api-security▌

Implements security controls at the API gateway layer including authentication enforcement, rate limiting, request validation, IP allowlisting, TLS termination, and threat protection. The engineer configures API gateways (Kong, AWS API Gateway, Azure APIM, Apigee) to act as a centralized security enforcement point that validates, throttles, and monitors all API traffic before it reaches backend services. Activates for requests involving API gateway security, API management security, gateway authentication, or centralized API protection.

Discover and inventory shadow API endpoints that operate outside documented specifications using traffic analysis, code scanning, and API discovery platforms.

Implements secure API key generation, storage, rotation, and revocation controls to protect API authentication credentials from leakage, brute force, and abuse. The engineer designs API key formats with sufficient entropy, implements secure hashing for storage, enforces per-key scoping and rate limiting, monitors for leaked keys in public repositories, and builds key rotation workflows. Activates for requests involving API key management, API key security, key rotation policy, or API credential protection.

Tests authentication and authorization mechanisms in mobile application APIs to identify broken authentication, insecure token management, session fixation, privilege escalation, and IDOR vulnerabilities. Use when performing API security assessments against mobile app backends, testing JWT implementations, evaluating OAuth flows, or assessing session management. Activates for requests involving mobile API auth testing, token security assessment, OAuth mobile flow testing, or API authorization bypass.

Tests APIs for injection vulnerabilities including SQL injection, NoSQL injection, OS command injection, LDAP injection, and Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) through API parameters, headers, and request bodies. The tester crafts malicious payloads targeting different backend technologies and injection contexts to extract data, execute commands, or access internal services. Maps to OWASP API8:2023 Security Misconfiguration and API7:2023 SSRF. Activates for requests involving API injection testing, SQLi in APIs, NoSQL injection, SSRF testing, or API input validation assessment.

Tests APIs for mass assignment (auto-binding) vulnerabilities where clients can modify object properties they should not have access to by including additional parameters in API requests. The tester identifies writable endpoints, adds undocumented fields to request bodies (role, isAdmin, price, balance), and checks if the server binds these to the data model without filtering. Part of OWASP API3:2023 Broken Object Property Level Authorization. Activates for requests involving mass assignment testing, parameter binding abuse, auto-binding vulnerability, or API over-posting.

Assessing GraphQL API endpoints for introspection leaks, injection attacks, authorization flaws, and denial-of-service vulnerabilities during authorized security tests.

Tests WebSocket API implementations for security vulnerabilities including missing authentication on WebSocket upgrade, Cross-Site WebSocket Hijacking (CSWSH), injection attacks through WebSocket messages, insufficient input validation, denial-of-service via message flooding, and information leakage through WebSocket frames. The tester intercepts WebSocket handshakes and messages using Burp Suite, crafts malicious payloads, and tests for authorization bypass on WebSocket channels. Activates for requests involving WebSocket security testing, WS penetration testing, CSWSH attack, or real-time API security assessment.

Tests API authentication mechanisms for weaknesses including broken token validation, missing authentication on endpoints, weak password policies, credential stuffing susceptibility, token leakage in URLs or logs, and session management flaws. The tester evaluates JWT implementation, API key handling, OAuth flows, and session token entropy to identify authentication bypasses. Maps to OWASP API2:2023 Broken Authentication. Activates for requests involving API authentication testing, token validation assessment, credential security testing, or API auth bypass.

Implement comprehensive API security testing using the 42Crunch platform to perform static audit and dynamic conformance scanning of OpenAPI specifications.