Security Analysis

Is Fly.io Safe?

Last updated: January 12, 2026

An honest security analysis of Fly.io for developers considering it for their projects.

Quick Answer

Safe - use fly secrets and private networking

Fly.io is safe for global edge deployments with strong infrastructure (runs Firecracker VMs). 'fly secrets' encrypts credentials. Key difference from Vercel: you manage full Linux containers across 30+ regions. Main concern: multi-region secrets sync must be verified.

Security Assessment

Security Strengths

  • Firecracker microVMs provide hardware-level isolation (same as AWS Lambda)
  • Private Networking: internal WireGuard mesh across all your machines globally
  • 'fly secrets' encrypts and syncs credentials across all regions automatically
  • Global edge means DDoS traffic is absorbed at 30+ points of presence
  • Full container control - run your own security tools inside the VM

Security Concerns

  • Multi-region secrets sync can fail silently - verify with 'fly secrets list'
  • Persistent Volumes are not encrypted by default - encrypt at app level
  • fly.toml config is in repo - don't put secrets in config file
  • Network complexity: 6PN, Private Networking, Flycast - easy to misconfigure
  • Root access means you own security patching (unlike managed serverless)

Security Checklist for Fly.io

  • 1
    Use 'fly secrets set KEY=value' - never put credentials in fly.toml
  • 2
    Verify secrets in all regions: 'fly secrets list -a your-app'
  • 3
    Enable Private Networking for database ↔ app communication
  • 4
    Encrypt Volumes at application level if storing sensitive data
  • 5
    Use 'fly ips private' to confirm internal communication works
  • 6
    Set up fly-replay headers carefully - secrets may leak in replay

The Verdict

Fly.io is ideal for latency-sensitive global apps. The Firecracker VM isolation is enterprise-grade. Unlike Vercel/Netlify (managed serverless), you control the full stack - which means you also own security patching. Use 'fly secrets' for credentials and Private Networking for internal traffic.

Security Research & Industry Data

Understanding Fly.io security in the context of broader industry trends and research.

10.3%

of Lovable applications (170 out of 1,645) had exposed user data in the CVE-2025-48757 incident

Source: CVE-2025-48757 security advisory

4.45 million USD

average cost of a data breach in 2023

Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023

500,000+

developers using vibe coding platforms like Lovable, Bolt, and Replit

Source: Combined platform statistics 2024-2025

What Security Experts Say

There's a new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding', where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.

Andrej KarpathyFormer Tesla AI Director, OpenAI Co-founder

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.

Simon WillisonSecurity Researcher, Django Co-creator

Frequently Asked Questions

How does fly secrets work?

fly secrets encrypts credentials and syncs them across all regions where your app runs. Set with 'fly secrets set KEY=value'. Secrets are injected as environment variables at runtime. Verify deployment with 'fly secrets list' - ensure all regions have the latest values.

Is Fly.io safer than Vercel?

Different models: Fly.io gives you full Linux containers (more control, more responsibility). Vercel abstracts infrastructure (less control, managed security). Fly.io's Firecracker isolation is battle-tested. Choose Fly.io for global edge containers; Vercel for managed serverless.

What is Fly.io Private Networking?

Private Networking creates a WireGuard-encrypted mesh between all your Fly machines globally. Internal traffic uses .internal domains and never touches the public internet. Enable in fly.toml and use internal hostnames for database connections.

Are Fly.io Volumes encrypted?

Fly Volumes are NOT encrypted at rest by default. If storing sensitive data, encrypt at the application level before writing to Volumes. This is different from managed databases like RDS which encrypt by default.

Verify Your Fly.io App Security

Don't guess - scan your app and know for certain. VAS checks for all the common security issues in Fly.io applications.