What is csrf token in django. Hence the name: Cross Site Request Forgery protection.
What is csrf token in django In this video I explain what are cookies, what are CSRF attacks and what are CSRF tokens (plus other wants of defending against CSRF attacks) using both Aug 6, 2018 · To ensure that this happens, you can put a csrf token in your form for your view to recognize. This could involve anything from changing account settings to initiating financial transactions. Make sure CSRF tokens are generated and being passed correctly. 4. CSRF tokens expires after a period of inactivity. One of these features is CSRF tokens, essential in protecting forms from Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks. But when I am trying to develop an API using Django REST Framework then I get stuck. Any page with a form generated before a login will have an old, invalid CSRF token and need to be reloaded. It offers many features to help developers with security. The Django documentation provides more information on retrieving the CSRF token using jQuery and sending it in requests. Sep 8, 2011 · Is there any standard length of the token which should be used while generating the random tokens? Should we use the same standard which we use for generating Session IDs? Cookies and CSRF attacks go hand in hand. Each CSRF token is unique to an individual user session and is embedded in web forms or We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Ensure you have django. Check if the CSRF tokens are actually mismatched. Is the post data not safe if you do not use CSRF May 3, 2023 · Django is a Python web framework you can use to build secure web applications. This article will show how to implement Cross-site scripting (XSS) protection in Django. Jun 11, 2021 · A CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) token is a unique security measure designed to protect web applications from unauthorized or malicious requests. “Stealing” or Apr 20, 2012 · Incidently, CSRF attacks are also the reason why people give the advice of never ever visiting other websites while being logged into an e-banking or other critical web application. It allows the Jun 15, 2021 · In this post, we’ll talk about what CSRF is and how it works. To enable it, Django provides the ` {% csrf_token %}` template tag that generates the CSRF token and adds it to the form. However I still get an error (CSRF verification May 18, 2025 · HTMX with Django CSRF Protection Django’s CSRF protection expects a CSRF token on all POST requests. May 3, 2023 · One of these features is CSRF tokens, essential in protecting forms from Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks. This eliminates the false positives associated with session cycling, and Mar 12, 2018 · The Django docs recommend to set a custom X-CSRFToken header for AJAX requests. Django's CSRF Token Mechanism: The CSRF token is generated for each user session and is unique to that session. If they don't match, the server will reject the request. In order to make AJAX requests, you need to include CSRF token in the HTTP header, as described in the Django documentation. Jul 23, 2025 · Django protects your website from XSS attacks by employing CSRF tokens, unique for each user, hidden in forms. Among these tools, CSRF protection and database Jan 13, 2025 · Layered Security in Django: Why ALLOWED_HOSTS, CORS, and CSRF Are Vital In a world where attacks and vulnerabilities evolve rapidly, securing a web application requires attention to multiple Jan 13, 2025 · Layered Security in Django: Why ALLOWED_HOSTS, CORS, and CSRF Are Vital In a world where attacks and vulnerabilities evolve rapidly, securing a web application requires attention to multiple [docs] class CsrfViewMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin): """ Require a present and correct csrfmiddlewaretoken for POST requests that have a CSRF cookie, and set an outgoing CSRF cookie. Additionally, while XSS defenses emphasize cleaning user input and session-hijacking CSRF is a common attack, so Django has a very simple implementation to negate this attack. 2, Luke Plant, with feedback from other developers, proposes: We should move to using a session independent nonce as a CSRF token, instead of a hash of the session identifier as used in Django 1. META): Mar 4, 2023 · Django CsrfViewMiddleware is responsible for checking the validity of the CSRF token for incoming requests and for adding the CSRF token to outgoing responses. Target Audience Environment Prerequisites How to Implement CSRF Token Authentication Why Implement CSRF Token Authentication? Implementing an API to Return CSRF Tokens Creating the Authentication Class Setting APIView Source code for django. From the docs: The CSRF token is changed each time a user logs in. It's impossible for an attacker to pass the same token in the form which matches the victim's cookie value. For AJAX, you can include the token in the request headers using JavaScript. However, this middleware can sometimes throw an error: “CSRF Failed: CSRF token missing or incorrect. If not understood and implemented properly Apr 27, 2025 · We must implement multiple measures to prevent CSRF attacks by validating request authenticity. It’s a specific type of token, often referred to as a synchronizer