Using Postman with Java Spring and CSRF Tokens

#springboot #postman #csrf #xsrf

Java Spring will return a 403 Forbidden if any request besides a GET request is missing a Cross Site Request Forgery Token (CSRF Token) in the X-XSRF-TOKEN Header. Here is how to fix that issue when using Postman. I have seen people online suggest that you disable CSRF Tokens but please don't do that. That is silly. Those people are sily.

Creating an environment

We need to create an environment in which to store our CSRF Token

In the top right of Postman, click the cog.
In the Pop Up window, Click Add
Enter an appropriate Environment Name
Enter xsrf-token in the first column.
Click Add in the bottom right corner

Ensure your environment is selected in the drop-down in the top right.

Getting the CSRF Token

GET requests do not require a CSRF Token to be allowed through our SpringSecurityConfig

Create a GET request
Navigate to the Tests tab
Enter pm.environment.set("xsrf-token", decodeURIComponent(pm.cookies.get("XSRF-TOKEN")));

Now when you call this endpoint in Postman, your CSRF Token will be stored in your environment variables.

Using the CSRF Token

Go to your request that requires the CSRF Token
Navigate to the Headers tab
Enter a key of X-XSRF-TOKEN and a value of {{xsrf-token}}, the {{xsrf-token}} value will be populated from our Environment we created earlier.

Your request should now be from from CSRF errors

Things to watch out for

Be sure you have actually selected an Environment. I have forgotten to do this several times.
Be sure to call the GET request again to populate the value in case it has become invalid or has expired.
Have a nice day