Brakeman: Open-source vulnerability scanner for Ruby on Rails applications

Brakeman is an open-source security scanner used by teams that build applications with Ruby on Rails. The tool focuses on application code and configuration, giving developers and security teams a way to identify common classes of web application risk during development and testing.

Brakeman analyzes application source code directly, including controllers, models, views, and templates. The scanner builds an internal representation of how data moves through the application, which allows it to flag patterns associated with security issues.

This approach avoids running the application or sending test traffic. Teams can point Brakeman at a code repository and receive results based on static inspection of the codebase.

Types of issues Brakeman identifies

Brakeman checks for a range of application security problems that commonly appear in Rails projects. These include injection flaws, cross-site scripting risks, unsafe redirects, and authentication or authorization weaknesses. The scanner also evaluates configuration settings that influence application behavior.

Each finding includes a description of the issue, the affected file and line number, and a confidence level. This structure helps teams prioritize work without requiring deep security expertise for every warning.

Dependency and framework awareness

In addition to application code, Brakeman reviews the versions of Rails and supporting gems used in a project. When a version maps to a known security advisory, the scanner reports it as part of the results. This gives teams visibility into risks that originate outside their own code.

The scanner updates its rules over time to reflect changes in the Rails framework and common development patterns. This keeps findings aligned with how Rails applications are built and maintained.

Using Brakeman in daily workflows

Many developers run Brakeman locally as part of routine development. The tool can also run in automated environments, including CI systems that scan code on commits or pull requests. This allows teams to surface security issues early in the development process.

Brakeman supports multiple output formats, including human-readable reports and machine-readable data. These options make it possible to share results with developers, security teams, or tracking systems without additional tooling.

Managing findings over time

Brakeman allows teams to manage warnings through configuration files. Specific findings can be marked as ignored with a documented reason. This creates a record that persists across scans and helps teams distinguish between accepted risk and unresolved issues.

The scanner also supports comparing results between runs. This helps teams focus on new warnings introduced by recent code changes, which reduces noise in large or long-lived projects.

Brakeman is available for free on GitHub.

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