API Security Testing

PentestHint provides API security testing for REST, JSON, authentication, authorization, rate limits, data exposure, and business logic flaws.

Assessment Overview

PentestHint tests APIs for the failures that matter most in modern applications: broken object authorization, excessive data exposure, weak authentication, and unsafe workflow design.

What We Assess

  • BOLA and object-level authorization
  • Function-level authorization
  • Authentication and token handling
  • Mass assignment and excessive data exposure
  • Rate limiting and abuse resistance
  • Versioned and deprecated endpoints

Methodology

  • Review API documentation, collections, schemas, and user roles.
  • Map endpoints, objects, methods, and trust boundaries.
  • Manipulate tokens, identifiers, JSON bodies, and request sequences.
  • Validate abuse cases including enumeration, privilege escalation, and workflow bypass.
  • Report each issue with request/response evidence.

Evidence-Based Deliverables

  • Executive summary with business impact and risk narrative
  • Technical findings with reproducible evidence and affected assets
  • Prioritized remediation roadmap with ownership-friendly guidance
  • Retest notes validating closure or residual exposure

Standards and Frameworks

  • OWASP API Security Top 10
  • OWASP ASVS
  • CWE
  • NIST CSF
  • MITRE ATT&CK

Business and Technical Context

API Security Testing helps organizations connect technical observations with business impact, remediation ownership, and security program priorities. PentestHint focuses on clear evidence, practical severity ratings, and recommendations that engineering, IT, risk, and leadership teams can use during remediation planning.

The engagement output is designed to support decision-making, not just list issues. Findings are explained with affected areas, likely impact, validation notes, and next steps so teams can prioritize meaningful security improvements and prepare for retesting or control review.

Scoping considers business criticality, asset ownership, access level, assessment window, operational constraints, compliance needs, and reporting expectations. This keeps the work aligned with the actual environment while still giving teams enough technical detail to fix issues confidently.

Related controls, architecture assumptions, user roles, authentication paths, network exposure, logging visibility, and operational ownership are considered where relevant, so the final guidance supports both immediate remediation and longer-term security posture improvement.

Why PentestHint

Our API reports are designed for backend teams, with exact endpoints, payloads, roles, and authorization conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you test GraphQL?

Yes. We test REST, GraphQL, JSON APIs, partner APIs, and mobile backend APIs.

Do you need Postman collections?

Collections, OpenAPI specs, and role-based test accounts improve coverage but are not mandatory.

Can you test rate limiting safely?

Yes. We use controlled tests agreed in advance to avoid operational disruption.

Talk to PentestHint

Contact PentestHint to discuss scope, business context, timelines, evidence requirements, and practical next steps for improving security posture.