conducting-api-security-testing

Testing APIs for BOLA and other OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities involves enumerating endpoints and validating bearer tokens across REST and GraphQL APIs. It identifies broken object/function authorization, mass assignment, and excessive data exposure using deterministic HTTP request logic.

You can check for GraphQL introspection and JWT manipulation issues during penetration testing by probing schema disclosures and manipulating token claims. This allows you to identify insecure configurations and authentication bypass paths across unauthenticated and low-privilege contexts.

To run an API security test, you need an authorized target base URL, bearer tokens for various privilege levels, and the Python requests library. Optional GraphQL probing can be enabled to perform deeper schema introspection checks.

Rate limiting testing for REST and GraphQL APIs works by sending deterministic HTTP requests to identify gaps in endpoint protection. It validates whether the API properly restricts excessive requests across unauthenticated and low-privilege contexts.

Burp Suite concepts are used to verify authorization testing across privilege levels by applying Postman-style replays to compare access controls. This workflow validates authentication mechanisms and identifies insecure direct object references between admin and low-privilege contexts.