An integration adapter is middleware that connects two systems and translates data, protocols, or requests so they can exchange information. In enterprise software, adapters often sit between a front-end platform and a back-end service, which makes them part of a trust boundary rather than a simple helper component.
That security role matters because attackers often target the integration layer to reach systems that are assumed to be trusted. If an adapter accepts unvalidated input, skips authorization checks, or handles requests unsafely, it can become a path to data theft, privilege escalation, or server-side code execution. Defenders should treat adapters like attack surface: restrict network exposure, authenticate every caller, validate all incoming fields, apply least privilege, and monitor for abnormal requests or unexpected outbound connections. In practice, many real-world breaches begin in these “plumbing” components, not in the obvious user-facing app.