Is Railway Safe?
Last updated: January 12, 2026
An honest security analysis of Railway for developers considering it for their projects.
Quick Answer
Safe - use Private Networking for internal servicesRailway is safe for production with automatic HTTPS, container isolation, and Private Networking for internal communication. Unlike Vercel (static/serverless), Railway runs full containers with persistent databases. Main concern: database connection strings must use Railway Variables, not hardcoded values.
Understanding Railway Security
When evaluating whether Railway is safe for your project, it's important to understand the distinction between platform security and application security. Railway as a platform implements industry-standard security practices for its infrastructure, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.
However, the security of applications built with Railway depends significantly on how developers use the platform. AI-generated code and rapid development workflows can introduce vulnerabilities that exist independently of the platform's underlying security. Research from Stanford University found that AI coding assistants produce vulnerable code approximately 40% of the time when working on security-sensitive tasks.
The most common security issues in Railway applications stem from misconfigurations, exposed credentials, and missing security controls—problems that developers must address regardless of which platform they use. Understanding these patterns helps you make informed decisions about using Railway for your specific use case.
Platform Security
Platform security refers to the security measures Railway implements at the infrastructure level: how they protect their servers, encrypt data in transit and at rest, manage access to their systems, and respond to security incidents. These are controls the platform provider manages on your behalf.
Application Security
Application security is your responsibility as a developer. This includes properly configuring authentication, implementing authorization controls, protecting sensitive data, securing API endpoints, and avoiding common vulnerabilities like exposed credentials or SQL injection. These risks exist regardless of which platform you use.
Common Security Mistakes in Railway Apps
Based on security scans of thousands of Railway applications, these are the most frequently encountered vulnerabilities. Understanding these patterns helps you proactively secure your applications.
Exposed API Keys & Secrets
AI coding tools frequently embed API keys, database credentials, and other secrets directly in JavaScript bundles. These credentials become visible to anyone who inspects your application's source code in their browser.
Prevention: Use environment variables and server-side API routes to keep credentials secure.
Missing Database Security
Applications using Supabase or Firebase often launch without proper Row Level Security (RLS) policies or Security Rules. This allows unauthorized users to read, modify, or delete data they shouldn't have access to.
Prevention: Always enable and test RLS policies before deploying to production.
Insufficient Input Validation
AI-generated code often assumes valid input without implementing proper validation. This opens applications to injection attacks, XSS vulnerabilities, and data corruption.
Prevention: Validate all user input on both client and server side.
Missing Security Headers
HTTP security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security are frequently missing from AI-generated applications, leaving them vulnerable to various attacks.
Prevention: Configure security headers in your hosting platform or application middleware.
Security Assessment
Security Strengths
- Containers run in isolated Firecracker microVMs (same tech as AWS Lambda)
- Private Networking keeps database traffic off public internet
- Railway Variables inject secrets at runtime - never stored in repo
- Built-in Postgres and Redis with encryption at rest
- GitHub integration with ephemeral PR environments that auto-delete
Security Concerns
- Public networking is default - databases accessible from internet without Private Networking
- No built-in WAF or advanced DDoS protection like enterprise hosting
- Connection strings in logs can leak if you log environment variables
- Shared infrastructure - no dedicated instances on free tier
- Volume data persists after deletion unless explicitly wiped
Security Checklist for Railway
- 1Enable Private Networking for database → app communication
- 2Use Railway Variables (not hardcoded) for DATABASE_URL and secrets
- 3Never console.log() environment variables in production code
- 4Configure resource limits to prevent runaway costs from DoS
- 5Enable GitHub branch protection to prevent unauthorized deployments
- 6For compliance needs: contact Railway about dedicated infrastructure
The Verdict
Railway strikes a balance between Vercel's simplicity and full container control. Private Networking is the key security feature - enable it to keep database traffic internal. Perfect for apps that need databases and background jobs without managing Kubernetes.
Security Research & Industry Data
Understanding Railway security in the context of broader industry trends and research.
of Lovable applications (170 out of 1,645) had exposed user data in the CVE-2025-48757 incident
Source: CVE-2025-48757 security advisory
average cost of a data breach in 2023
Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023
developers using vibe coding platforms like Lovable, Bolt, and Replit
Source: Combined platform statistics 2024-2025
What Security Experts Say
“Vibe coding your way to a production codebase is clearly risky. Most of the work we do as software engineers involves evolving existing systems, where the quality and understandability of the underlying code is crucial.”
“The problem with AI-generated code isn't that it doesn't work - it's that it works just well enough to ship, but contains subtle security flaws that are hard to spot.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Railway safe for production databases?
Yes. Railway's managed Postgres and Redis include encryption at rest and automated backups. Enable Private Networking to keep database traffic off the public internet. Connection strings should always be stored in Railway Variables, not code.
What is Railway Private Networking?
Private Networking creates internal DNS names (service.railway.internal) for service-to-service communication. Database traffic stays off the public internet. Enable it in service settings - it's free and significantly improves security.
How is Railway different from Vercel security-wise?
Railway runs persistent containers with databases; Vercel is serverless/static. Railway uses Private Networking; Vercel uses Edge Functions. Railway exposes full container control; Vercel abstracts infrastructure. Railway is better for stateful apps needing databases.
How do Railway Variables work?
Railway Variables are injected at runtime - they're not stored in your repo or container image. Reference them using ${{variable}} syntax or standard environment variables. Variables can be shared across services or scoped to specific environments.
Verify Your Railway App Security
Don't guess - scan your app and know for certain. VAS checks for all the common security issues in Railway applications.