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Quick edit of docs/topics/security.txt to catch some basic formatting…
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… problems and reword an awkward section

git-svn-id: http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk@17222 bcc190cf-cafb-0310-a4f2-bffc1f526a37
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adrianholovaty committed Dec 17, 2011
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@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
====================
Security in Django
====================
==================
Security in Django
==================

This document will show you the security features of Django as well
as give some advice about securing a Django site.
This document is an overview of Django's security features. It includes advice
on securing a Django-powered site.

.. _cross-site-scripting:

Expand All @@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ Cross site scripting (XSS) protection
XSS attacks allow a user to inject client side scripts into the browsers of
other users. This is usually achieved by storing the malicious scripts in the
database where it will be retrieved and displayed to other users, or by getting
users to click a link which will cause the attacker's javascript to be executed
users to click a link which will cause the attacker's JavaScript to be executed
by the user's browser. However, XSS attacks can originate from any untrusted
source of data, such as cookies or web services, whenever the data is not
source of data, such as cookies or Web services, whenever the data is not
sufficiently sanitized before including in a page.

Using Django templates protects you against the majority of XSS attacks.
Expand All @@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ protect the following:
<style class={{ var }}>...</style>

If ``var`` is set to ``'class1 onmouseover=javascript:func()'``, this can result
in unauthorized javascript execution depending on how the browser renders
in unauthorized JavaScript execution, depending on how the browser renders
imperfect HTML.

It is also important to be particularly careful when using ``is_safe`` with
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ control.

:ref:`CSRF protection works <how-csrf-works>` by checking for a nonce in each
POST request. This ensures that a malicious user cannot simply "replay" a form
POST to your website and have another logged in user unwittingly submit that
POST to your Web site and have another logged in user unwittingly submit that
form. The malicious user would have to know the nonce, which is user specific
(using a cookie).

Expand All @@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ sparingly and you should always be careful to properly escape any parameters
that the user can control. In addition, you should exercise caution when using
:meth:`extra() <django.db.models.query.QuerySet.extra>`.


Clickjacking protection
=======================

Expand All @@ -111,8 +110,8 @@ SSL/HTTPS
It is always better for security, though not always practical in all cases, to
deploy your site behind HTTPS. Without this, it is possible for malicious
network users to sniff authentication credentials or any other information
transferred between client and server, and in some cases - **active** network
attackers - to alter data that is sent in either direction.
transferred between client and server, and in some cases -- **active** network
attackers -- to alter data that is sent in either direction.

If you want the protection that HTTPS provides, and have enabled it on your
server, there are some additional steps to consider to ensure that sensitive
Expand All @@ -128,7 +127,7 @@ information is not leaked:
this method usually cannot be relied on, as a client, or a malicious active
network attacker, could also set this header.

So, for the case of a reverse proxy, it is recommended that the main web
So, for the case of a reverse proxy, it is recommended that the main Web
server should be configured to do the redirect to HTTPS, or configured to send
HTTP requests to an app that unconditionally redirects to HTTPS.

Expand All @@ -145,44 +144,44 @@ information is not leaked:

.. _additional-security-topics:

Host Headers and Virtual Hosting
Host headers and virtual hosting
================================

Django uses the Host header provided by the client to construct URLs
Django uses the ``Host`` header provided by the client to construct URLs
in certain cases. While these values are sanitized to prevent Cross
Site Scripting attacks, they can be used for Cross-Site Request
Forgery and cache poisoning attacks in some circumstances. We
recommend that users of Django ensure their web-server configuration
always validates incoming HTTP Host headers against the expected host
name, disallows requests with no Host header, and that the web server
not be configured with a catch-all virtual host which forwards
requests to a Django application.
recommend you ensure your Web server is configured such that:

* It always validates incoming HTTP ``Host`` headers against the expected
host name.
* Disallows requests with no ``Host`` header.
* Is *not* configured with a catch-all virtual host that forwards requests
to a Django application.

Additionally, as of 1.3.1, Django requires users to explicitly enable
support for the X-Forwarded-Host header if their configuration
requires it.
Additionally, as of 1.3.1, Django requires you to explicitly enable support for
the ``X-Forwarded-Host`` header if your configuration requires it.

Additional security topics
==========================

While Django provides good security protection out of the box, it is still
important to properly deploy your application and take advantage of the
security protection of the web server, operating system and other components.
security protection of the Web server, operating system and other components.

* Make sure that your Python code is outside of the web server's root. This
* Make sure that your Python code is outside of the Web server's root. This
will ensure that your Python code is not accidentally served as plain text
(or accidentally executed).
* Take care with any :ref:`user uploaded files <file-upload-security>`.
* Django does not throttle requests to authenticate users. To protect against
brute-force attacks against the authentication system, you may consider
deploying a Django plugin or web server module to throttle these requests.
deploying a Django plugin or Web server module to throttle these requests.
* If your site accepts file uploads, it is strongly advised that you limit
these uploads in your web server configuration to a reasonable
these uploads in your Web server configuration to a reasonable
size in order to prevent denial of service (DOS) attacks. In Apache, this
can be easily set using the LimitRequestBody_ directive.
* Keep your :setting:`SECRET_KEY` a secret.
* It is a good idea to limit the accessibility of your caching system and
database using a firewall.

.. _LimitRequestBody: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#limitrequestbody

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