API Security Best Practices

Implement secure API design patterns including authentication, authorization, input validation, rate limiting, and protection against common API vulnerabilities.

Description

USE WHEN:

• Designing new API endpoints
• Securing existing APIs
• Implementing authentication and authorization (JWT, OAuth 2.0, API keys)
• Setting up rate limiting and throttling
• Protecting against injection attacks (SQL, XSS, command)
• Conducting API security reviews or preparing for audits
• Handling sensitive data in APIs
• Building REST, GraphQL, or WebSocket APIs

DON'T USE WHEN:

• Need vulnerability scanning (use vulnerability-scanner skill)
• Building frontend-only apps with no API
• Need network-level security (firewalls, WAF config)

OUTPUTS:

• Secure authentication implementations (JWT, refresh tokens)
• Input validation schemas (Zod, Joi)
• Rate limiting configurations
• Security middleware examples
• OWASP API Top 10 compliance guidance

How It Works

Step 1: Authentication & Authorization

• Choose authentication method (JWT, OAuth 2.0, API keys)
• Implement token-based authentication
• Set up role-based access control (RBAC)
• Secure session management
• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Step 2: Input Validation & Sanitization

• Validate all input data
• Sanitize user inputs
• Use parameterized queries
• Implement request schema validation
• Prevent SQL injection, XSS, and command injection

Step 3: Rate Limiting & Throttling

• Implement rate limiting per user/IP
• Set up API throttling
• Configure request quotas
• Handle rate limit errors gracefully
• Monitor for suspicious activity

Step 4: Data Protection

• Encrypt data in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
• Encrypt sensitive data at rest
• Implement proper error handling (no data leaks)
• Sanitize error messages
• Use secure headers

JWT Authentication Implementation

Generate Secure JWT Tokens

// auth.js
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');

app.post('/api/auth/login', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { email, password } = req.body;
    
    // Validate input
    if (!email || !password) {
      return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Email and password required' });
    }
    
    // Find user
    const user = await db.user.findUnique({ where: { email } });
    
    if (!user) {
      // Don't reveal if user exists
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
    }
    
    // Verify password
    const validPassword = await bcrypt.compare(password, user.passwordHash);
    if (!validPassword) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
    }
    
    // Generate JWT token
    const token = jwt.sign(
      { userId: user.id, email: user.email, role: user.role },
      process.env.JWT_SECRET,
      { expiresIn: '1h', issuer: 'your-app', audience: 'your-app-users' }
    );
    
    // Generate refresh token
    const refreshToken = jwt.sign(
      { userId: user.id },
      process.env.JWT_REFRESH_SECRET,
      { expiresIn: '7d' }
    );
    
    // Store refresh token in database
    await db.refreshToken.create({
      data: {
        token: refreshToken,
        userId: user.id,
        expiresAt: new Date(Date.now() + 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000)
      }
    });
    
    res.json({ token, refreshToken, expiresIn: 3600 });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Login error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'An error occurred during login' });
  }
});

JWT Verification Middleware

// middleware/auth.js
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

function authenticateToken(req, res, next) {
  const authHeader = req.headers['authorization'];
  const token = authHeader && authHeader.split(' ')[1]; // Bearer TOKEN
  
  if (!token) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Access token required' });
  }
  
  jwt.verify(
    token, 
    process.env.JWT_SECRET,
    { issuer: 'your-app', audience: 'your-app-users' },
    (err, user) => {
      if (err) {
        if (err.name === 'TokenExpiredError') {
          return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Token expired' });
        }
        return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Invalid token' });
      }
      req.user = user;
      next();
    }
  );
}

module.exports = { authenticateToken };

Input Validation (SQL Injection Prevention)

❌ Vulnerable Code

// NEVER DO THIS - SQL Injection vulnerability
app.get('/api/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const userId = req.params.id;
  const query = `SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = '${userId}'`;
  const user = await db.query(query);
  res.json(user);
});

// Attack: GET /api/users/1' OR '1'='1 → Returns all users!

✅ Safe: Parameterized Queries

app.get('/api/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const userId = req.params.id;
  
  // Validate input first
  if (!userId || !/^\d+$/.test(userId)) {
    return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Invalid user ID' });
  }
  
  // Use parameterized query
  const user = await db.query(
    'SELECT id, email, name FROM users WHERE id = $1',
    [userId]
  );
  
  if (!user) {
    return res.status(404).json({ error: 'User not found' });
  }
  
  res.json(user);
});

✅ Safe: Using ORM (Prisma)

app.get('/api/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const userId = parseInt(req.params.id);
  
  if (isNaN(userId)) {
    return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Invalid user ID' });
  }
  
  const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({
    where: { id: userId },
    select: { id: true, email: true, name: true } // Don't select sensitive fields
  });
  
  if (!user) {
    return res.status(404).json({ error: 'User not found' });
  }
  
  res.json(user);
});

Schema Validation with Zod

const { z } = require('zod');

const createUserSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email('Invalid email format'),
  password: z.string()
    .min(8, 'Password must be at least 8 characters')
    .regex(/[A-Z]/, 'Must contain uppercase letter')
    .regex(/[a-z]/, 'Must contain lowercase letter')
    .regex(/[0-9]/, 'Must contain number'),
  name: z.string().min(2).max(100),
  age: z.number().int().min(18).max(120).optional()
});

function validateRequest(schema) {
  return (req, res, next) => {
    try {
      schema.parse(req.body);
      next();
    } catch (error) {
      res.status(400).json({ error: 'Validation failed', details: error.errors });
    }
  };
}

app.post('/api/users', validateRequest(createUserSchema), async (req, res) => {
  // Input is validated at this point
  const { email, password, name, age } = req.body;
  const passwordHash = await bcrypt.hash(password, 10);
  const user = await prisma.user.create({ data: { email, passwordHash, name, age } });
  const { passwordHash: _, ...userWithoutPassword } = user;
  res.status(201).json(userWithoutPassword);
});

