What are some examples of CSRF attacks and how can I prevent them?

What are some examples of CSRF attacks and how can I prevent them?

CSRF, or Cross-Site Request Forgery, tricks a user into executing unwanted actions on a web application. Examples include unauthorized fund transfers or changing account settings without consent. To prevent CSRF, you can use anti-CSRF tokens, validate the HTTP Referer header, and implement SameSite cookie attributes.

Can you explain how anti-CSRF tokens work?

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

What are some common frameworks that support CSRF protection?

Many frameworks have built-in CSRF protection, including Django, Ruby on Rails, and ASP.NET. They typically provide mechanisms to generate and validate anti-CSRF tokens automatically.

Are there any tools to test for CSRF vulnerabilities?

Yes, tools like OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, and CSRF Tester can help identify CSRF vulnerabilities in web applications.