Merge pull request #2500 from dstufft/improve-csrf

Increase the protection provided by the CSRF checks

3 files changed, 16 insertions, 15 deletions

diff --git a/docs/narr/sessions.rst b/docs/narr/sessions.rst
index d66e86258..0e895ff81 100644
--- a/docs/narr/sessions.rst
+++ b/docs/narr/sessions.rst
@@ -391,8 +391,8 @@ will return ``True``, otherwise it will raise ``HTTPBadRequest``. Optionally,
 you can specify ``raises=False`` to have the check return ``False`` instead of
 raising an exception.
 
-By default, it checks for a GET or POST parameter named ``csrf_token`` or a
-header named ``X-CSRF-Token``.
+By default, it checks for a POST parameter named ``csrf_token`` or a header
+named ``X-CSRF-Token``.
 
 .. code-block:: python
 
@@ -411,15 +411,16 @@ Checking CSRF Tokens Automatically
 
 .. versionadded:: 1.7
 
-:app:`Pyramid` supports automatically checking CSRF tokens on POST requests.
-Any other request may be checked manually. This feature can be turned on
-globally for an application using the ``pyramid.require_default_csrf`` setting.
+:app:`Pyramid` supports automatically checking CSRF tokens on requests with an
+unsafe method as defined by RFC2616. Any other request may be checked manually.
+This feature can be turned on globally for an application using the
+``pyramid.require_default_csrf`` setting.
 
 If the ``pyramid.required_default_csrf`` setting is a :term:`truthy string` or
 ``True`` then the default CSRF token parameter will be ``csrf_token``. If a
 different token is desired, it may be passed as the value. Finally, a
 :term:`falsey string` or ``False`` will turn off automatic CSRF checking
-globally on every POST request.
+globally on every request.
 
 No matter what, CSRF checking may be explicitly enabled or disabled on a
 per-view basis using the ``require_csrf`` view option. This option is of the
@@ -430,8 +431,7 @@ If ``require_csrf`` is ``True`` but does not explicitly define a token to
 check, then the token name is pulled from whatever was set in the
 ``pyramid.require_default_csrf`` setting. Finally, if that setting does not
 explicitly define a token, then ``csrf_token`` is the token required. This token
-name will be required in ``request.params`` which is a combination of the
-query string and a submitted form body.
+name will be required in ``request.POST`` which is the submitted form body.
 
 It is always possible to pass the token in the ``X-CSRF-Token`` header as well.
 There is currently no way to define an alternate name for this header without
diff --git a/docs/narr/viewconfig.rst b/docs/narr/viewconfig.rst
index e645185f5..3b8f0353a 100644
--- a/docs/narr/viewconfig.rst
+++ b/docs/narr/viewconfig.rst
@@ -195,10 +195,11 @@ Non-Predicate Arguments
 
 ``require_csrf``
 
-  CSRF checks only affect POST requests. Any other request methods will pass
-  untouched. This option is used in combination with the
-  ``pyramid.require_default_csrf`` setting to control which request parameters
-  are checked for CSRF tokens.
+  CSRF checks will affect any request method that is not defined as a "safe"
+  method by RFC2616. In pratice this means that GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, and TRACE
+  methods will pass untouched and all others methods will require CSRF. This
+  option is used in combination with the ``pyramid.require_default_csrf``
+  setting to control which request parameters are checked for CSRF tokens.
 
   This feature requires a configured :term:`session factory`.
 
@@ -459,7 +460,7 @@ configured view.
   check name.
 
   If CSRF checking is performed, the checked value will be the value of
-  ``request.params[check_name]``.  This value will be compared against the
+  ``request.POST[check_name]``.  This value will be compared against the
   value of ``request.session.get_csrf_token()``, and the check will pass if
   these two values are the same.  If the check passes, the associated view will
   be permitted to execute.  If the check fails, the associated view will not be
diff --git a/docs/whatsnew-1.7.rst b/docs/whatsnew-1.7.rst
index 83ece690e..b85e65ec1 100644
--- a/docs/whatsnew-1.7.rst
+++ b/docs/whatsnew-1.7.rst
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ Feature Additions
   to security checks. See https://github.com/Pylons/pyramid/pull/2021
 
 - Added a new setting, ``pyramid.require_default_csrf`` which may be used
-  to turn on CSRF checks globally for every POST request in the application.
+  to turn on CSRF checks globally for every request in the application.
   This should be considered a good default for websites built on Pyramid.
   It is possible to opt-out of CSRF checks on a per-view basis by setting
   ``require_csrf=False`` on those views.
   See :ref:`auto_csrf_checking` and
   https://github.com/Pylons/pyramid/pull/2413
 
-- Added a ``require_csrf`` view option which will enforce CSRF checks on POST
+- Added a ``require_csrf`` view option which will enforce CSRF checks on
   requests. If the CSRF check fails a ``BadCSRFToken`` exception will be
   raised and may be caught by exception views (the default response is a
   ``400 Bad Request``). This option should be used in place of the deprecated