What vulnerabilities are found in Vercel apps?
Get instant answers about your app's security.
Short Answer
Vercel apps commonly exhibit vulnerabilities across five categories: exposed secrets, database misconfigurations, missing security headers, authentication weaknesses, and client-side data leakage.
Detailed Answer
Security scans of Vercel apps reveal recurring vulnerability patterns across five major categories:
**1. Exposed Secrets and API Keys** Frontend JavaScript bundles frequently contain hardcoded API keys, database credentials, or third-party service tokens. Attackers extract these using browser DevTools or automated scrapers, gaining unauthorized access to backend services.
**2. Database Misconfigurations** Missing Row Level Security (RLS) policies or overly permissive Security Rules leave entire databases readable and writable by unauthenticated users. This is the most critical vulnerability category because it exposes all user data at once.
**3. Missing Security Headers** Vercel apps often ship without Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, X-Frame-Options, or X-Content-Type-Options headers. This leaves users vulnerable to cross-site scripting (XSS), clickjacking, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
**4. Authentication Weaknesses** Common issues include no rate limiting on login endpoints, missing email verification, weak password requirements, and session tokens stored insecurely. These enable brute-force attacks and account takeover.
**5. Client-Side Data Leakage** Source maps left enabled in production expose application source code. Verbose error messages reveal internal architecture. Sensitive data stored in localStorage or sessionStorage can be accessed by malicious scripts.
VAS detects all five categories automatically and prioritizes findings by severity so you know what to fix first.
Security Research & Statistics
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
Expert Perspectives
“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.”
Check Your Vercel App's Security
VAS scans for all the security issues mentioned above. Get a comprehensive security report in minutes.
Get Starter ScanMore Questions About This Topic
How severe are the vulnerabilities typically found in Vercel apps?
Severity varies widely. Database exposure and leaked admin keys are critical - they can lead to full data breaches within minutes. Missing security headers are medium severity - they increase attack surface but require additional exploitation steps. Most Vercel apps have a mix of severities. Focus on critical and high findings first, then work through medium and low.
How do I fix vulnerabilities found in my Vercel app?
Start with the highest severity findings. For exposed secrets, rotate the compromised keys and move them to environment variables. For database issues, enable RLS or Security Rules on every table. For missing headers, configure them in your hosting platform or application framework. VAS provides specific remediation steps for each finding, including code examples.
Can vulnerabilities in Vercel apps be exploited by anyone?
Yes, many common vulnerabilities require no special skills to exploit. Exposed API keys can be copied from browser DevTools. Unprotected databases can be queried with a simple HTTP request. Automated scanners constantly probe the internet for these exact patterns. This is why proactive scanning matters - attackers find these issues quickly.