Performing API Security Testing with Postman

When to Use

• Building repeatable API security test suites for OWASP API Security Top 10 coverage
• Creating automated security regression tests that run in CI/CD pipelines via Newman
• Testing API authentication and authorization across multiple user roles systematically
• Integrating Postman with OWASP ZAP proxy for combined manual and automated security testing
• Establishing a baseline security test collection for new API endpoints before deployment

Do not use against production APIs without authorization. Postman security testing involves sending potentially malicious payloads.

Prerequisites

• Postman Desktop or web application with an active workspace
• Target API with OpenAPI/Swagger specification for collection import
• Test accounts for at least three roles: unauthenticated, regular user, admin
• Newman CLI installed for CI/CD integration: npm install -g newman
• OWASP ZAP configured as local proxy (localhost:8080) for Postman proxy integration
• API environment variables for base URL, tokens, and test data