What is CSRF and how does it affect single-page applications?

What is CSRF and how does it affect single-page applications?

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. In single-page applications (SPAs), CSRF can be particularly concerning because they often rely on AJAX requests to communicate with the server.

How can I protect my SPA from CSRF attacks?

To protect your SPA from CSRF attacks, you can implement several strategies: use anti-CSRF tokens, ensure that state-changing requests require authentication, and consider using SameSite cookies.

What are anti-CSRF tokens and how do they work?

Anti-CSRF tokens are unique, secret tokens generated by the server and sent to the client. When the client makes a state-changing request, it must include this token, allowing the server to verify that the request is legitimate.

Are there any libraries that can help with CSRF protection?

Yes, many libraries can help with CSRF protection, such as OWASP CSRFGuard, csurf for Node.js, and Django's built-in CSRF protection features.