Last updated: January 12, 2026
An honest security analysis of PostgreSQL for developers considering it for their projects.
PostgreSQL is the gold standard for database security, powering Supabase, Neon, and enterprise systems worldwide. Row Level Security (RLS) provides row-level access control that MySQL lacks. 35+ years of security hardening. The technology behind most secure database platforms.
PostgreSQL is why Supabase and Neon can offer row-level security - it's built into the database engine. The 35+ years of security hardening make it the most trusted open-source database. RLS is the killer feature for multi-tenant apps. Use managed PostgreSQL (Supabase, Neon, RDS) unless you have specific self-hosting requirements.
Understanding PostgreSQL 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
“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.”
RLS lets you define policies that filter which rows users can see/modify. Example: users can only see their own orders. Policies are enforced at the database level - even direct SQL access respects them. This is what makes Supabase secure and why MySQL-based platforms can't offer equivalent security.
PostgreSQL has Row Level Security (RLS) which MySQL lacks - this is a significant security advantage for multi-tenant applications. Both are secure when configured properly, but PostgreSQL's RLS eliminates a whole class of data leakage bugs. This is why Supabase chose PostgreSQL.
Use managed services (Supabase, Neon, AWS RDS) unless you have specific compliance requirements. Managed services handle security patches, backups, encryption, and high availability. Self-hosting requires dedicated security expertise. Most security incidents are configuration errors that managed services prevent.
Use parameterized queries with placeholders ($1, $2, $3) instead of string concatenation. ORMs like Prisma and Drizzle do this automatically. Never build queries with user input directly. PostgreSQL's RLS adds a second layer of defense even if injection occurs.
Don't guess - scan your app and know for certain. VAS checks for all the common security issues in PostgreSQL applications.