diff --git a/docs/ref/csrf.txt b/docs/ref/csrf.txt index ca94b21552..e5d32b27b3 100644 --- a/docs/ref/csrf.txt +++ b/docs/ref/csrf.txt @@ -227,6 +227,9 @@ The CSRF protection is based on the following things: every response that has called ``django.middleware.csrf.get_token()`` (the function used internally to retrieve the CSRF token). + For security reasons, the value of the CSRF cookie is changed each time a + user logs in. + 2. A hidden form field with the name 'csrfmiddlewaretoken' present in all outgoing POST forms. The value of this field is the value of the CSRF cookie. @@ -505,3 +508,11 @@ because it invalidates all previous forms. Most users would be very unhappy to find that opening a new tab on your site has invalidated the form they had just spent time filling out in another tab or that a form they accessed via the back button could not be filled out. + +Why might a user encounter a CSRF validation failure after logging in? +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +For security reasons, CSRF tokens are rotated each time a user logs in. Any +page with a form generated before a login will have an old, invalid CSRF token +and need to be reloaded. This might happen if a user uses the back button after +a login or if they log in in a different browser tab.