🧞‍♀️API Security Cheat Sheet PART - 6

Diverse Authentication Techniques and Their Security Implications (continued)

1. Backslashes in Strings

   {"login": "ad\\min",
    "password": "pa\\ssword"}

   Description: Demonstrates the use of backslashes, emphasizing the need for correct escape character handling.

2. Long Strings of Special Characters

   {"login": "!@#$%^&*()"*1000,
    "password": "!@#$%^&*()"*1000}

   Description: Features excessively long strings of special characters, pointing out the necessity for input length controls.

3. Empty Key in JSON

   {"": "admin",
    "password": "password"}

   Description: Utilizes an empty key, highlighting the importance of validating key names in JSON objects.

4. JSON Injection in Key

   {"{\"injection\":\"value\"}": "admin",
    "password": "password"}

   Description: Shows the potential for JSON injection within keys, underscoring the need for thorough validation of JSON keys.

5. Quotation Marks in Strings

   {"login": "\"admin\"",
    "password": "\"password\""}

   Description: Incorporates quotation marks, emphasizing the significance of parsing and validating such characters.

6. Credentials as Nested Arrays

   {"login": [["admin"]],
    "password": [["password"]]}

   Description: Features nested arrays, indicating the complexity of handling various data structures in authentication.

7. Credentials as Nested Objects

   {"login": {"username": {"value": "admin"},
    "password": {"password": {"value": "password"}}}

   Description: Utilizes deeply nested objects, pointing to the challenges in parsing and validating multi-layered JSON structures.

8. Keys as Numbers

   {123: "admin",
    456: "password"}

   Description: Uses numeric keys, emphasizing the need for handling non-string keys in JSON objects.

9. Testing with Greater Than and Less Than Signs

   {"login": "admin>1",
    "password": "<password"}

   Description: Involves comparison operators, highlighting the importance of sanitizing inputs to prevent logical errors or injections.

10. Testing with Parentheses in Credentials

    {"login": "(admin)",
     "password": "(password)"}

    Description: Features parentheses, underscoring the need for handling special characters appropriately in authentication processes.

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This extensive API Security Cheat Sheet provides a detailed guide for developers and security experts, covering a wide array of authentication scenarios. Each case illustrates unique challenges, from managing complex data structures and special characters to ensuring robust validation and sanitization processes, all crucial for securing APIs.