Improving CSRF Token Management for AJAX in Laravel 9+: Best Practices

Question

In the context of Laravel 9, AJAX requests need to expose CSRF tokens to ensure necessary security measures. However, different token placement methods may affect the elegance and organization of your code. The main two methods are as follows:

Method 1: Directly insert the CSRF token through Blade syntax

In this method, the CSRF token Cards are embedded directly into JavaScript via Blade syntax. (Repeating the same code in multiple places)

$(document).ready(function() {
    $.ajaxSetup({
        headers: {
            'X-CSRF-TOKEN': "{{ csrf_token() }}"
        }
    });
});

While this approach keeps the token outside the body of the HTML, it requires the use of Blade syntax in the JavaScript file, complicating the separation of concerns.

Method 2: Extract CSRF token from meta tag

This method involves placing the CSRF token in the HTML meta tag, Then extract it for use in AJAX setup.

$(document).ready(function() {
    $.ajaxSetup({
        headers: {
            'X-CSRF-TOKEN': $('meta[name="csrf-token"]').attr('content')
        }
    });
});

In this approach, although the tokens are exposed in the HTML (which they would be exposed anyway), it simplifies JavaScript file management, reuse, and makes it easier to keep code/concerns separated.

Considering the above, I guess approach 2 is better because it is more elegant and provides better separation of concerns. Or are there any other best practices in Laravel for managing CSRF token placement when using AJAX requests to provide a better balance of security and code organization? Looking forward to your insights.

PS: I looked at e.g. https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Cross-Site_Request_Forgery_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html but some of it is beyond my comprehension.

Answer 1

The token is only exposed to the users you wish to own it (so they can send it back to you).

It will not be exposed to any attacker. (Unless they've somehow compromised the communication between the server and the browser, meaning they've gained more access than a successful CSRF attack could.)

Choose the direct option.