module ActionController::RequestForgeryProtection

Included modules:: AbstractController::Helpers, AbstractController::Callbacks

Controller actions are protected from Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks by including a token in the rendered HTML for your application. This token is stored as a random string in the session, to which an attacker does not have access. When a request reaches your application, Rails verifies the received token with the token in the session. All requests are checked except GET requests as these should be idempotent. Keep in mind that all session-oriented requests are CSRF protected by default, including JavaScript and HTML requests.

Since HTML and JavaScript requests are typically made from the browser, we need to ensure to verify request authenticity for the web browser. We can use session-oriented authentication for these types of requests, by using the protect_from_forgery method in our controllers.

GET requests are not protected since they don't have side effects like writing to the database and don't leak sensitive information. JavaScript requests are an exception: a third-party site can use a <script> tag to reference a JavaScript URL on your site. When your JavaScript response loads on their site, it executes. With carefully crafted JavaScript on their end, sensitive data in your JavaScript response may be extracted. To prevent this, only XmlHttpRequest (known as XHR or Ajax) requests are allowed to make requests for JavaScript responses.

It's important to remember that XML or JSON requests are also checked by default. If you're building an API or an SPA you could change forgery protection method in ApplicationController (by default: :exception):

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  protect_from_forgery unless: -> { request.format.json? }
end

It is generally safe to exclude XHR requests from CSRF protection (like the code snippet above does), because XHR requests can only be made from the same origin. Note however that any cross-origin third party domain allowed via CORS will also be able to create XHR requests. Be sure to check your CORS configuration before disabling forgery protection for XHR.

CSRF protection is turned on with the protect_from_forgery method. By default protect_from_forgery protects your session with :null_session method, which provides an empty session during request.

We may want to disable CSRF protection for APIs since they are typically designed to be state-less. That is, the request API client will handle the session for you instead of Rails.

The token parameter is named authenticity_token by default. The name and value of this token must be added to every layout that renders forms by including csrf_meta_tags in the HTML head.

Learn more about CSRF attacks and securing your application in the Ruby on Rails Security Guide.

Constants

AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH
NULL_ORIGIN_MESSAGE

Private Instance Methods

any_authenticity_token_valid?() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 301
def any_authenticity_token_valid? # :doc:
  request_authenticity_tokens.any? do |token|
    valid_authenticity_token?(session, token)
  end
end

Checks if any of the authenticity tokens from the request are valid.

compare_with_real_token(token, session) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 378
def compare_with_real_token(token, session) # :doc:
  ActiveSupport::SecurityUtils.fixed_length_secure_compare(token, real_csrf_token(session))
end

form_authenticity_param() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 421
def form_authenticity_param # :doc:
  params[request_forgery_protection_token]
end

The form's authenticity parameter. Override to provide your own.

handle_unverified_request() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 248
def handle_unverified_request # :doc:
  forgery_protection_strategy.new(self).handle_unverified_request
end

mark_for_same_origin_verification!() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 273
def mark_for_same_origin_verification! # :doc:
  @marked_for_same_origin_verification = request.get?
end

GET requests are checked for cross-origin JavaScript after rendering.

marked_for_same_origin_verification?() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 279
def marked_for_same_origin_verification? # :doc:
  @marked_for_same_origin_verification ||= false
end

If the verify_authenticity_token before_action ran, verify that JavaScript responses are only served to same-origin GET requests.

masked_authenticity_token(session, form_options: {}) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 320
def masked_authenticity_token(session, form_options: {}) # :doc:
  action, method = form_options.values_at(:action, :method)

  raw_token = if per_form_csrf_tokens && action && method
    action_path = normalize_action_path(action)
    per_form_csrf_token(session, action_path, method)
  else
    real_csrf_token(session)
  end

  one_time_pad = SecureRandom.random_bytes(AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH)
  encrypted_csrf_token = xor_byte_strings(one_time_pad, raw_token)
  masked_token = one_time_pad + encrypted_csrf_token
  Base64.strict_encode64(masked_token)
end

Creates a masked version of the authenticity token that varies on each request. The masking is used to mitigate SSL attacks like BREACH.

non_xhr_javascript_response?() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 284
def non_xhr_javascript_response? # :doc:
  %r(\A(?:text|application)/javascript).match?(media_type) && !request.xhr?
end

Check for cross-origin JavaScript responses.

normalize_action_path(action_path) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 451
def normalize_action_path(action_path) # :doc:
  uri = URI.parse(action_path)
  uri.path.chomp("/")
end

per_form_csrf_token(session, action_path, method) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 401
def per_form_csrf_token(session, action_path, method) # :doc:
  OpenSSL::HMAC.digest(
    OpenSSL::Digest::SHA256.new,
    real_csrf_token(session),
    [action_path, method.downcase].join("#")
  )
end

protect_against_forgery?() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 426
def protect_against_forgery? # :doc:
  allow_forgery_protection
end

Checks if the controller allows forgery protection.

