--- title: "DTLS (Datagram Transport Layer Security) - Glossary | MDN" chunk: 1/3 source: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/DTLS" category: "reference" tags: "web, html, css, javascript, documentation" date_saved: "2026-05-05T05:29:10.340582+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- * [Skip to main content](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/DTLS#content) * [Skip to search](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/DTLS#search) [ MDN ](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/) HTML [HTML: Markup language](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML) HTML reference * [Elements](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements) * [Global attributes](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Global_attributes) * [Attributes](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference "See all HTML references") HTML guides * [Responsive images](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Guides/Responsive_images) * [HTML cheatsheet](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Guides/Cheatsheet) * [Date & time formats](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Guides/Date_and_time_formats) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Guides "See all HTML guides") Markup languages * [SVG](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/SVG) * [MathML](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/MathML) * [XML](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/XML) CSS [CSS: Styling language](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS) CSS reference * [Properties](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Properties) * [Selectors](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Selectors) * [At-rules](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/At-rules) * [Values](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Values) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference "See all CSS references") CSS guides * [Box model](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Box_model/Introduction) * [Animations](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Animations/Using) * [Flexbox](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Flexible_box_layout/Basic_concepts) * [Colors](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Colors/Applying_color) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides "See all CSS guides") Layout cookbook * [Column layouts](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/How_to/Layout_cookbook/Column_layouts) * [Centering an element](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/How_to/Layout_cookbook/Center_an_element) * [Card component](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/How_to/Layout_cookbook/Card) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/How_to/Layout_cookbook) JavaScriptJS [JavaScript: Scripting language](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript) JS reference * [Standard built-in objects](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects) * [Expressions & operators](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators) * [Statements & declarations](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements) * [Functions](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Functions) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference "See all JavaScript references") JS guides * [Control flow & error handing](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Control_flow_and_error_handling) * [Loops and iteration](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Loops_and_iteration) * [Working with objects](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Working_with_objects) * [Using classes](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Using_classes) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide "See all JavaScript guides") Web APIs [Web APIs: Programming interfaces](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API) Web API reference * [File system API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/File_System_API) * [Fetch API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Fetch_API) * [Geolocation API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Geolocation_API) * [HTML DOM API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTML_DOM_API) * [Push API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Push_API) * [Service worker API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Service_Worker_API) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API "See all Web API guides") Web API guides * [Using the Web animation API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Animations_API/Using_the_Web_Animations_API) * [Using the Fetch API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Fetch_API/Using_Fetch) * [Working with the History API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History_API/Working_with_the_History_API) * [Using the Web speech API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Speech_API/Using_the_Web_Speech_API) * [Using web workers](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Workers_API/Using_web_workers) All [All web technology](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web) Technologies * [Accessibility](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility) * [HTTP](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP) * [URI](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/URI) * [Web extensions](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions) * [WebAssembly](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/WebAssembly) * [WebDriver](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/WebDriver) * [See all…](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web "See all web technology references") Topics * [Media](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Media) * [Performance](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Performance) * [Privacy](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Privacy) * [Security](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security) * [Progressive web apps](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps) Learn [Learn web development](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development) Frontend developer course * [Getting started modules](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started) * [Core modules](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core) * [MDN Curriculum](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/curriculum/) * [Check out the video course from Scrimba, our partner](https://scrimba.com/frontend-path-c0j?via=mdn-learn-navbar) Learn HTML * [Structuring content with HTML module](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Structuring_content) Learn CSS * [CSS styling basics module](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Styling_basics) * [CSS layout module](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/CSS_layout) Learn JavaScript * [Dynamic scripting with JavaScript module](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting) Tools Discover our tools * [Playground](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/play) * [HTTP Observatory](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory) * [Border-image generator](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Backgrounds_and_borders/Border-image_generator) * [Border-radius generator](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Backgrounds_and_borders/Border-radius_generator) * [Box-shadow generator](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Backgrounds_and_borders/Box-shadow_generator) * [Color format converter](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Colors/Color_format_converter) * [Color mixer](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Colors/Color_mixer) * [Shape generator](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Guides/Shapes/Shape_generator) About Get to know MDN better * [About MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/about) * [Advertise with us](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/advertising) * [Community](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/community) * [MDN on GitHub](https://github.com/mdn) [Blog](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/blog/) 1. [Glossary](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary) 2. [DTLS (Datagram Transport Layer Security)](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/DTLS) # DTLS (Datagram Transport Layer Security) **Datagram Transport Layer Security** (**DTLS**) is a protocol used to secure datagram-based communications. It's based on the stream-focused Transport Layer Security ([TLS](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/TLS)), providing a similar level of security. As a datagram protocol, DTLS doesn't guarantee the order of message delivery, or even that messages will be delivered at all. However, DTLS gains the benefits of datagram protocols, too; in particular, the lower overhead and reduced latency. These features are especially useful for one of the most common areas in which DTLS comes into play: [WebRTC](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/WebRTC). All of the WebRTC related protocols are required to encrypt their communications using DTLS; this includes [SCTP](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/SCTP), [SRTP](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/RTP), and [STUN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/STUN). ## In this article * [See also](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/DTLS#see_also) ## [See also](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/DTLS#see_also) * [Datagram Transport Layer Security](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datagram_Transport_Layer_Security) on Wikipedia * Specifications: * [RFC 9147: The Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) Protocol Version 1.3](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9147) * [RFC 6347: Datagram Transport Layer Security Version 1.2](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6347) * Related specification * [RFC 5763: Framework for Establishing a Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) Security Context Using DTLS](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5763) * [RFC 5764: DTLS Extension to Establish Keys for the Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP)](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5764) * [RFC 6083: DTLS for Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6083) * [RFC 8261: Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) Encapsulation of SCTP Packets](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8261) * [RFC 7350: Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) as Transport for Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN)](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7350) * [RFC 7925: TLS / DTLS Profiles for the Internet of Things](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7925)