Rate Limiting

const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');
const RedisStore = require('rate-limit-redis');
const Redis = require('ioredis');

const redis = new Redis({
  host: process.env.REDIS_HOST,
  port: process.env.REDIS_PORT
});

// General API rate limit
const apiLimiter = rateLimit({
  store: new RedisStore({ client: redis, prefix: 'rl:api:' }),
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100, // 100 requests per window
  message: { error: 'Too many requests, please try again later', retryAfter: 900 },
  standardHeaders: true,
  legacyHeaders: false,
  keyGenerator: (req) => req.user?.userId || req.ip
});

// Strict rate limit for authentication
const authLimiter = rateLimit({
  store: new RedisStore({ client: redis, prefix: 'rl:auth:' }),
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
  max: 5, // Only 5 login attempts per 15 minutes
  skipSuccessfulRequests: true,
  message: { error: 'Too many login attempts, please try again later', retryAfter: 900 }
});

app.use('/api/', apiLimiter);
app.use('/api/auth/login', authLimiter);
app.use('/api/auth/register', authLimiter);

Security Headers (Helmet)

const helmet = require('helmet');

app.use(helmet({
  contentSecurityPolicy: {
    directives: {
      defaultSrc: ["'self'"],
      styleSrc: ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],
      scriptSrc: ["'self'"],
      imgSrc: ["'self'", 'data:', 'https:']
    }
  },
  frameguard: { action: 'deny' },
  hidePoweredBy: true,
  noSniff: true,
  hsts: { maxAge: 31536000, includeSubDomains: true, preload: true }
}));

Authorization Checks

❌ Bad: Only Authentication

app.delete('/api/posts/:id', authenticateToken, async (req, res) => {
  await prisma.post.delete({ where: { id: req.params.id } });
  res.json({ success: true });
});

✅ Good: Authentication + Authorization

app.delete('/api/posts/:id', authenticateToken, async (req, res) => {
  const post = await prisma.post.findUnique({ where: { id: req.params.id } });
  
  if (!post) {
    return res.status(404).json({ error: 'Post not found' });
  }
  
  // Check if user owns the post or is admin
  if (post.userId !== req.user.userId && req.user.role !== 'admin') {
    return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Not authorized to delete this post' });
  }
  
  await prisma.post.delete({ where: { id: req.params.id } });
  res.json({ success: true });
});

Best Practices

✅ Do This

• Use HTTPS Everywhere - Never send sensitive data over HTTP
• Implement Authentication - Require authentication for protected endpoints
• Validate All Inputs - Never trust user input
• Use Parameterized Queries - Prevent SQL injection
• Implement Rate Limiting - Protect against brute force and DDoS
• Hash Passwords - Use bcrypt with salt rounds >= 10
• Use Short-Lived Tokens - JWT access tokens should expire quickly
• Implement CORS Properly - Only allow trusted origins
• Log Security Events - Monitor for suspicious activity
• Use Security Headers - Implement Helmet.js
• Sanitize Error Messages - Don't leak sensitive information

❌ Don't Do This

• Don't Store Passwords in Plain Text
• Don't Use Weak Secrets - Use strong, random JWT secrets
• Don't Trust User Input - Always validate and sanitize
• Don't Expose Stack Traces - Hide error details in production
• Don't Use String Concatenation for SQL
• Don't Store Sensitive Data in JWT - JWTs are not encrypted
• Don't Ignore Security Updates - Update dependencies regularly
• Don't Log Sensitive Data

OWASP API Security Top 10

1. Broken Object Level Authorization - Always verify user can access resource
2. Broken Authentication - Implement strong authentication mechanisms
3. Broken Object Property Level Authorization - Validate which properties user can access
4. Unrestricted Resource Consumption - Implement rate limiting and quotas
5. Broken Function Level Authorization - Verify user role for each function
6. Unrestricted Access to Sensitive Business Flows - Protect critical workflows
7. Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) - Validate and sanitize URLs
8. Security Misconfiguration - Use security best practices and headers
9. Improper Inventory Management - Document and secure all API endpoints
10. Unsafe Consumption of APIs - Validate data from third-party APIs

Security Checklist

Authentication & Authorization

• Implement strong authentication (JWT, OAuth 2.0)
• Use HTTPS for all endpoints
• Hash passwords with bcrypt (salt rounds >= 10)
• Implement token expiration
• Add refresh token mechanism
• Verify user authorization for each request
• Implement role-based access control (RBAC)

Input Validation

• Validate all user inputs
• Use parameterized queries or ORM
• Sanitize HTML content
• Validate file uploads
• Implement request schema validation
• Use allowlists, not blocklists

Rate Limiting & DDoS Protection

• Implement rate limiting per user/IP
• Add stricter limits for auth endpoints
• Use Redis for distributed rate limiting
• Return proper rate limit headers
• Implement request throttling

Data Protection

• Use HTTPS/TLS for all traffic
• Encrypt sensitive data at rest
• Don't store sensitive data in JWT
• Sanitize error messages
• Implement proper CORS configuration
• Use security headers (Helmet.js)

Additional Resources

• OWASP API Security Top 10
• JWT Best Practices
• Express Security Best Practices
• API Security Checklist