Mitigating the top 5 OWASP API security risks using gateway patterns

Abstract

rate limiting, access control, payload validation, microservices, web security This paper investigates how API gateway patterns can effectively mitigate five of the most critical risks identified in the OWASP API Security Top 10 (2023 edition). As APIs form the backbone of modern microservices and cloud-native systems, ensuring their security is vital. The research outlines a layered defense strategy, focusing on gateway-enforced controls such as rate limiting, schema validation, authentication, authorization, and access policy enforcement. The methodology involves a structured analysis of security literature, case studies, and industry documentation to evaluate how API gateways address real-world vulnerabilities – such as Broken Object Level Authorization and Unrestricted Resource Consumption – across both perimeter and contextual security. This study contributes by bridging theoretical security models with real-world gateway implementations, illustrating their effectiveness through case analysis and highlighting where such protections fall short. The research finds that gateway patterns are most effective when complemented by backend validation and secure development practices. This paper proposes a practical security framework for developers and system architects seeking to fortify API-driven infrastructures.