Setting SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY in Flask 3.0
Hello everyone! Today we will discuss one of the important features of the Flask framework, which relates to the security of web applications. This feature is called SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY. The main goal of this feature is to prevent access to JavaScript cookies by scripting attacks. When this option is enabled, the cookies can only be accessed through HTTP and cannot be retrieved via JavaScript.
There are many reasons to use this feature. One of the primary reasons is to enhance the security of your application. When cookies are accessible only through the HTTP protocol, the likelihood of user data being stolen significantly decreases. Given the increase in XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) attacks in recent years, implementing this feature is essential for all developers.
In Flask 3.0, you can easily enable this feature by configuring your application settings. By default, this feature is disabled, but with one line of code, you can activate it in your project.
Now let’s take a look at how to effectively implement this feature. You can simply add it to your Flask application settings. Here is a simple example to assist you:
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
# Enable SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY
app.config['SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY'] = True
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)Code Explanation
from flask import Flask
This line imports the Flask library, which is used to create web applications.
app = Flask(__name__)
This line creates an instance of the Flask class, which represents your application.
app.config['SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY'] = True
With this line, the feature SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY is activated, meaning cookies will not be accessible via JavaScript.
if __name__ == '__main__':
This line checks whether this file is being run as the main program or not.
app.run(debug=True)
This line runs the application in debug mode, allowing you to see error messages and debug information.