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AI21 Studio API Key

AI21 Studio API Keys are used to authenticate requests to AI21's suite of natural language processing services. These keys grant access to various AI models and endpoints, enabling applications to leverage AI21's capabilities for tasks such as text generation, summarization, and more. Exposure of an API key can lead to unauthorized access to these services, potentially resulting in misuse of resources and unexpected charges.

How Does It Look​

API keys can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export AI21_API_KEY="sk-abc123xyz456"

  • Configuration files (JSON, YAML, .env):

    {
      "apiKey": "sk-abc123xyz456"
    }
    api_key: sk-abc123xyz456

  • Code snippets:

    import requests

    headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer sk-abc123xyz456"}
    response = requests.get("https://api.ai21.com/studio/v1/endpoint", headers=headers)

Severity​

  • 🟠 High

This API key provides access to AI21's services, which can be used to perform a wide range of operations, including generating text and analyzing language. The blast radius includes potential misuse of AI resources, leading to financial costs and service disruptions.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to the API key, an attacker can interact with AI21's services without restriction.

Key actions an attacker can perform:

  • Generate large volumes of text (if the key has access to text generation endpoints)
  • Consume API quota (leading to unexpected charges if the account is billed per request)
  • Access sensitive AI models (if the key has permissions to use proprietary models)
  • Potentially disrupt service availability (if rate limits are exceeded)

An attacker could also use the API key to explore other endpoints, potentially discovering additional capabilities or vulnerabilities. This could lead to lateral movement within the AI21 ecosystem or escalation of privileges if other credentials are exposed.

Real-World Impact​

Exposure of an AI21 API key poses significant business risks, including:

Primary impact includes unauthorized use of AI services.

Potential consequences include:

  • Data Exposure: Unauthorized access to AI models and generated content (if the key allows access to sensitive endpoints)
  • Financial Loss: Increased costs due to excessive API usage (if billing is based on usage)
  • Operational Disruption: Service interruptions due to quota exhaustion (if rate limits are exceeded)
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of trust if clients' data is mishandled or exposed

In a worst-case scenario, prolonged exposure could lead to significant financial and operational impacts, especially if the key is used for malicious purposes over an extended period.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit an exposed AI21 API key, an attacker needs:

  • Network access to the internet to send requests to AI21's API endpoints
  • Knowledge of API endpoints and how to interact with them
  • No rate limits or restrictions that prevent excessive use

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if an AI21 API key is active, use the following command:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer [API_KEY]" https://api.ai21.com/studio/v1/verify

Valid credential response: A successful response will include a status code of 200 and details about the API key's permissions.

Invalid/expired credential response: An error message with a status code of 401 or 403 indicating unauthorized access.

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • AI21_API_KEY
  • AI21_KEY
  • AI21_SECRET
  • API_KEY
  • AI21_TOKEN
  • AI21_ACCESS_KEY

File Locations:

  • .env
  • config.json
  • settings.yaml
  • credentials.py
  • app.config

Regex Pattern:

sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{16,32}

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to AI21 Studio > API Keys and delete the compromised key.
  2. Audit access logs - Review AI21 usage logs for unauthorized requests or unusual activity during the exposure window.
  3. Assess blast radius - Identify all systems, applications, and environments that used the exposed API key.
  4. Rotate credential - Generate a new API key in AI21 Studio with least-privilege permissions.
  5. Update dependent systems - Deploy the new API key to all applications and update CI/CD pipelines securely.
  6. Harden access controls - Enable IP allowlisting in AI21 Studio and require secure connections.
  7. Implement secrets management - Migrate API keys to a secrets manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) to prevent hardcoding.
  8. Add detection controls - Set up pre-commit hooks and repository scanning to catch credential leaks before they reach production.

Credential exposures often go undetected for extended periods, increasing the window for exploitation. As a long-term strategy, plan to establish an internal process or engage an external vendor for continuous external exposure monitoring. This helps identify leaked secrets across public repositories, paste sites, dark web forums, and other external sources before attackers can leverage them. Proactive detection and rapid response are essential to minimizing the impact of credential leaks.

References​