real_csrf_token(session) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 396
def real_csrf_token(session) # :doc:
  session[:_csrf_token] ||= SecureRandom.base64(AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH)
  Base64.strict_decode64(session[:_csrf_token])
end

request_authenticity_tokens() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 308
def request_authenticity_tokens # :doc:
  [form_authenticity_param, request.x_csrf_token]
end

Possible authenticity tokens sent in the request.

unmask_token(masked_token) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 370
def unmask_token(masked_token) # :doc:
  # Split the token into the one-time pad and the encrypted
  # value and decrypt it.
  one_time_pad = masked_token[0...AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH]
  encrypted_csrf_token = masked_token[AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH..-1]
  xor_byte_strings(one_time_pad, encrypted_csrf_token)
end

valid_authenticity_token?(session, encoded_masked_token) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 339
def valid_authenticity_token?(session, encoded_masked_token) # :doc:
  if encoded_masked_token.nil? || encoded_masked_token.empty? || !encoded_masked_token.is_a?(String)
    return false
  end

  begin
    masked_token = Base64.strict_decode64(encoded_masked_token)
  rescue ArgumentError # encoded_masked_token is invalid Base64
    return false
  end

  # See if it's actually a masked token or not. In order to
  # deploy this code, we should be able to handle any unmasked
  # tokens that we've issued without error.

  if masked_token.length == AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH
    # This is actually an unmasked token. This is expected if
    # you have just upgraded to masked tokens, but should stop
    # happening shortly after installing this gem.
    compare_with_real_token masked_token, session

  elsif masked_token.length == AUTHENTICITY_TOKEN_LENGTH * 2
    csrf_token = unmask_token(masked_token)

    compare_with_real_token(csrf_token, session) ||
      valid_per_form_csrf_token?(csrf_token, session)
  else
    false # Token is malformed.
  end
end

Checks the client's masked token to see if it matches the session token. Essentially the inverse of masked_authenticity_token.

valid_per_form_csrf_token?(token, session) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 382
def valid_per_form_csrf_token?(token, session) # :doc:
  if per_form_csrf_tokens
    correct_token = per_form_csrf_token(
      session,
      normalize_action_path(request.fullpath),
      request.request_method
    )

    ActiveSupport::SecurityUtils.fixed_length_secure_compare(token, correct_token)
  else
    false
  end
end

valid_request_origin?() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 441
def valid_request_origin? # :doc:
  if forgery_protection_origin_check
    # We accept blank origin headers because some user agents don't send it.
    raise InvalidAuthenticityToken, NULL_ORIGIN_MESSAGE if request.origin == "null"
    request.origin.nil? || request.origin == request.base_url
  else
    true
  end
end

Checks if the request originated from the same origin by looking at the Origin header.

verified_request?() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 295
def verified_request? # :doc:
  !protect_against_forgery? || request.get? || request.head? ||
    (valid_request_origin? && any_authenticity_token_valid?)
end

Returns true or false if a request is verified. Checks:

Is it a GET or HEAD request? GETs should be safe and idempotent
Does the form_authenticity_token match the given token value from the params?
Does the X-CSRF-Token header match the form_authenticity_token?

verify_authenticity_token() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 233
def verify_authenticity_token # :doc:
  mark_for_same_origin_verification!

  if !verified_request?
    if logger && log_warning_on_csrf_failure
      if valid_request_origin?
        logger.warn "Can't verify CSRF token authenticity."
      else
        logger.warn "HTTP Origin header (#{request.origin}) didn't match request.base_url (#{request.base_url})"
      end
    end
    handle_unverified_request
  end
end

The actual before_action that is used to verify the CSRF token. Don't override this directly. Provide your own forgery protection strategy instead. If you override, you'll disable same-origin <script> verification.

Lean on the protect_from_forgery declaration to mark which actions are due for same-origin request verification. If protect_from_forgery is enabled on an action, this before_action flags its after_action to verify that JavaScript responses are for XHR requests, ensuring they follow the browser's same-origin policy.

verify_same_origin_request() Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 263
def verify_same_origin_request # :doc:
  if marked_for_same_origin_verification? && non_xhr_javascript_response?
    if logger && log_warning_on_csrf_failure
      logger.warn CROSS_ORIGIN_JAVASCRIPT_WARNING
    end
    raise ActionController::InvalidCrossOriginRequest, CROSS_ORIGIN_JAVASCRIPT_WARNING
  end
end

If verify_authenticity_token was run (indicating that we have forgery protection enabled for this request) then also verify that we aren't serving an unauthorized cross-origin response.

xor_byte_strings(s1, s2) Show source

# File actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/request_forgery_protection.rb, line 409
def xor_byte_strings(s1, s2) # :doc:
  s2 = s2.dup
  size = s1.bytesize
  i = 0
  while i < size
    s2.setbyte(i, s1.getbyte(i) ^ s2.getbyte(i))
    i += 1
  end
  s2
end