Common API vulnerabilities check

Overview

Conducting periodic API security checks can help you proactively identify threats and ensure that sensitive data is not compromised. With this template, you can check your API for common vulnerabilities like missing security headers and SQL injection.

What are some common API vulnerabilities?

Here are a few common API vulnerabilities that can impact the security of an application:

• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS):

  XSS vulnerabilities occur when an attacker injects malicious scripts into an application, which unsuspecting users execute.

• Injection Attacks:

  Injection vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection or command injection, occur when untrusted user input is executed as part of a query or command, allowing attackers to manipulate the system.

• Lack of Authentication and Authorization:

  APIs that lack proper authentication and authorization mechanisms may allow unauthorized access to sensitive data or functionalities.

• Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR):

  IDOR vulnerabilities occur when an attacker can access or manipulate sensitive data or resources by directly referencing internal system objects.

• Broken Access Control:

  This vulnerability occurs when access control mechanisms are not properly implemented, allowing unauthorized users to perform actions they should not have access to.

• Security Misconfigurations:

  Misconfigurations in API servers, firewalls, or other components can expose sensitive information or open doors for attackers to exploit.

How to defend against API vulnerabilities?

What does the common API vulnerabilities check template contain?

The template contains pre-configured requests with test scripts that enable you to check your API for common vulnerabilities. It provides a set of tests and checks for various security vulnerabilities, including:

• Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) misconfiguration

• Missing security headers

• Authentication vulnerabilities

• Directory traversal

• SQL injection

• Content injection

With this template, you can easily perform these checks on your API and identify potential vulnerabilities that may pose security risks.

How to use the common API vulnerabilities check template?

Step 1. Familiarize yourself with the template by going through the pre-configured requests with test scripts for each API vulnerability. Step 2. Customize the template to suit your specific API endpoints, authentication mechanisms, or testing requirements. Step 3. Execute the API checks by running the individual test scripts or requests against your API. Step 4. After running the tests, review the results and identify any vulnerabilities that the template flags. Step 5. Consider adding additional checks or tests to the template based on unique security considerations for your API.