Findings

Missing additional properties

Updated: June 19, 2025

Description

An endpoint is missing the setting for additional properties. By default, the JSON Schema allows additional properties, which can potentially lead to mass assignment issues, where unspecified fields are passed to the API without validation.

Remediation

Set additionalProperties to false in the definition of the endpoint or add `maxProperties`.

Security Frameworks

This category combines API3:2019 Excessive Data Exposure and API6:2019 - Mass Assignment, focusing on the root cause: the lack of or improper authorization validation at the object property level. This leads to information exposure or manipulation by unauthorized parties.

APIs vulnerable to this risk expose a business flow - such as buying a ticket, or posting a comment - without compensating for how the functionality could harm the business if used excessively in an automated manner. This doesn't necessarily come from implementation bugs.

Binding client provided data (e.g., JSON) to data models, without proper properties filtering based on a whitelist, usually lead to Mass Assignment. Either guessing objects properties, exploring other API endpoints, reading the documentation, or providing additional object properties in request payloads, allows attackers to modify object properties they are not supposed to.

The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.

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