Rate Limiting and Resource Exhaustion

API rate limiting testing reveals whether applications properly protect against abuse. Use ZAP's throttling features to send requests at various rates, identifying limits and bypass techniques. Test different rate limiting implementations—per-IP, per-token, or per-endpoint. Some APIs reset limits based on specific headers or parameters that attackers might manipulate.

Resource exhaustion testing targets API-specific denial of service vectors. Large payload attacks send oversized JSON or XML documents that consume excessive parsing resources. Algorithmic complexity attacks exploit inefficient search or sorting operations. Test by sending requests designed to trigger worst-case performance scenarios. Monitor response times and server resources to identify successful attacks.