Gate Admin API Functions
Verify role checks on privileged API functions, not only on admin screens.
An admin page can hide a button while its API operation remains callable by a regular member. Function-level authorization asks whether this caller may use this operation at all. OWASP API Security Top 10 identifies missing checks on privileged functions as a separate risk from object-level access.
Make a function grid
List operations that change access, billing, configuration, exports, or retention. For each, name the role or explicit grant required and the tenant or resource that limits it.
| Function | Required authority | Negative case |
|---|---|---|
| Invite member | Tenant membership manager | Member without invite grant |
| Change role | Tenant administrator with allowed target role | Admin attempts higher role |
| Run bulk export | Export permission | Read-only member |
| Change integration | Integration manager | Other tenant's admin |
| Delete organization | Dedicated owner approval | Ordinary admin |
Keep the route method and API version in the grid. A GET endpoint with a hidden side effect is still a privileged function. Check background or internal variants that perform the same operation. A platform support role should not silently bypass tenant limits.
Test the server decision
Use synthetic roles. Call each operation through its normal app flow and through the API client used by the product. Confirm that allowed calls have the intended effect. For denied calls, confirm no record, notification, job, or audit state was changed except a denial event. Test role removal during an active session according to the product's revocation rule.
OWASP Authorization supports least privilege and checks at the server. This grid is useful in code review and regression tests. It is not a request to enumerate a third party's admin endpoints. The team should keep an owner for each function and hold new privileged routes until the required role and negative case are recorded.
Illustrative function inventory for member-role changes: POST /v2/members/{id}/role, PATCH /v2/members/{id}, and a supported /v1 role route each get their own row. Use an A read-only member against every route. Assert 403 or the product's concealment response, unchanged role, and zero queued notifications. A permitted A administrator must still complete the current route. Replace these paths with the routes that actually exist in the product.
Find the gaps in your access controls
See how an illustrative cross-workspace finding connects evidence, impact and a fix. Discuss the tenant boundaries your team needs reviewed.