Full Report
Cloudflare’s new Web and API Vulnerability Scanner helps teams proactively find logic flaws. By using AI to build API call graphs, we identify vulnerabilities that standard defensive tools miss.
Analysis Summary
# Tool/Technique: Cloudflare Web and API Vulnerability Scanner
## Overview
The Cloudflare Web and API Vulnerability Scanner is a stateful Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) solution designed to proactively identify logic flaws in APIs and web applications. Unlike traditional Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) that focus on syntax-based attacks (like SQLi), this tool utilizes AI-generated API call graphs to detect complex vulnerabilities such as Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA).
## Technical Details
- **Type**: Tool (Dynamic Application Security Testing / Vulnerability Scanner)
- **Platform**: Web-based APIs and Applications
- **Capabilities**: Active scanning, stateful testing, AI-driven API call graphing, and logic flaw identification.
- **First Seen**: Beta launched March 9, 2026 (based on article date).
## MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
*Note: This tool is a defensive scanner designed to identify the following adversary techniques:*
- **[TA0001 - Initial Access]**
- **[T1190 - Exploit Public-Facing Application]**: Identifying logic flaws that could be exploited for unauthorized access.
- **[TA0006 - Credential Access]** or **[TA0009 - Collection]**
- **[T1557 - Adversary-in-the-Middle]**: Mitigating risk where attackers manipulate object IDs to access cross-user data (BOLA).
## Functionality
### Core Capabilities
- **Active Vulnerability Hunting**: Sends synthetic, "net-new" traffic profiles to endpoints to discover vulnerabilities proactively before they are exploited.
- **BOLA Detection**: Specifically targets Broken Object Level Authorization by manipulating parameters (e.g., `{order_id}`) while using valid authentication tokens to see if the API incorrectly grants access to other users' data.
- **Stateful Scanning**: Maintains context across multiple API requests, allowing the scanner to understand business logic flows rather than analyzing individual requests in isolation.
### Advanced Features
- **AI Call Graphs**: Uses AI to build a map of how different API calls interact, identifying the "expected" flow of an application to better spot deviations.
- **API Shield Integration**: Plugs directly into existing Cloudflare API Shield environments for seamless scanning of defined endpoints.
- **Logic Flaw Analysis**: Distinguishes between valid syntax (which passes WAFs) and invalid business logic (which compromises data).
## Indicators of Compromise
*Note: As this is a defensive security tool, it does not have malicious IoCs. However, security teams may observe its scanning activity:*
- **Network Indicators**: Traffic originating from Cloudflare IP ranges directed at API endpoints, specifically designed to test parameter manipulation.
- **Behavioral Indicators**: Rapid sequences of `GET`, `PATCH`, or `DELETE` requests where object identifiers are incremented or altered while the authorization bearer token remains constant.
## Associated Threat Actors
The tool is designed to defend against any actor exploiting the **OWASP API Top 10**, particularly those focusing on:
- Financial gain through data exfiltration.
- Unauthorized account or resource manipulation (BOLA).
## Detection Methods
- **Behavioral Detection**: The scanner itself performs behavioral analysis by "listening" to existing traffic to establish a baseline of "valid" API calls before attempting active manipulation.
- **Anomaly Detection**: Identifies when an API returns a `200 OK` or `204 No Content` for a resource that should have been restricted to a different user.
## Mitigation Strategies
- **Authorization Implementation**: Implement strict server-side checks such as `if (resource.ownerID != session.userID) { throw Unauthorized; }`.
- **Proactive Testing**: Regularly run the vulnerability scanner against development and production environments to find flaws before attackers do.
- **Schema Validation**: Use API Shield to enforce schemas, ensuring only expected data types are processed.
## Related Tools/Techniques
- **DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)**: General category for this tool.
- **WAF (Web Application Firewall)**: Complementary defensive tool that handles syntax-based threats.
- **Burp Suite / OWASP ZAP**: Manual/Automated tools used by both researchers and attackers for similar scanning.
- **BOLA (Broken Object Level Authorization)**: The primary vulnerability targeted by the initial release of this tool.