
About
Django security best practices, authentication, authorization, CSRF protection, SQL injection prevention, XSS prevention, and secure deployment configurations.
name: django-security description: Django security best practices, authentication, authorization, CSRF protection, SQL injection prevention, XSS prevention, and secure deployment configurations. origin: ECC
Django Security Best Practices
Comprehensive security guidelines for Django applications to protect against common vulnerabilities.
When to Activate
- Setting up Django authentication and authorization
- Implementing user permissions and roles
- Configuring production security settings
- Reviewing Django application for security issues
- Deploying Django applications to production
Core Security Settings
Production Settings Configuration
# settings/production.py
import os
DEBUG = False # CRITICAL: Never use True in production
ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.environ.get('ALLOWED_HOSTS', '').split(',')
# Security headers
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 31536000 # 1 year
SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS = True
SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD = True
SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF = True
SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER = True
X_FRAME_OPTIONS = 'DENY'
# HTTPS and Cookies
SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
CSRF_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE = 'Lax'
CSRF_COOKIE_SAMESITE = 'Lax'
# Secret key (must be set via environment variable)
SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY')
if not SECRET_KEY:
raise ImproperlyConfigured('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY environment variable is required')
# Password validation
AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator',
},
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator',
'OPTIONS': {
'min_length': 12,
}
},
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator',
},
{
'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator',
},
]
Authentication
Custom User Model
# apps/users/models.py
from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractUser
from django.db import models
class User(AbstractUser):
"""Custom user model for better security."""
email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
phone = models.CharField(max_length=20, blank=True)
USERNAME_FIELD = 'email' # Use email as username
REQUIRED_FIELDS = ['username']
class Meta:
db_table = 'users'
verbose_name = 'User'
verbose_name_plural = 'Users'
def __str__(self):
return self.email
# settings/base.py
AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'users.User'
Password Hashing
# Django uses PBKDF2 by default. For stronger security:
PASSWORD_HASHERS = [
'django.contrib.auth.hashers.Argon2PasswordHasher',
'django.contrib.auth.hashers.PBKDF2PasswordHasher',
'django.contrib.auth.hashers.PBKDF2SHA1PasswordHasher',
'django.contrib.auth.hashers.BCryptSHA256PasswordHasher',
]
Session Management
# Session configuration
SESSION_ENGINE = 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.cache' # Or 'db'
SESSION_CACHE_ALIAS = 'default'
SESSION_COOKIE_AGE = 3600 * 24 * 7 # 1 week
SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST = False
SESSION_EXPIRE_AT_BROWSER_CLOSE = False # Better UX, but less secure
Authorization
Permissions
# models.py
from django.db import models
from django.contrib.auth.models import Permission
class Post(models.Model):
title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
content = models.TextField()
author = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
class Meta:
permissions = [
('can_publish', 'Can publish posts'),
('can_edit_others', 'Can edit posts of others'),
]
def user_can_edit(self, user):
"""Check if user can edit this post."""
return self.author == user or user.has_perm('app.can_edit_others')
# views.py
from django.contrib.auth.mixins import LoginRequiredMixin, PermissionRequiredMixin
from django.views.generic import UpdateView
class PostUpdateView(LoginRequiredMixin, PermissionRequiredMixin, UpdateView):
model = Post
permission_required = 'app.can_edit_others'
raise_exception = True # Return 403 instead of redirect
def get_queryset(self):
"""Only allow users to edit their own posts."""
return Post.objects.filter(author=self.request.user)
Custom Permissions
# permissions.py
from rest_framework import permissions
class IsOwnerOrReadOnly(permissions.BasePermission):
"""Allow only owners to edit objects."""
def has_object_permission(self, request, view, obj):
# Read permissions allowed for any request
if request.method in permissions.SAFE_METHODS:
return True
# Write permissions only for owner
return obj.author == request.user
class IsAdminOrReadOnly(permissions.BasePermission):
"""Allow admins to do anything, others read-only."""
Compatible Tools
Claude CodeCursor
Tags
Security
