Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attack, also known as session riding or one-click attack, is a malicious exploit that tricks a victim into performing unintended actions on a website on which they are authenticated. It occurs when an attacker exploits the trust between a user's browser and a targeted website. The attack takes advantage of the fact that websites often rely on cookies or other authentication credentials to verify a user's identity.
In order to execute a CSRF attack, an attacker typically follows these steps:
Identify the Target: The attacker selects a target website or web application that has a vulnerability that can be exploited through CSRF.
Craft the Malicious Payload: The attacker creates a malicious payload, typically in the form of HTML or JavaScript code, which will be executed by the victim's browser.
Create a Malicious Website: The attacker sets up a malicious website or incorporates the malicious payload into a legitimate website that they control. This website will be used to trick the victim into unknowingly performing actions on the target website.
Exploit the Trust Relationship: The attacker entices the victim to visit the malicious website. This can be done through social engineering techniques such as sending phishing emails, distributing malicious advertisements, or leveraging cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities.
Victim Interaction: When the victim visits the malicious website, the malicious payload is executed in their browser without their knowledge. The payload contains requests designed to mimic legitimate actions on the target website.
Sending Forged Requests: The victim's browser automatically sends HTTP requests to the target website, carrying out actions on behalf of the victim. These requests can include changing account settings, making purchases, or performing any action that the victim's account is authorized to do.
Exploiting Authentication: The target website receives the forged requests and processes them, assuming they are legitimate due to the victim's authenticated session (e.g., session cookies) with the website. As a result, the actions requested by the attacker are performed on the victim's behalf.
Attack Success: If the CSRF attack is successful, the attacker achieves their desired outcome, which can range from unauthorized actions to data theft, depending on the vulnerability and the attacker's intentions.