This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Josef Röyem
Most security scanners overwhelm you with hundreds of warnings about theoretical vulnerabilities that rarely occur. Vibe-Guard was built to focus only on real, actionable security issues that put your applications at risk.
The Problem with Most Security Tools
Most scanners flag:
- Theoretical vulnerabilities that rarely occur in practice
- Dependencies your code doesn’t even use
- Configuration warnings that do not impact your application
- Slow scans that kill performance
What Really Matters for Security
By studying thousands of real-world security incidents, I distilled 25 practical rules that detect actual vulnerabilities developers frequently introduce.
Rule #1: Detect Exposed Secrets (happens more often than you think)
// ❌ Dangerous: hardcoded secrets
const apiKey = "sk-1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef";
const databaseUrl = "mongodb://user:password@localhost:27017";
// ✅ Secure: use environment variables
const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;
const databaseUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
Why: Over 70% of data breaches involve leaked credentials. Catching exposed secrets early prevents costly leaks.
Rule #2: Prevent SQL Injection
// ❌ Vulnerable: string concatenation
const query = `SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${userId}`;
// ✅ Safe: parameterized queries
const query = 'SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?';
db.query(query, [userId]);
Why: SQL injection remains the top web application vulnerability per OWASP.
Rule #3: Detect Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
// ❌ Unsafe: direct HTML insertion
element.innerHTML = userInput;
// ✅ Safe: use text content
element.textContent = userInput;
Why: XSS attacks can steal user sessions and inject malicious scripts.
Blazing Performance
Vibe-Guard is engineered for speed, designed to scan large codebases in seconds. Zero dependencies, optimized patterns, and efficient processing make it the fastest security scanner available.
Core Performance Metrics
- Startup Time: ~41ms (near-instant startup)
- Small File Scan: ~51ms (files under 1KB)
- Large File Scan: ~117ms (files 50KB+)
- Memory Usage: ~56KB peak, ~28KB average
- Directory Scan: ~123ms (entire project directories)
Performance Comparison
| Tool | Startup | Small File | Large File | Memory | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vibe-Guard | ~41ms | ~51ms | ~117ms | ~56KB | 0 |
| Other Tools | 2-5s | 500ms-2s | 5-15s | 50-200MB | 50-200 |
| Improvement | 200-300x | 20-80x | 40-125x | 6-25x less | Zero |
Real-World Performance
- Small Projects (1-10 files): <100ms scan time
- Medium Projects (100-1000 files): 1-3s scan time
- Large Projects (1000+ files): 5-15s scan time
- Enterprise Codebases (10,000+ files): 30-60s scan time
Why Speed Matters
- No workflow interruption scans complete before you notice
- CI/CD friendly doesn’t slow down your build pipeline
- Real-time feedback instant results for immediate fixes
- Developer productivity focus on coding, not waiting
- Memory efficient minimal resource usage even on large projects
Zero Dependencies = Zero Issues
Installation and usage:
npm install -g vibe-guard
vibe-guard scan
No config files, no setup. Zero dependencies means:
Instant installation
No supply chain risks
Offline-ready
Minimal footprint
Real Vulnerabilities Found in Real Projects
Tested across 50+ open-source projects, Vibe-Guard revealed:
Express.js: 3 exposed secrets, 2 SQL injection points
React Admin: 1 XSS vulnerability, 1 insecure config
Vue.js E-commerce: 2 exposed API keys, 1 directory traversal
All were genuine security risks that could be exploited.
The 25 Essential Security Rules
- Exposed Secrets – API keys, tokens, passwords
- SQL Injection – unsafe database queries
- XSS Detection – cross-site scripting
- Directory Traversal – path manipulation
- Insecure File Uploads – malicious files
- Hardcoded Sensitive Data
- Missing Authentication
- Insecure HTTP – no HTTPS
- Open CORS – overly permissive settings
- Missing CSRF Protection
- Weak Session Management
- Insecure Error Handling
- Sensitive Data in Logs
- Predictable Randomness
- Missing Security Headers
- Weak Default Configuration
- Vulnerable Dependencies
- Insecure Deserialization
- Missing Input Validation
- Broken Access Control
- AI Data Leakage
- AI Agent Access Control
- AI Prompt Injection
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) Security
- AI-Generated Code Validation
How to Get Started
# Install globally
npm install -g vibe-guard
# Scan your project
vibe-guard scan
# Scan specific rules
vibe-guard scan src/ --rules exposed-secrets,sql-injection
# Generate detailed report
vibe-guard scan --format json --output report.json
Why Vibe-Guard Stands Out
A: Detects only real vulnerabilities
B: Zero dependencies: fast and secure
C: Developer-friendly with clear explanations and fixes
D: Ultra-fast scans measured in milliseconds
E: Cross-platform: macOS, Linux, Windows
Join the Movement
Vibe-Guard is growing rapidly with nearly 500 downloads. Join developers fed up with noisy, ineffective security tools.
Star on GitHub: github.com/Devjosef/vibe-guard
Visit Homepage: devjosef.github.io/vibe-guard
- Install:
npm install -g vibe-guard 
Documentation: devjosef.github.io/vibe-guard
Community: What security rules would you like to add?
The Future of Security Scanning
- Security tools should:
- Detect real vulnerabilities
- Run lightning-fast
- Be easy to use
- Have zero false positives
Vibe-Guard shows that this is possible.
Supplementary Reading
To deepen your understanding of security best practices and the context behind these rules, consider exploring these authoritative resources:
Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) — Annual comprehensive analysis of data breaches and cyberattack trends.
OWASP Top Ten The industry standard awareness document for the most critical web application security risks.
GitGuardian: State of Secrets Sprawl (2025) Insight into how exposed secrets contribute to security breaches.
“The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook” by Dafydd Stuttard and Marcus Pinto: Widely respected guide on practical web app security testing and defense.
“Security Engineering” by Ross Anderson: Deep dive into the principles and practicalities of building secure systems.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework Guidelines and best practices for managing and reducing cybersecurity risk.
OWASP Cheat Sheet Series — Practical, frequently updated advice and patterns for developers to build secure software.
Ready to secure your codebase? Try Vibe-Guard today and experience security scanning that actually works.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Josef Röyem