A Study of the Effectiveness of CSRF Guard

OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) CSRF Guard is a mitigation strategy designed to protect against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks. CSRF, also known as one-click attack or session riding, is one of the most dangerous threats against web applications. The consequence of successful CSRF exploit could result in disclosure of private information, unauthorized modification of sensitive data and disruption of web service. This paper explores the following: (1) how CSRF Guard is able or unable to block CSRF attempts through the use of threat models, (2) possible limitations of the CSRF Guard, and (3) possible scenarios where the CSRF Guard is recommended as a mitigation strategy. This paper can assist web developers and researchers to improve current CSRF defense systems or develop new strategies in the futures.