Understanding CSRF Protection in Django for Full Stack Python Apps

July 01, 2025

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is a type of security vulnerability where malicious websites can trick users into performing actions on your site where they're authenticated. Django, being a secure web framework, provides built-in protection against CSRF attacks.

Here’s a clear explanation of how CSRF protection works in Django and how it applies to full-stack Python apps.

🔐 What is CSRF?
CSRF tricks an authenticated user into submitting a malicious request to a web application they’re currently logged into. This can result in unwanted actions like changing account details or performing a transaction.

🛡️ Django’s CSRF Protection
Django protects against CSRF mainly by using a CSRF token. This is a unique value generated for each user session and included in forms and AJAX requests.

How It Works:
Token Generation: Django adds a hidden input with the CSRF token to every form rendered using the {% csrf_token %} template tag.
Token Validation: On receiving a POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE request, Django verifies that the token sent by the client matches the token stored on the server (in the session or cookie).

🧱 For Full Stack Python Apps
In full-stack apps where Django is the backend and there's a frontend (like React, Vue, or plain JavaScript), special care is needed to include the CSRF token in API calls.

1. Using Django Templates (Server-rendered Forms)
Add {% csrf_token %} in forms:

<form method="POST">
{% csrf_token %}
<input type="text" name="title">
<input type="submit">
</form>

Django middleware automatically verifies the token.
2. Using JavaScript Frontends (AJAX or Fetch API)
Django places the CSRF token in a cookie named csrftoken.
You need to read this cookie and include it in your headers for POST/PUT/DELETE requests.
Example (with Fetch API):

function getCookie(name) {
let cookieValue = null;
if (document.cookie && document.cookie !== '') {
const cookies = document.cookie.split(';');
for (const cookie of cookies) {
const trimmed = cookie.trim();
if (trimmed.startsWith(name + '=')) {
cookieValue = decodeURIComponent(trimmed.slice(name.length + 1));
break;
}
}
}
return cookieValue;
}

const csrftoken = getCookie('csrftoken');

fetch('/api/update/', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'X-CSRFToken': csrftoken
},
body: JSON.stringify({ title: 'New Title' })
});

⚙️ Settings and Middleware
Ensure you have the following middleware enabled in settings.py:

MIDDLEWARE = [
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
...
]

And the context processor in TEMPLATES:

'context_processors': [
'django.template.context_processors.csrf',
...
]

🧪 Testing and Debugging
CSRF failures throw a 403 Forbidden error.
In development, you can temporarily disable CSRF checks using @csrf_exempt, but never do this in production.
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt

@csrf_exempt
def my_view(request):
...

✅ Best Practices
Always include CSRF tokens in forms and JavaScript requests.
Avoid disabling CSRF checks.
Use HTTPS to protect the CSRF token in cookies.

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