What are common JWT misuses?
Storing in LocalStorage (open to XSS; use httpOnly cookies). No expiry (use short expiry with refresh tokens). Putting sensitive data in the payload (it is base64-encoded, not encrypted). Not validating the signature (always use jwt.verify, not just decode).
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More FAQs in JWT vs Session Cookies: Which to Use
Sessions for single web apps where you want easy revocation and the simplest secure setup. JWT for microservices, SSO, and mobile where you need stateless auth. Both work; choose by use case.
The server does not store sessions. The token carries all the info (userId, role, expiry) and is signed so it cannot be tampered with. The server verifies the signature on each request, without a session lookup. This makes horizontal scaling easy.
Because the server does not store sessions. The token is valid until it expires. To revoke early, you need a blacklist (defeats stateless) or short expiry with refresh tokens (revocation at the refresh level).
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