DEV Community

Cover image for Vibe-Guard is Now a VS Code Extension! And It Just Found 8,000+ Security Issues in a Major Enterprise Project
Josef Röyem
Josef Röyem

Posted on

Vibe-Guard is Now a VS Code Extension! And It Just Found 8,000+ Security Issues in a Major Enterprise Project

#security #cybersecurity #programming #javascript

The story of how a simple security scanner became an enterprise-grade tool that caught thousands of vulnerabilities in production code

The Launch

After months of development and testing, Vibe-Guard: the lightweight security scanner that's been downloaded over 500 times from npm — is now available as a VS Code extension.

But here's the thing: this isn't just another "find hardcoded API keys" tool. This is a comprehensive security scanner that just proved it can handle enterprise scale projects.

The Keycloak Story

Last week, I decided to test Vibe-Guard on a real enterprise project. I chose Keycloak a major identity and access management system used by thousands of companies worldwide.

The results were... well, let's just say I wasn't expecting what happened next.

The Numbers That Made Me Double Take 

🛡️ Starting Vibe-Guard Security Scan...
🚨 Vibe-Guard Security Issues Detected
Found 7,997 security issues in 8,357 files
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

7,997 security issues. In 8,357 files.

This wasn't some small open-source project. This was a massive enterprise codebase with thousands of Java files, complex authentication systems, and production level security code.

And Vibe-Guard found nearly 8,000 potential security problems.

What This Means

For Enterprise Teams

  • Your codebase is bigger than you think — 8,357 files is a lot to manually review
  • Security issues hide in plain sight — even in security-focused applications
  • Automated scanning isn't optional — it's essential for large projects

For Developers

  • Security doesn't scale manually — you need tools that can handle enterprise codebases
  • Comprehensive scanning matters — basic pattern matching won't cut it
  • Real security tools vs. toy scanners — there's a massive difference

🛡️ Why Vibe-Guard is Different

25 Rules vs. 5 Patterns

Most "security" extensions are just regex patterns looking for obvious stuff:

  • Hardcoded API keys
  • HTTP URLs
  • Basic CORS issues

Vibe-Guard has 25 comprehensive security rules covering:

  • Authentication & Authorization (missing auth, broken access control)
  • Input Validation (SQL injection, XSS, unvalidated input)
  • Data Protection (exposed secrets, hardcoded sensitive data)
  • Web Security (insecure HTTP, missing headers, open CORS)
  • File & Path Security (directory traversal, insecure uploads)
  • AI Security (prompt injection, AI data leakage, generated code validation)
  • And much more...

Enterprise-Grade Performance

  • Handles 8,000+ files without breaking a sweat
  • Fast scanning — results in seconds, not minutes
  • Comprehensive coverage — not just surface level issues

The VS Code Extension

What You Get

  • Real-time security scanning in your editor
  • Inline diagnostics see issues as you code
  • Detailed explanations understand what's wrong and how to fix it
  • Severity levels prioritize what matters most

How It Works

  1. Install the extension from VS Code Marketplace
  2. Run a scan with one command
  3. See results as diagnostics in your editor
  4. Fix issues with actionable guidance

The Experience 

Command: Vibe-Guard: Scan Workspace
Result: 25 security issues found
Time: 2.3 seconds
Files scanned: 156
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Real-World Impact

Before Vibe-Guard

  • Manual code reviews taking hours
  • Missed security issues in large codebases
  • Inconsistent security practices across teams
  • Reactive security — fixing issues after they're found

After Vibe-Guard

  • Automated security scanning in seconds
  • Comprehensive coverage of 25 security categories
  • Proactive security — catch issues before they reach production
  • Consistent security standards across your entire codebase

The Competitive Advantage

While others are building basic pattern matchers, Vibe-Guard is:

  • Scanning enterprise codebases with thousands of files
  • Finding real security issues in production applications
  • Providing comprehensive coverage across 25 security categories
  • Delivering actionable results that developers can actually use

Get Started Today

Install the Extension

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
  3. Search for "Vibe-Guard"
  4. Click Install

Run Your First Scan

  1. Open a project
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
  3. Type "Vibe-Guard: Scan"
  4. See your security issues

What You'll Find

  • Real security problems in your code
  • Actionable fixes for each issue
  • Severity levels to prioritize
  • Detailed explanations of why it matters

The Bottom Line

The Keycloak story proves something important: security tools need to scale with your codebase.

When you're dealing with thousands of files, millions of lines of code, and complex enterprise applications, you need more than basic pattern matching. You need comprehensive security analysis.

Vibe-Guard isn't just another security extension. It's an enterprise grade security scanner that happens to work in VS Code.

And it just proved it can handle the biggest, most complex projects out there.

Ready to see what Vibe-Guard finds in your codebase? Install the extension and run your first scan. You might be surprised by what you discover.

P.S. — The Keycloak team has been notified of the findings through responsible disclosure channels. This is how security tools should work: finding issues, not exposing them.

P.P.S. — Make sure you search for "Vibe-Guard" (with an em dash) in the VS Code Marketplace. There are similar extensions with different names, but this is the official one from the original Vibe-Guard project.

Top comments (0)