token or challenge token, that verifies the authenticity of requests made by a user. py. Dec 9, 2024 · Understanding CSRF Protection and Other Security Middleware in Django When building web applications, security is one of the most crucial aspects to consider. Sep 2, 2022 · CSRF stands for Cross Site Request Forgery, and it is said to occurs when a malicious Web site deceives users into unwillingly and unknowingly loading a URL from a site where they've previously been authenticated, thus exploiting their status and also putting the data at risk. Enabling CSRF Protection: CSRF protection is enabled by default in Django for all the relevant forms and views. CORS Cross-Origin Resource Sharing is a mechanism for allowing clients to interact with APIs that are hosted on a different domain. So, an HTTPS request has the following headers (taken from request. A common solution is to include the CSRF token in an hx-headers attribute. The goal is for it to be usable either by a web app (protected by CSRF) or by a third party application (protected Dec 17, 2018 · And all the default/recommended CSRF middleware behaves well once things have been set up. If a template with that name exists, it will be used to render the page. When using HTMX, you need to ensure the token is sent with your AJAX requests. TokenAuthentication Note: The token authentication provided by Django REST framework is a fairly simple implementation. But now, it's suddenly stopped working, Sep 6, 2010 · TOC CSRF Protection ¶ This page aims to document and discuss CSRF protection for Django. Hence the name: Cross Site Request Forgery protection. This is a security exemption that you should take seriously. The CSRF token is saved as a cookie called csrftoken that you can retrieve from a HTTP response, which varies depending on the language that is being used. csrf """ Cross Site Request Forgery Middleware. python django csrf django-csrf csrf-token edited Jun 29, 2024 at 10:27 nbro 16. Check if the session and CSRF token has expired. Feb 7, 2025 · I've been programming a Django application for over a year now. It generates a token on the server-side when rendering the page and makes sure to cross-check this token for any requests coming back in. Django offers robust CSRF protection mechanisms, but their proper implementation and understanding are critical. csrf. To protect from that, you'd use a CAPTCHA. May 11, 2017 · The CSRF token only ensures that only forms that have originated from trusted domains can be used to POST data back. Apr 5, 2015 · I am implementing an API that works either with an API key, or with a CSRF token. So it doesn't validate the data or how much data the form sends but if data comes from a form from a legit domain (your site usually). 1k 34 122 219 Jan 1, 2025 · Django, a powerful web framework for Python, provides developers with a range of built-in tools to manage security and database configurations. html'. CSRF stands for Cross Site Request Forgery. The synhronizer pattern, on the Jul 7, 2010 · I want to realize a login for my site. Summary ¶ For Django 1. Apr 26, 2025 · In web development, security is paramount. In this video, we will talk about CSRF Token, why it is used and how to use it to secure our form data. I basically copied and pasted the following bits from the Django Book together. If you add @csrf_exempt to the top of your view, then you are basically telling the view that it doesn't need the token. views. Then, we’ll walk you through examples in Django and how to prevent them. Jan 18, 2021 · I am writing an application (Django, it so happens) and I just want an idea of what actually a "CSRF token" is and how it protects the data. Check for any javascript errors in the console. Django requires this token for all POST requests to secure against cross-site request forgery. Dec 28, 2017 · Django unmasks the csrf cookie (csrftoken) (after version 4. CSRF is a common attack, so Django has a very simple implementation to negate this attack. CsrfViewMiddleware in the middleware section in your settings. This is typically done using Django-cors-headers package And why token authentication isn't subject to csrf attacks? It does not seem more secure to me than the session. 8K subscribers Subscribed django. CSRF tokens do not protect a web form being automatically submitted by regular authorized users as themselves. Consider using double submit Mar 15, 2018 · Given this QA in the django docs, you can see that the framework by default uses the Double Submit Cookie approach (rather than the synchronizer pattern). If the token is missing or invalid, Django rejects the request as a potential CSRF attack. The following lists are the table of contents about this article. Django, a powerful Python web Jul 23, 2025 · Django provides CSRF protection by default through middleware that checks for a CSRF token in POST requests. Django expects this token to be included in any POST request to verify the authenticity of the request. csrf_failure() accepts an additional template_name parameter that defaults to '403_csrf. This approach does not require the server to store the CSRF token, as the only check it does is comparing the token within the cookie with the one in the header (or parameter) and verify that they are equal. While Django provides robust CSRF protection, adhering to best practices is crucial for maintaining a secure application. This middleware should be used in conjunction with the {% csrf_token %} template tag. middleware. 