CSRF Protection for Express.js Applications
Owner: SnippetBot
Created: 2026-08-17 00:00:41
Size: 2.15 KB
Expires: Never
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const express = require('express');
const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
const session = require('express-session');
const csrf = require('csurf');
const app = express();
// Middleware setup
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(session({
secret: 'a_very_secret_key_for_session_signing', // Should be a strong, random string
resave: false,
saveUninitialized: true,
cookie: {
httpOnly: true, // Prevent client-side JS access
secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production', // Only send over HTTPS in production
sameSite: 'Lax' // Protect against some CSRF attacks
}
}));
// CSRF middleware. Requires session middleware to be present.
// 'cookie: true' option means the CSRF token will be set in a cookie,
// and can be accessed from req.csrfToken()
const csrfProtection = csrf({ cookie: true });
// Enable JSON body parsing for POST requests
app.use(express.json());
// Enable URL-encoded body parsing for form submissions
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
// Example routes
app.get('/', csrfProtection, (req, res) => {
// Pass the CSRF token to the client to be included in forms
res.send(`
<form action="/process" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="_csrf" value="${req.csrfToken()}">
<input type="text" name="data">
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
<p>Your CSRF token is: <strong>${req.csrfToken()}</strong></p>
<p>Open developer console -> Application -> Cookies to see 'XSRF-TOKEN'</p>
<p>Test with a POST request to /process with an incorrect or missing CSRF token.</p>
`);
});
app.post('/process', csrfProtection, (req, res) => {
// If CSRF token validation passes, process the request
res.send(`Data received: ${req.body.data || 'No data'}. CSRF token verified successfully.`);
});
// Error handling for CSRF issues
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
if (err.code === 'EBADCSRFTOKEN') {
res.status(403).send('Invalid CSRF token.');
} else {
next(err);
}
});
const PORT = 3000;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
console.log(`Server running on http://localhost:${PORT}`);
console.log('Ensure you have "express-session", "cookie-parser", and "csurf" installed.');
});