Severity:

High

OWASP Top 10 2021 Category:

A04: Insecure Design

Solution:

To resolve this issue, you need to implement anti-CSRF tokens in your application to protect against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks. Here's a step-by-step solution:

1.

Generate a unique CSRF token:

- Create a random, unpredictable token that is unique for each user session.
- Store this token in a server-side session storage (e.g., database, cache).

2.

Include the token in all sensitive requests:

- Embed the CSRF token as a hidden field in all forms and AJAX requests that can perform sensitive actions (e.g., modify user data, submit payments).

3.

Validate the token before processing the request:

- On the server-side, compare the CSRF token submitted with the request to the token stored in the session.
- If the tokens match, proceed with the request. Otherwise, reject it as a potential CSRF attack.

4.

Set HTTP headers to prevent external requests:

- Add the following HTTP headers to your responses:
- `X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff`
- `X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block`
- `Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=; includeSubDomains`
- `Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; ...`

5.

Consider using a CSRF library or framework:

- Use a library or framework that provides built-in CSRF protection (e.g., Spring Security for Java, Django's CSRF middleware for Python).

Additional Notes:

* Ensure that the CSRF token is properly generated and validated for all sensitive requests.
* Regularly rotate the CSRF token to prevent attackers from predicting it.
* Use strong HTTP headers and CSP to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, which can be used to bypass CSRF protections.

Please be aware that some portions of this solution were generated by AI systems, which may occasionally produce inaccurate information. If you encounter any such issues, please Contact Us to report them.

---