Difference Between XSS and CSRF

Last Updated : 26 Aug, 2024

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) are two common web security vulnerabilities that can have serious consequences for both users and websites. These issues can lead to unauthorized access, data theft, and other significant problems, compromising the security and trustworthiness of the site.

What is XSS?

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a computer security vulnerability found in web applications that enables cybercriminals to inject client-side scripts into web pages viewed by the users. The cybercriminal makes the victim’s browser execute a script (mostly written in JavaScript) that is injected by the attacker when the victim visits a trusted website. The cybercriminal has several ways of injecting JavaScript into a website that the victim trusts. It does not need an authenticated session and can be exploited when the vulnerable website doesn’t do the basics of validating or escaping input.

What is CSRF?

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is one of the most severe computer security vulnerabilities that can be exploited in various ways from changing a user’s information without his knowledge to gaining full access to a user’s account. The cybercriminal tries to force/trick you into making a request that you did not intend, making use of the existing victim’s context, such as cookies. Every single time you interact with a website, its server checks the cookie you send with the request so it knows it’s you.

Difference Between XSS and CSRF

XSS	CSRF
XSS stands for Cross-Site Scripting.	CSRF stands for Cross-Site Request Forgery.
The cybercriminal injects a malicious client side script in a website. The script is added to cause some form of vulnerability to a victim.	The malicious attack is created in such a way that a user sends malicious requests to the target website without having knowledge of the attack.
In this, injection of arbitrary data by data that is not validated.	It depends on the functionality and features of the browser to retrieve and execute the attack bundle.
JavaScript is required to perform this attack.	JavaScript is not required to perform this attack.
The site accepts the malicious code.	The malicious code is stored in third party sites.
The site that is vulnerable to XSS attacks is also vulnerable to CSRF attacks.	The site that is completely protected from XSS attack types is still vulnerable to CSRF attacks.
XSS is more harmful as compared.	CSRF is less harmful as compared.
Using XSS vulnerabilities, the attacker can do anything he/she wants.	Using CSRF vulnerabilities, the attacker can do only what the vulnerable urls do.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) are significant security vulnerabilities that can compromise the integrity and security of web applications. XSS allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into trusted websites, while CSRF tricks users into performing unintended actions on authenticated websites. Although different in execution, both vulnerabilities can lead to severe consequences if not properly mitigated. It’s essential for developers to implement robust security practices, such as input validation, output encoding, and anti-CSRF tokens, to protect web applications and their users from these attacks.

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Difference Between XSS and CSRF

What is XSS?

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Difference Between XSS and CSRF

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