API Penetration Testing
NetSPI’s API penetration testing encompasses testing the network layer, system layer, and application tier. Along with full coverage of the OWASP API Top 10, we also apply business logic, and other manual techniques to manipulate the API(s).
Secure your APIs against evolving threats
NetSPI evaluates target APIs across the entire API stack, testing both authenticated and unauthenticated access scenarios to help your security and development teams inventory and evaluate APIs for security vulnerabilities. Our comprehensive approach combines manual expertise with automated tools to identify critical vulnerabilities including injection flaws, broken authentication, authorization bypasses, and business logic vulnerabilities that could compromise your applications and data.
Full OWASP API Top 10 Coverage
Information Gathering
- API catalog walkthrough review
- Architecture & business logic analysis
- Test plan aligned with your risk priorities
- Credential and scope validation
Testing & Evaluation
- Anonymous & authenticated user testing
- Manual & automated vulnerability assessment
- Data flow and business logic analysis
- Access control verification across user roles
Analysis & Reporting
- Business impact assessment
- Specific remediation guidance
- Technical verification evidence
- Executive summary & detailed context
5 Key API Penetration Testing Focus Areas
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1 ) Authentication & Authorization Flaws
We rigorously test authentication mechanisms and authorization controls to identify bypasses, including broken object-level authorization, function-level access control issues, JWT and access token vulnerabilities, and more.
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2 ) Injection Vulnerabilities
Our team identifies SQL, NoSQL, and command injection vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to manipulate queries, bypass authentication, access unauthorized data, or compromise backend systems.
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3 ) Data Exposure & Privacy
We assess APIs for excessive data exposure, sensitive information disclosure in responses, and broken object property level authorization that could leak passwords, tokens, PII, or business-critical data.
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4 ) Business Logic & Rate Limiting
Testing goes beyond common vulnerabilities to identify unrestricted resource consumption, business logic flaws, and missing rate limiting that could lead to denial of service or abuse of sensitive business flows.
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5 ) Security Misconfigurations
We evaluate your API infrastructure for common misconfigurations including verbose error messages enabling user enumeration, improper inventory management, unsafe third-party API consumption, and SSRF vulnerabilities.
By mapping penetration testing to the OWASP API Top 10, NetSPI simulates sophisticated attacks ranging from object enumeration and fuzzing to logic manipulation, SSRF, and bot-driven threats.
API vs Web App Pentesting
API
Web App
Manual Testing
Manual Testing
Automated Scanning
Automated Scanning
Catalog or Sample File
Catalog or Sample File
API Architecture (REST, SOAP, GraphQL, etc.)
API Architecture (REST, SOAP, GraphQL, etc.)
Authentication/Authorization Testing
Authentication/Authorization Testing
Business Logic Testing
Business Logic Testing
User Interface Vulnerabilities
User Interface Vulnerabilities
Dependency Vulnerabilities
Dependency Vulnerabilities
Resource Consumption Vulnerabilities
Resource Consumption Vulnerabilities
Inventory Management Vulnerabilities
Inventory Management Vulnerabilities
API vs Web App Checklist 
Data Sheet – API 
API Security Best Practices Accelerated Remediation
Live, interactive vulnerability reports make the path to remediation clear and easy. Integrate with your ticketing systems and tools to streamline the remediation process.
Improve Asset & Data Fidelity
Contextualize your pentesting data with high fidelity, manually validated findings, and tracking for the state of remediation efforts across all your vulnerabilities.
You Deserve The NetSPI Advantage
Human Driven
- 350+ pentesters
- Employed, not outsourced
- Wide domain expertise
AI –
Enabled
- Consistent quality
- Deep visibility
- Transparent results
Modern Pentesting
- Use case driven
- Friction-free
- Built for today’s threats
