Partner Shops Will Call Your New Inventory API Next Week? Six Checks Before You Issue the First Key

The company in this post is invented. A mid-size firm built a new inventory API. Next week, partner shops will call it to check stock and place orders. The team is about to issue the first keys. They want to know what to inspect before those keys go out. The checks below are for that first public release, not for a later audit.

We read the OWASP API Security Top 10 for 2023. We also read NIST's Secure Software Development Framework, version 1.1. That framework is NIST Special Publication 800-218, dated February 2022. Groups outside government may use it by choice. CISA's Secure by Design page adds a simple point: treat partner safety as part of the product, not a later patch. Below are six checks drawn from those pages.

These six checks do not prove that an API is safe. They are a first look, not a full review. A later change to a path or a role should go through the same six checks again.

Word key

• API: a way for one program to request data or actions from another.
• API key: a secret that identifies a calling app. Treat it like a password.
• Record check: a test that this caller may use this exact record, not some other one.
• Endpoint list: a current inventory of hosts, versions, and API paths in use.

Check 1. Can this caller use only their own records?

API1:2023, Broken Object Level Authorization: every request must prove this caller may use this exact record. A valid login is not enough on its own.

NIST's framework also says to design the software to meet its security needs. Write those needs down before the first partner key is issued. Name who may read stock, who may place an order, and who may cancel one.

Our advice: pick one partner and one of their orders. Confirm they can read that order, and only that order. Repeat for a change and a cancel. If the API acts on another partner's order, it is not ready. If two partners share a warehouse, still check each order against the partner who owns it.

Check 2. Are keys and tokens hard to guess, and easy to revoke?

API2:2023, Broken Authentication: sign-in and tokens must identify the caller with care. A leaked or guessed key must not become another partner.

NIST also says to protect all forms of code from use by the wrong people. That includes source, executable code, and configuration-as-code.

Our tip: store keys in a secret vault, not in the app repo or a shared chat. Give each partner their own key, with an expiry date. Practice a revoke step before go-live, on a test key. If a laptop is lost, you should be able to cut that key the same day.

Check 3. Does the reply hide fields this caller should not see?

API3:2023, Broken Object Property Level Authorization: the API must also check each field. Do not return cost, supplier, or internal notes to a caller who should not see them. Do not let a caller change fields they do not own.

Our advice: for each endpoint, list the fields that may be read or written. Compare that list with a real response. If a hidden field appears, cut it before keys go out. Do the same for fields sent in an update, not only for fields in a reply.

Check 4. Are admin tools out of reach of everyday partner keys?

API5:2023, Broken Function Level Authorization: admin work and everyday partner work must stay apart. A partner key should not reach a path that adds users, dumps all orders, or changes prices for all shops.

Our tip: put admin paths behind a separate login and a tighter role. Try a normal partner key on those paths in a test setting. The API should refuse, and the refusal should be logged.

Check 5. Do you have a current list of every host, version, and path?

API9:2023, Improper Inventory Management: APIs often expose more paths than a web page does. Keep a current list of hosts, versions, and endpoints. Old versions and debug paths are easy to forget, and they still count.

NIST also says to review readable code and to test the running software before you release it. The tests should match how partners will really call the API. Save those tests, date them, and rerun them when a path or a role changes.

Our advice: print the live route list from the gateway and the app. Compare it with the contract you gave partners. Shut down unused versions and any debug path before the first key is issued. Keep the list dated, and review it when you add a path.

Check 6. Can one script drain stock, or run up the bill?

API4:2023, Unrestricted Resource Consumption: each call uses time, memory, and often a paid service. With no caps, one caller can slow the API or raise costs.

API6:2023, Unrestricted Access to Sensitive Business Flows: watch flows such as placing an order. A script that runs that flow too often can still harm the business. This is not only a coding bug. The design must limit that flow.

Our advice: set a fair cap per key for reads and for orders. Decide what happens when the cap is hit. Test that cap in a staging site, not on the live warehouse.

CISA's Secure by Design page asks makers to take ownership of customer security outcomes. Our advice: ship safe defaults, such as caps and short-lived keys, already turned on.

Tick these off before the first partner key goes out

• [ ] A caller can act only on their own records, on every path that uses a record id.
• [ ] Each partner has a unique, expiring key that can be revoked without a redeploy.
• [ ] Responses and updates include only the fields that this caller may use.
• [ ] Admin paths refuse a normal partner key, and that refusal is logged.
• [ ] The live host, version, and path list matches the partner contract. Old and debug paths are off.
• [ ] Caps exist for heavy reads and for order flows, and a staging test has proved they work.

Ask your product and engineering team these questions

1. Which record checks run on every read, change, and cancel path?
2. Where are keys stored, who can mint them, and how fast can we revoke one?
3. Which fields must never appear in a partner response?
4. Which paths are admin-only, and what happens if a partner key calls them?
5. What is the live list of hosts, versions, and paths, and who keeps it current?
6. What cap do we set per key, and what does the caller see when they hit it?

Read the docs yourself

• OWASP, API Security Top 10 (2023): https://owasp.org/API-Security/editions/2023/en/0x11-t10/
• OWASP, API1:2023 Broken Object Level Authorization: https://owasp.org/API-Security/editions/2023/en/0xa1-broken-object-level-authorization/
• OWASP API Security project home: https://owasp.org/API-Security/editions/2023/en/0x00-header/
• NIST, Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) Version 1.1, SP 800-218 (February 2022): https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-218.pdf
• NIST CSRC page for SP 800-218: https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/218/final
• CISA, Secure by Design: https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/secure-by-design

Codewave Consulting LLC prepared this checklist from public OWASP, NIST, and CISA pages. It is not a safety claim for any API. It is not professional advice on your systems or legal duties. A qualified engineer should test your own services before the first partner key is issued. We are an E-Verified employer. We proudly support H-1B visa sponsorship for qualified resources. Eligibility is reviewed individually; sponsorship does not guarantee a role, selection or government approval.

Our work: Codewave Consulting LLC is a Direct Vendor for Whirlpool, based in Michigan. We also design custom software and API architecture, and we provide IT staffing. See more at codewaveconsulting.com.