What does CSRF stand for, and what does it do?

Cross-Site Request Forgery, known as CSRF, is a type of attack that tricks a user into executing unwanted actions on a web application in which they are authenticated. Essentially, when a user is logged into a website, an attacker can exploit that session to perform actions without the user's consent. For example, if a user is logged into their online banking account, a CSRF attack could potentially cause funds to be transferred without the user being aware of it.

The attack occurs because the web application does not verify the source of the request; it simply trusts that the request is legitimate because it comes from an authenticated user. This highlights the importance of implementing proper security measures, like token validation or SameSite cookie attributes, to prevent such vulnerabilities.

This understanding is crucial for security professionals and developers, particularly those involved in web application development, as it emphasizes the necessity for safeguarding applications against potential exploits that could compromise user data or functionality.