The article discusses the security risks associated with GraphQL compared to REST APIs, highlighting issues such as over-fetching, injection attacks, and broken authorization. It outlines best practices for securing API endpoints in distributed architectures and emphasizes the need for tailored security strategies for each API type. Affected: GraphQL, REST APIs, organizations using APIs
Keypoints :
- GraphQL offers flexibility and efficiency compared to REST but introduces unique security risks.
- Common risks for GraphQL include over-fetching, injection attacks, broken authorization, unrestricted introspection, and Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerabilities.
- Over-fetching can expose unintended data; limiting query depth and field restrictions can mitigate this risk.
- Custom authorization logic is required for GraphQL as it lacks default role-based access control (RBAC).
- An effective security strategy for GraphQL should disable introspection in production environments.
- Rate limiting and query complexity analyses can help reduce the risk of DoS attacks.
- Best practices for securing both GraphQL and REST APIs include using OAuth 2.0 for authentication and implementing role-based or attribute-based access control.
- Monitoring API traffic for anomalies is crucial for identifying abuse attempts.
- GraphQL should not compromise on security even while allowing complex query capabilities.