AI Pentest for APIs
AI-powered penetration testing for REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket APIs. Automatically discover endpoints, test authorization, and find the BOLA/IDOR vulnerabilities that scanners miss.
APIs Are the #1 Attack Surface
91% of web attacks target API endpoints, and AI-generated backends often skip authorization checks entirely. A single missing auth check can expose your entire database to unauthenticated access.
API Pentest Checklist
Follow these 10 steps to thoroughly pentest your API. Critical items represent the most commonly exploited API attack vectors.
Discover all API endpoints
Crawl documentation, OpenAPI specs, and network traffic to build a complete map of every API endpoint.
Test authentication mechanisms
Probe JWT handling, OAuth flows, API key validation, and session management for bypass vulnerabilities.
Verify authorization per endpoint
Ensure every endpoint enforces proper access control and users cannot access other users' resources.
Test rate limiting
Verify that rate limits are enforced on authentication, password reset, and resource-intensive endpoints.
Probe input validation
Send malformed, oversized, and unexpected data types to every parameter to find injection and parsing bugs.
Check for mass assignment
Test whether API endpoints accept extra fields that can escalate privileges or modify protected attributes.
Test BOLA/IDOR vulnerabilities
Systematically swap object IDs across endpoints to find broken object-level authorization flaws.
Analyze error responses
Check that error messages do not leak stack traces, database schemas, or internal system information.
Test GraphQL introspection
Check if introspection is enabled in production and probe for query depth, complexity, and batching attacks.
Verify API versioning security
Test deprecated API versions for vulnerabilities and ensure old endpoints are properly decommissioned.
Benefits of AI Pentest for APIs
Discovers Hidden Endpoints Automatically
HighAI agents crawl your application to find undocumented endpoints, admin routes, and debug interfaces that manual testing misses.
Tests Every Parameter Combination
HighExhaustively tests parameter combinations, edge cases, and boundary conditions that would take human testers weeks.
Catches BOLA/IDOR That Scanners Miss
MediumAI understands application context to test object-level authorization, the #1 API vulnerability that traditional scanners cannot detect.
Supports REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket
MediumWorks with any API architecture including REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSocket endpoints out of the box.
The OWASP API Security Top 10
How AI pentest agents handle each category in the OWASP API Security Top 10.
API1 - Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA)
CriticalAI swaps user IDs across every endpoint. GET /api/users/123 becomes GET /api/users/456. This is the #1 API vulnerability and the one traditional scanners miss most often.
API2 - Broken Authentication
CriticalAI probes JWT token handling, tests for token reuse, checks expiration enforcement, and attempts authentication bypass through parameter manipulation.
API3 - Broken Object Property Level Authorization
HighAI sends extra fields in POST/PUT requests to test mass assignment. Can a regular user set admin: true in their profile update?
API4 - Unrestricted Resource Consumption
HighAI tests rate limits by sending rapid requests to authentication, search, and data export endpoints.
API5 - Broken Function Level Authorization
CriticalAI tests admin endpoints with non-admin tokens. Can a regular user access /api/admin/users?
API6 - Unrestricted Access to Sensitive Business Flows
HighAI tests business-critical flows like checkout, account creation, and password reset for abuse patterns.
API7 - Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
HighAI tests URL parameters for SSRF, attempting to access internal services and cloud metadata endpoints (169.254.169.254).
API8 - Security Misconfiguration
MediumAI checks for debug mode, verbose errors, CORS wildcard, missing rate limits, and default credentials.
API9 - Improper Inventory Management
MediumAI discovers undocumented endpoints, old API versions, and debug routes that developers forgot to remove.
API10 - Unsafe Consumption of APIs
MediumAI tests how your API handles responses from third-party services, checking for injection through upstream data.
Real API Vulnerabilities AI Agents Find
Anonymized examples from real AI pentest engagements.
BOLA in Organization Endpoint
A Supabase-powered SaaS had a /api/organizations/:id endpoint that returned full organization data including billing details and member emails. The endpoint checked if the requesting user was authenticated but not if they belonged to the organization. AI found this BOLA vulnerability in 30 seconds.
Command Injection in Export Route
A Next.js API route at /api/admin/export accepted a format parameter that was passed directly to a shell command. AI detected command injection by sending format=csv;whoami and receiving the server's username in the response.
GraphQL Introspection Leak
A GraphQL API had introspection enabled in production, exposing the entire schema including internal mutation types. AI used the schema to discover an undocumented deleteUser mutation that had no authorization check.
API Pentest by Architecture
REST APIs
Test CRUD operations on every resource with different auth tokens. Check for BOLA on GET/PUT/DELETE. Verify pagination doesn't leak data beyond authorized scope.
GraphQL APIs
Test query depth limits, introspection access, mutation authorization, and nested resolver permissions. Check for batch query attacks and query complexity bombs.
WebSocket APIs
Test connection authentication, message authorization, and injection through WebSocket messages. Verify that subscriptions respect access control boundaries.
Related Resources
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