The 5 Security Holes in Every AI-Generated App (And How to Fix Them)

Introduction

We've audited 50+ AI-generated apps in the past year. Every single one had at least 3 of these 5 security holes. These security holes are a major threat to AI app reliability and can lead to catastrophic failures, impacting your AI system stability.

AI code generators are excellent at creating functional features quickly. But they consistently fail at security because they are trained on public code, prioritize "working" over "secure", and don't understand your specific security requirements.

Here are the 5 security holes we find in every AI-generated app.

1. Exposed API Keys and Secrets

AI generators often hardcode secrets directly in the code. This is a critical vulnerability that can lead to immediate financial loss and data breaches.

The Fix: Use environment variables for all secrets and never commit them to Git.

2. No Input Validation or Sanitization

AI-generated forms often directly use user input without validation, opening the door to SQL injection and XSS attacks.

The Fix: Validate all user input on the server-side and use parameterized queries to interact with the database.

3. Broken Authentication and Session Management

AI often implements insecure authentication, such as storing passwords in plain text or using predictable session tokens.

The Fix: Hash passwords using a strong algorithm like bcrypt and use a secure session management library.

4. Missing Authorization Checks

AI creates endpoints that work for anyone, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data.

The Fix: Every endpoint that accesses private data must check for both authentication and authorization.

5. Inadequate Error Handling and Logging

AI-generated error messages often expose sensitive internal details, such as database schemas and file paths.

The Fix: Log detailed errors internally and show generic, user-friendly error messages to the user.

How to Audit Your App

1. Search for hardcoded secrets.
2. Check for SQL injection vulnerabilities.
3. Look for missing input validation.
4. Test authorization by trying to access other users' data.
5. Review error messages to ensure they don't expose sensitive information.

For a comprehensive list of web application vulnerabilities, refer to the OWASP Top 10.

Real-World Impact

For a detailed postmortem of a real-world breach caused by these issues, see our clinic data breach case study. The financial and reputational damage from a security breach can be devastating.

Don't Learn This the Hard Way

Get a security audit before you launch. It's cheaper than a breach. We offer a comprehensive security audit for AI-generated apps. Contact us for a free consultation.