| #https://www.notion.so/n8n/Frontmatter-432c2b8dff1f43d4b1c8d20075510fe4 | |
| title: Security environment variables | |
| description: Configure authentication and environment variable access in self-hosted n8n instance. | |
| contentType: reference | |
| tags: | |
| - environment variables | |
| hide: | |
| - toc | |
| - tags | |
| # Security environment variables | |
| --8<-- "_snippets/self-hosting/file-based-configuration.md" | |
| | Variable | Type | Default | Description | | |
| | :------- | :---- | :------- | :---------- | | |
| | `N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE` | Boolean | `false` | Whether to allow users to access environment variables in expressions and the Code node (false) or not (true). | | |
| | `N8N_BLOCK_FILE_ACCESS_TO_N8N_FILES` | Boolean | `true` | Set to `true` to block access to all files in the `.n8n` directory and user defined configuration files. | | |
| | `N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS` | Boolean | `false` | Set to `true` to try to set 0600 permissions for the settings file, giving only the owner read and write access. | | |
| | `N8N_RESTRICT_FILE_ACCESS_TO` | String | | Limits access to files in these directories. Provide multiple files as a colon-separated list ("`:`"). | | |
| | `N8N_SECURITY_AUDIT_DAYS_ABANDONED_WORKFLOW` | Number | 90 | Number of days to consider a workflow abandoned if it's not executed. | | |
| | `N8N_SECURE_COOKIE` | Boolean | `true` | Ensures that cookies are only sent over HTTPS, enhancing security.| | |
| | `N8N_SAMESITE_COOKIE` | Enum string: `strict`, `lax`, `none` | `lax` | Controls cross-site cookie behavior ([learn more](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Set-Cookie/SameSite)):<ul><li>`strict`: Sent only for first-party requests.</li><li>`lax` (default): Sent with top-level navigation requests.</li><li>`none`: Sent in all contexts (requires HTTPS).</li></ul> | | |