Django Security

Django Security Best Practices

Contents

• When to Use
• Quick Security Checklist
• Core Security Settings
• Authentication Quick Reference
• Authorization Quick Reference
• Injection Prevention
• Reference Files

Comprehensive security guidelines for Django applications to protect against common vulnerabilities.

When to Use

• 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

Installation

pip install django

Quick Security Checklist

Core Security Settings

# settings/production.py
DEBUG = False  # CRITICAL

SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 31536000
SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS = True
SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["example.com"]

SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY')
if not SECRET_KEY:
    raise ImproperlyConfigured('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY required')

Authentication Quick Reference

# Custom user model (recommended)
class User(AbstractUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    REQUIRED_FIELDS = ['username']

# settings.py
AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'users.User'

# Stronger password hashing
PASSWORD_HASHERS = [
    'django.contrib.auth.hashers.Argon2PasswordHasher',
    'django.contrib.auth.hashers.PBKDF2PasswordHasher',
]

Authorization Quick Reference

# View permission check
from django.contrib.auth.mixins import LoginRequiredMixin, PermissionRequiredMixin

class PostUpdateView(LoginRequiredMixin, PermissionRequiredMixin, UpdateView):
    model = Post
    permission_required = 'app.can_edit_others'
    raise_exception = True

# DRF permission
class IsOwnerOrReadOnly(permissions.BasePermission):
    def has_object_permission(self, request, view, obj):
        if request.method in permissions.SAFE_METHODS:
            return True
        return obj.author == request.user

Injection Prevention

SQL Injection

# ✅ GOOD: ORM automatically escapes
User.objects.filter(username=user_input)

# ✅ GOOD: Parameterized raw query
User.objects.raw('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = %s', [user_input])

# ❌ BAD: String interpolation
User.objects.raw(f'SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = {user_input}')

XSS Prevention

{# Django auto-escapes by default - SAFE #}
{{ user_input }}

{# Only use |safe for trusted content #}
{{ trusted_html|safe }}

{# JavaScript escaping #}
<script>var name = {{ username|escapejs }};</script>

CSRF Protection

<form method="post">
    {% csrf_token %}
    {{ form.as_p }}
    <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

Reference Files

Remember: Security is a process, not a product. Regularly review and update your security practices.

Source: basidiocarp/lamella — distributed by TomeVault.