1, Angular 6, and up-to-date version of dependencies) are the following Django side Oct 2, 2024 · In Django, you can use the {% csrf_token %} template tag to ensure that your form contains the CSRF token. CSRF protection is enabled via the CsrfViewMiddleware and the {% csrf_token %} template tag. Jan 13, 2019 · Again I would advise that you also add CORS verification which is the method used by browsers to safeguard against CSRF attacks in addition to Django's CSRF tokens. Jan 17, 2025 · Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is a security threat where malicious actors trick users into performing unwanted actions on a website where they are authenticated. I got the CSRF token working fine in the beginning and there haven't been any problems since. Jun 7, 2018 · If add line {csrf_token} in Django templates then Django handles the functionalities of csrf_token. 1 and earlier. Add the CSRF token in the login. In your custom authentication class, you are using the enforce_csrf function to check the validity of the CSRF token. For security reasons, CSRF tokens are rotated each time a user logs in. ” In this article, we’ll CSRF token in the form data must match the CSRF cookie. This guide will walk you through the importance, usage, and integration of CSRF tokens in the Django framework to ensure robust web security. Apr 23, 2025 · 🛡️ Practically Understand CSRF Token in Django CSRF is one of the most common web fundamentals that every web developer must understand. def _accept(self Jul 23, 2025 · Approaches to fix the “CSRF token mismatch error” There are some common approaches to this problem. A common vulnerability exploited in web applications is the Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attack. For an implementation which allows more than one token per user, has some tighter security implementation details, and supports token expiry, please see the Django REST Knox third party package. CSRF takes advantage of the browser’s default incorporation of cookies in cross-site requests, unlike Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) or session hijacking, which exploit poor input handling or stolen tokens. What Is a CSRF Token? A CSRF token is a security feature that protects web applications from Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks. Django has built-in protection against most types of CSRF attacks, providing you have enabled and used it where appropriate. 1 csrf cookie is not masked so it just gets the value) Django unmasks the token you sent (csrfmiddlewaretoken) Feb 11, 2025 · When using forms in Django, you must include the {% csrf_token %} template tag within the form to ensure it is properly protected. html template. For example, in your base template: Mar 7, 2025 · Django - AJAX Requests, HTMX & CSRF Tokens BugBytes 40. Would we compromise the CSRF protection if we similarly served the CSRF token in every response as header and (via Access-Control-Expose-Headers) allowed this header to be read by the frontend? Nov 13, 2014 · My Django process is running with gunicorn behind nginx, and I have nginx setting X_Forwarded_For. csrf_token Django has a {% csrf_token %} tag that is implemented to avoid malicious attacks. This token is included in forms or requests sent by the user and is checked by the server to verify that the request is coming from the authenticated user and not from a malicious source. There is some information DRF-specific and also a reference to the Django official documentation The minimal changes that, right now, are working for me (Django 2. Django, a popular web framework written in Python, includes built-in middleware to protect against CSRF attacks. Cross site request forgery (CSRF) protection ¶ CSRF attacks allow a malicious user to execute actions using the credentials of another user without that user’s knowledge or consent. Thanks for watching. """ # The _accept and _reject methods currently only exist for the sake of the # requires_csrf_token decorator. Nov 6, 2024 · A: CSRF errors are typically caused by missing or incorrect CSRF token headers in AJAX requests. Sep 3, 2023 · This article explains how to implement CSRF token authentication in Web APIs using Django REST framework. Apr 11, 2015 · Add a csrf token to your context in the login view and in your template add in the hidden div for the csrf token. Aug 5, 2025 · When a user is authenticated and surfing on the website, Django generates a unique CSRF token for each session. . As the name suggests, it involves a situation where a malicious site tricks a browser into sending a request to another site where the user is already authenticated. This token ensures that the request is coming from an authorized source and not a malicious third party. What is a CSRF Token? Apr 23, 2025 · CSRF is one of the most common web fundamentals that every web developer must understand. Disabling CSRF Validation for Specific I remember seeing people arguing for CSRF tokens for GET requests that have side effects, but Django's csrf protection doesn't protect GET requests anyway (and they shouldn't).