What is CSRF and how can I prevent it?

What is CSRF and how can I prevent it?

CSRF stands for Cross-Site Request Forgery. It's an attack that tricks the user into executing unwanted actions on a web application where they're authenticated. To prevent it, you can use anti-CSRF tokens, same-site cookies, and ensure proper validation of requests.

Can you explain how anti-CSRF tokens work?

Sure! Anti-CSRF tokens are unique, secret values generated by the server and sent to the client. When the client submits a form, this token is included. The server then verifies the token to ensure the request is legitimate and originated from the authenticated user.

What are same-site cookies?

Same-site cookies are a type of cookie that restricts how cookies are sent with cross-site requests. By setting the SameSite attribute, you can prevent the browser from sending cookies along with requests initiated by third-party websites, thus mitigating CSRF risks.

Are there any frameworks that help with CSRF protection?

Yes, many web frameworks like Django, Ruby on Rails, and Express.js have built-in CSRF protection mechanisms. They automatically generate and validate anti-CSRF tokens for you.