> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/appsec-rules/iac-security/iam/appsec-openapi-15.md).

# Operation Objects Uses Basic Auth misconfiguration detected in code

## Rule Details

|                        |                        |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------- |
| Cortex AppSec Rule ID  | APPSEC\_OPENAPI\_15    |
| Category - Subcategory | Public Exposure - APIs |
| Provider               | OTHER                  |
| Severity               | HIGH                   |
| Framework              | OpenAPI                |

## Impact

This rule is checking for operation objects in OpenAPI version 2.0 files that are using basic authentication. Basic authentication is a simple authentication scheme built into the HTTP protocol, and involves sending user credentials (username and password) in the headers of a request. It's generally considered insecure for several reasons. Firstly, user credentials are sent as plaintext with basic encoding, making it easy for eavesdroppers to possibly intercept and see the credentials, especially if the request is sent over an unencrypted (i.e., non-HTTPS) connection. Secondly, basic authentication makes your application vulnerable to brute force attacks, as it doesn't incorporate any functionality for limiting login attempts. Overall, using a more secure authentication method, such as token-based or OAuth 2.0 authentication, is recommended.

## How to Fix

Ensure that you aren't using the unencryptedScheme. For example: components: securitySchemes:

* unencryptedScheme:
* ```
   type: http
  ```
* ```
   scheme: basic
  ```

paths: "/": get: security:

* ```
     - unencryptedScheme: []
  ```

***


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