Dynamic

Double Submit Cookies vs SameSite Cookies

Developers should implement Double Submit Cookies when building web applications that handle sensitive user actions, such as form submissions, financial transactions, or account changes, to prevent CSRF attacks meets developers should learn and use samesite cookies to improve the security of web applications by preventing unauthorized cross-site requests, which is crucial for protecting user sessions and sensitive data. Here's our take.

🧊Nice Pick

Double Submit Cookies

Developers should implement Double Submit Cookies when building web applications that handle sensitive user actions, such as form submissions, financial transactions, or account changes, to prevent CSRF attacks

Double Submit Cookies

Nice Pick

Developers should implement Double Submit Cookies when building web applications that handle sensitive user actions, such as form submissions, financial transactions, or account changes, to prevent CSRF attacks

Pros

  • +It is particularly useful in stateless or RESTful APIs where maintaining server-side sessions is challenging, as it provides a lightweight and effective defense mechanism without requiring server-side storage of tokens
  • +Related to: csrf-protection, web-security

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

SameSite Cookies

Developers should learn and use SameSite cookies to improve the security of web applications by preventing unauthorized cross-site requests, which is crucial for protecting user sessions and sensitive data

Pros

  • +It is particularly important for authentication cookies, where setting SameSite to Strict or Lax can block CSRF attacks, while None (with Secure flag) is used for cross-site scenarios like embedded iframes or third-party integrations
  • +Related to: http-cookies, web-security

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Double Submit Cookies if: You want it is particularly useful in stateless or restful apis where maintaining server-side sessions is challenging, as it provides a lightweight and effective defense mechanism without requiring server-side storage of tokens and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use SameSite Cookies if: You prioritize it is particularly important for authentication cookies, where setting samesite to strict or lax can block csrf attacks, while none (with secure flag) is used for cross-site scenarios like embedded iframes or third-party integrations over what Double Submit Cookies offers.

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The Bottom Line
Double Submit Cookies wins

Developers should implement Double Submit Cookies when building web applications that handle sensitive user actions, such as form submissions, financial transactions, or account changes, to prevent CSRF attacks

Disagree with our pick? nice@nicepick.dev