How does CSRF protection work in Django?

In Django, CSRF protection is achieved by generating a CSRF token in the user session and including it on every page containing a form. When a user submits a form, Django checks if the correct CSRF token is included to ensure the request is initiated by a legitimate user.

More specifically, the CSRF protection mechanism in Django works as follows:

1. Generate a CSRF token in the user session and store it within the session.
2. In every webpage that contains a form, there is a hidden input element that stores the value of the CSRF token.
3. When a user submits a form, Django will validate if the request contains the correct CSRF token.
4. If the CSRF token in the request does not match or is missing, Django will reject the request and return a 403 Forbidden response.

By using this mechanism, Django is able to effectively prevent CSRF attacks and protect user data security. Developers do not need to manually handle CSRF protection as Django will handle this process automatically.