ESAPI (The OWASP Enterprise Security API) is a free, open source, web application security control library that makes it easier for programmers to write lower-risk applications. The ESAPI libraries are designed to make it easier for programmers to retrofit security into existing applications. The ESAPI libraries also serve as a solid foundation for new development.

Allowing for language-specific differences, all OWASP ESAPI versions have the same basic design:

• There is a set of security control interfaces. They define for example types of parameters that are passed to types of security controls.

• There is a reference implementation for each security control. The logic is not organization‐specific and the logic is not application‐specific. An example: string‐based input validation.

• There are optionally your own implementations for each security control. There may be application logic contained in these classes which may be developed by or for your organization. An example: enterprise authentication.

This project source code is licensed under the BSD license, which is very permissive and about as close to public domain as is possible. The project documentation is licensed under the Creative Commons license. You can use or modify ESAPI however you want, even include it in commercial products.

The following organizations are a few of the many organizations that are starting to adopt ESAPI to secure their web applications: American Express, Apache Foundation, Booz Allen Hamilton, Aspect Security, Coraid, The Hartford, Infinite Campus, Lockheed Martin, MITRE, U.S. Navy - SPAWAR, The World Bank, SANS Institute.

Please let us know how your organization is using OWASP ESAPI. Include your name, organization's name, and brief description of how you are using it. The project lead can be reached here.

Let's talk here

ESAPI Communities

Further development of ESAPI occurs through mailing list discussions and occasional workshops, and suggestions for improvement are welcome. For more information, please subscribe to one of the lists below.

• esapi-dev mailing list (this is the main list)
• esapi-user mailing list
• esapi-php mailing list
• esapi-python mailing list
• esapi-ruby mailing list
• esapi-swingset mailing list
• esapi-coldfusion mailing list

IRC Chat

If you would rather chat with us about your problem or thoughts - you can join us in our IRC channel using an IRC Client or using FreeNode's WebChat client.

• Server: irc.freenode.net
• Channel: #esapi

Got developer cycles?

ESAPI Coding

The ESAPI project is always on the lookout for volunteers who are interested in contributing developer cycles.

• ESAPI for other languages developer onboarding instructions -- coming soon!

Project Sponsors

The ESAPI project is sponsored by