Overview
API security failures are not theoretical — they're the specific vulnerabilities in the OWASP API Security Top 10, each with a concrete exploit pattern and a concrete defense. An API that validates authentication but doesn't validate authorization at the object level (Broken Object Level Authorization) allows any authenticated user to access any other user's data by manipulating ID parameters. An API that serializes full model objects (Excessive Data Exposure) leaks fields the consumer wasn't supposed to see. These vulnerabilities exist in most production APIs because they require active defensive design — they don't surface in happy-path testing.
The API Security Framework implements defenses against each OWASP API Security Top 10 item with specific code patterns and verification methods.