Dynamic

SameSite Cookies vs CSRF Tokens

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 meets developers should implement csrf tokens in any web application that handles state-changing operations, such as form submissions, api calls for updates, or financial transactions, to enhance security against cross-site request forgery attacks. Here's our take.

🧊Nice Pick

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

SameSite Cookies

Nice Pick

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

CSRF Tokens

Developers should implement CSRF tokens in any web application that handles state-changing operations, such as form submissions, API calls for updates, or financial transactions, to enhance security against cross-site request forgery attacks

Pros

  • +They are particularly crucial in applications with user authentication, as they prevent attackers from exploiting logged-in sessions to perform unauthorized actions, making them a standard practice in frameworks like Django, Rails, and Spring Security
  • +Related to: web-security, session-management

Cons

  • -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use SameSite Cookies if: You want 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 and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use CSRF Tokens if: You prioritize they are particularly crucial in applications with user authentication, as they prevent attackers from exploiting logged-in sessions to perform unauthorized actions, making them a standard practice in frameworks like django, rails, and spring security over what SameSite Cookies offers.

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The Bottom Line
SameSite Cookies wins

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

Disagree with our pick? nice@nicepick.dev