API penetration testing involves assessing the security of application programming interfaces (APIs) by simulating attacks to identify vulnerabilities. It’s crucial due to the increasing reliance on APIs in modern applications, ensuring the protection of sensitive data and preventing unauthorized access.

Please note that this methodology is not a recommended or standard approach; it’s based on my personal experience gained from bug bounty programs and extensive penetration testing of API endpoints, combined with my own collection of methodologies.

Tools for API Penetration Testing:

• Burp Suite: For intercepting and analyzing HTTP/S traffic to test for vulnerabilities like injection attacks and security misconfigurations.
• SQLmap: Specifically used to detect and exploit SQL injection vulnerabilities in APIs.
• Commix: A tool focused on detecting and exploiting command injection vulnerabilities.
• Bettercap: To perform network monitoring, sniffing, and performing Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks, session hijacking and especially SSL stripping.

Bonus: Bettercap setup:

• Installation: Install BetterCAP on your system by following the installation instructions provided on the official BetterCAP GitHub repository or website.
• Preparation: Make sure you have two network interfaces, one for connecting to the internet and the other for creating a Wi-Fi access point or LAN. Configure your network interfaces accordingly.
• Start BetterCAP: Launch BetterCAP with the appropriate privileges (e.g., as root or with sudo).

SSL Stripping with BetterCAP:
1. Start Sniffing: Begin by running BetterCAP in sniffing mode. Use the command to start sniffing on the network interface:

sudo bettercap -iface <interface_name> - sniffer

2. Enable HTTP Proxy Module: Enable the HTTP Proxy module in BetterCAP, which allows you to intercept and modify HTTP traffic: