Common API Attack Vectors and Threats

Understanding the various ways attackers target APIs is crucial for implementing effective security measures. Injection attacks remain one of the most common threats, where attackers insert malicious code or commands through API inputs. SQL injection, NoSQL injection, and command injection can lead to unauthorized data access, data manipulation, or complete system compromise. APIs that fail to properly validate and sanitize inputs are particularly vulnerable to these attacks.

Authentication and authorization vulnerabilities represent another major category of API security risks. Broken authentication allows attackers to assume other users' identities, while broken authorization enables access to resources beyond intended permissions. Common issues include weak authentication mechanisms, predictable tokens, missing authorization checks, and improper session management. These vulnerabilities can lead to horizontal privilege escalation (accessing other users' data) or vertical privilege escalation (gaining administrative privileges).

Rate limiting and DDoS vulnerabilities can render APIs unavailable or consume excessive resources. Without proper rate limiting, attackers can overwhelm APIs with requests, causing service disruptions or excessive cloud computing costs. Lack of resource limiting can also enable brute force attacks against authentication endpoints or data enumeration attacks where attackers systematically retrieve large amounts of data.