Wazuh API (OSSEC / Wazuh)
Wazuh is an open source security platform evolved from OSSEC providing host-based intrusion detection (HIDS), log analysis, file integrity monitoring (FIM), vulnerability detection, configuration assessment, and incident response. The Wazuh Manager exposes a REST API on port 55000 for programmatic access to agents, alerts, rules, decoders, and configuration. Agents are deployed on monitored hosts and forward security events to the Wazuh Manager for correlation and analysis.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
SIEM/IDS platform (Wazuh). API key + JWT auth. Security event data is extremely sensitive. RBAC controls access to alerts. Protect API credentials — OSSEC controls security monitoring.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
An agent needs to query or manage a self-hosted security monitoring platform with host-based detection, especially in budget-constrained environments that cannot afford enterprise SIEM licensing.
Avoid When
Your organization lacks infrastructure to self-host the Wazuh manager, or needs a fully managed cloud SIEM with enterprise SLAs.
Use Cases
- • Querying security alerts and events for SOAR integration and automated triage
- • Managing Wazuh agents (enroll, list, restart, delete) programmatically
- • Pulling file integrity monitoring (FIM) events for unauthorized change detection
- • Accessing vulnerability scan results from Wazuh's agent vulnerability database
- • Configuration compliance assessment results for CIS and PCI-DSS auditing
Not For
- • Cloud-native CSPM (use Wiz or Lacework for cloud posture management)
- • Network-layer detection without host agents (Wazuh requires agent installation)
- • Organizations needing fully managed SIEM without self-hosting complexity
- • High-volume enterprise SIEM replacing dedicated platforms like Splunk or Elastic SIEM
Interface
Authentication
JWT-based authentication via /security/user/authenticate endpoint. Username/password exchanged for a JWT token. Tokens expire after 900 seconds (15 minutes) by default. Role-based access control (RBAC) with policies for fine-grained permissions. Basic auth also supported for token generation.
Pricing
Core platform is Apache 2.0 open source. Self-hosted is completely free. Wazuh Cloud offers managed hosting with a free tier and paid tiers for larger deployments. Community support via GitHub and forums.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ JWT tokens expire after 15 minutes by default — agents must implement token refresh before expiry
- ⚠ API runs on port 55000 which is non-standard — agents must configure custom port, not assume 443/80
- ⚠ Self-signed TLS certificates are common in self-hosted deployments — agents may need SSL verification disabled or custom CA bundles
- ⚠ Alert queries use Wazuh-specific field names that differ from standard syslog field names
- ⚠ High alert volume environments can produce slow query responses — agents should use specific time range filters and pagination
- ⚠ RBAC permissions must be explicitly granted in Wazuh console — default users have limited API access
- ⚠ Wazuh Cloud API endpoint differs from self-hosted — configuration is environment-specific
Alternatives
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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-07.