Exposed Swagger Spec on Major Retail Site – API Recon Breakdown

Tags: Information Disclosure, API Security, ReconOps, Swagger, Bug Bounty

Intro

During a focused surface recon engagement, I identified a critical misconfiguration on a live production target => redacted.com. The issue? An exposed Swagger specification file (/spec.json) that revealed the entire internal API structure, including an active bearer token. This post breaks down the process used to find it, the associated risk, and what it reveals about the hidden vulnerabilities even large organizations overlook.

Recon Path

Objective: Map out exposed endpoints, test legacy routes, and fingerprint internal systems, all from outside the perimeter.
Toolset: httpx, gau, waybackurls, curl, manual inspection

Recon Flow:

1. Enumerated subdomains using subfinder, then checked live hosts with httpx

2. Harvested known historical paths using gau and waybackurls

   • These tools returned several interesting paths, including /spec.json

3. Probed discovered paths manually using curl

   • Visiting https://redacted.com/spec.json returned a full OpenAPI spec

4. Contents: Full OpenAPI (Swagger) documentation

5. Exposed Data => Complete list of internal routes

   • Method types, auth params, response codes

   • A valid Bearer test token: TEST-TOKEN-radacted

Real-World Impact

This type of leak provides everything an attacker needs to reverse-engineer backend logic. With the bearer token and API definitions exposed:

• Attackers can test internal routes without guessing

• Sensitive business logic becomes visible

• Potential privilege escalation chains are unlocked

• Even if the token had limited access, the exposure represents a full map of the system., something that should never be public.

Classification

• CWE-200: Information Exposure

• Valid submission via responsible disclosure channel

• Confirmed by the program triage team

Lessons

• Spec files are often left behind by dev teams and go unnoticed

• External recon doesn’t require login or breach, just awareness

• Exposure like this is not theoretical; it’s actively abused in the wild

Final Note

BlessedOps specializes in surfacing threats that traditional scans miss, exposed documentation, legacy paths, and overlooked routes hiding in plain sight.

This wasn't a “hack.” This was hygiene, and it was missing.

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