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Using a Cookie (with HTTPOnly flag) for authentication instead of plain Tokens #1564

Answered by YuriiMotov
sinkozs asked this question in Questions
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First Check

  • I added a very descriptive title here.
  • I used the GitHub search to find a similar question and didn't find it.
  • I searched in the documentation/README.
  • I already searched in Google "How to do X" and didn't find any information.
  • I already read and followed all the tutorial in the docs/README and didn't find an answer.

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Example Code

def set_auth_cookie(subject: str | Any, expires_delta: timedelta) -> Response:
 access_token = create_access_token(subject, expires_delta)
 response = JSONResponse(content={"message": "Login successful"})
 # Note: The secure flag on cookies ensures they're only sent over encrypted HTTPS connections. For local development (HTTP) set it to False
 response.set_cookie(
 key="http_only_auth_cookie",
 value=access_token,
 httponly=True,
 max_age=3600,
 expires=3600,
 samesite="lax",
 secure=True,
 domain=None,
 )
 return response
@router.post("/login/access-token")
def login_access_token(
 session: SessionDep, form_data: Annotated[OAuth2PasswordRequestForm, Depends()]
) -> JSONResponse:
 """
 OAuth2-compatible token login: get an access token for future requests (sent in an HTTP-only cookie)
 """
 user = crud.authenticate(
 session=session, email=form_data.username, password=form_data.password
 )
 if not user:
 raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Incorrect email or password")
 elif not user.is_active:
 raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Inactive user")
 access_token_expires = timedelta(minutes=settings.ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES)
 return security.set_auth_cookie(user.id, access_token_expires)

Description

I'm thinking about changing the authentication flow: use a cookie (with the httponly=True option) for authentication instead of sending the token in plain text. HTTP-only cookies can't be accessed by JavaScript, making them resistant to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. I believe this is a more secure approach, and I'm happy to implement the change, but since it would require modifying multiple files I wanted to discuss it first. I already have a POC version running locally. I copied the main backend code changes above.

Operating System

Linux

Operating System Details

Ubuntu

Python Version

Python 3.10.12

Additional Context

No response

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There is already an issue: #189

And, in the comments to your PR it's discussed that this approach will not work in Swagger UI..

Replies: 2 comments

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There is already an issue: #189

And, in the comments to your PR it's discussed that this approach will not work in Swagger UI..

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0 replies
Answer selected by YuriiMotov
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Storing access_token in localStorage makes server side rendering in private pages impossible.

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