Outbound REST mutual authentication
Mutual authentication causes the web service provider and consumer to authenticate with each other before communicating.
Mutual authentication verifies the identity of both the client and the server during an outbound REST connection.
When ServiceNow initiates an outbound REST request using mutual authentication, it presents a client certificate to the external server. The server validates the certificate and, if trusted, allows the connection to proceed. ServiceNow similarly validates the server certificate before completing the handshake.
Mutual authentication requires a client certificate and private key stored on the ServiceNow instance, and a server certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA).
Note: For information about mutual authentication for inbound web services, see Certificate-based authentication.
For information about using a custom HTTPS protocol profile to enable mutual authentication, see Create a protocol profile.
Parent Topic:Outbound REST authentication
--- title: Outbound REST mutual authentication description: Mutual authentication causes the web service provider and consumer to authenticate with each other before communicating. locale: en-US canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/api-reference/web-services/c\_OutboundRESTMutualAuthentication.html release: australia product: Web Services classification: web-services topic_type: concept last_updated: "2026-09-10" reading_time_minutes: 1 breadcrumb: [Outbound REST authentication, REST, Outbound, Web services, API implementation, API implementation and reference] --- # Outbound REST mutual authentication Mutual authentication causes the web service provider and consumer to authenticate with each other before communicating. Mutual authentication verifies the identity of both the client and the server during an outbound REST connection. When ServiceNow initiates an outbound REST request using mutual authentication, it presents a client certificate to the external server. The server validates the certificate and, if trusted, allows the connection to proceed. ServiceNow similarly validates the server certificate before completing the handshake. Mutual authentication requires a client certificate and private key stored on the ServiceNow instance, and a server certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority \(CA\). **Note:** For information about mutual authentication for inbound web services, see [Certificate-based authentication](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/platform-security/certificate-based-authentication.md). For information about using a custom HTTPS protocol profile to enable mutual authentication, see [Create a protocol profile](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/api-reference/web-services/t_CreateAProtocolProfile.md). **Parent Topic:**[Outbound REST authentication](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/api-reference/web-services/c_OutboundRESTAuth.md)
| title | Outbound REST mutual authentication |
| description | Mutual authentication causes the web service provider and consumer to authenticate with each other before communicating. |
| locale | en-US |
| canonical_url | https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/api-reference/web-services/c\_OutboundRESTMutualAuthentication.html |
| release | australia |
| product | Web Services |
| classification | web-services |
| topic_type | concept |
| last_updated | 2026-09-10 |
| reading_time_minutes | 1 |
| breadcrumb | Outbound REST authenticationRESTOutboundWeb servicesAPI implementationAPI implementation and reference |