Request Forgeries (CSRF)

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is a type of attack where an attacker tricks a victim into unknowingly performing an undesired action on a web application in which the victim is authenticated. The attack takes advantage of the trust that the web application has in the victim's browser by forging a request that appears legitimate.

The process of a CSRF attack typically involves the following steps:

1. Victim Authentication: The victim logs into a web application and establishes an authenticated session. The web application sets a session cookie in the victim's browser.
2. Attack Preparation: The attacker crafts a malicious webpage or email containing a request that, when triggered by the victim, performs an unauthorized action on the web application.
3. Victim Interaction: The victim accesses the malicious webpage or clicks on a malicious link in the email. This causes the victim's browser to automatically send a request to the target web application without their knowledge.
4. Unauthorized Action: The web application, unaware of the attacker's involvement, processes the forged request as if it were a legitimate action performed by the victim. This could lead to actions such as changing account settings, making financial transactions, or deleting data.

To mitigate the risks associated with CSRF attacks, the following preventive measures can be implemented:

• CSRF Tokens: Implement CSRF tokens as part of the web application's security measures. A CSRF token is a unique and random value associated with a user's session and is included in each request. The server validates the token to ensure that the request is legitimate and not forged.
• Same-Site Cookies: Utilize SameSite cookies to restrict the scope of cookies to the same origin. This prevents cookies from being sent along with cross-site requests, effectively mitigating CSRF attacks.
• Cookie Best Practices: Set the "HttpOnly" and "Secure" flags on cookies to prevent client-side scripts from accessing sensitive cookies and ensure cookies are transmitted securely over HTTPS.
• User Education: Educate users about the risks of clicking on untrusted links, accessing suspicious websites, or opening suspicious emails. Encourage them to log out of sensitive web applications when not in use.
• Web Application Security Testing: Regularly perform security testing, including vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, to identify and remediate any CSRF vulnerabilities. Follow secure coding practices and guidelines to prevent common CSRF attack vectors.