. If ! IsDataDescriptor(desc) is true, then return desc.[[Value]].

  4. Assert: IsAccessorDescriptor(desc) is true.

  5. Let getter be desc.[[Get]].

  6. If getter is undefined, then throw a "SecurityError" DOMException.

  7. Return ? Call(getter, Receiver).

7.2.3.6 CrossOriginSet ( O, P, V, Receiver )
  1. Let desc be ? O.[[GetOwnProperty]](P).

  2. Assert: desc is not undefined.

  3. If desc.[[Set]] is present and its value is not undefined, then:

    1. Perform ? Call(setter, Receiver, «V»).

    2. Return true.

  4. Throw a "SecurityError" DOMException.

7.2.3.7 CrossOriginOwnPropertyKeys ( O )
  1. Let keys be a new empty List.

  2. Repeat for each e that is an element of ! CrossOriginProperties(O):

    1. If e.[[HideFromKeys]] is not true, append e.[[Property]] to keys.

  3. If keys does not contain "then", then append "then" to keys.

  4. Return the concatenation of keys and « @@toStringTag, @@hasInstance, @@isConcatSpreadable ».