Insecure by Design: The Vibe Coding Misunderstanding Crisis

Vibe coding has transformed software development by democratizing programming through AI-assisted tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude Code.

Vibe coding has transformed software development by democratizing programming through AI-assisted tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude Code. However, this “forget that the code even exists” mentality has created a new category of systematically vulnerable applications.

This playbook examines multi-technology attack scenarios where vibe coding misunderstandings create exploitable vulnerabilities across .NET/ASP.NET Core, C/C++, Java/Spring, JavaScript, and Python ecosystems. We provide defensive strategies, AI assistant rules files, and detection patterns to transform vibe coding from a security liability into a secure-by-default development accelerator.

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Architecture Analysis: Insecure vs Secure Vibe Coding Patterns

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Multi-Technology Attack Scenarios: Exploiting Vibe Coding Vulnerabilities

1. .NET/ASP.NET Core: Authorization Bypass Through Missing Attributes

Attack Scenario: Vibe-coded controllers missing [Authorize] attributes expose administrative functions to unauthenticated users.

Offensive Implementation

// AI-generated vulnerable controller - missing authorization
[ApiController]
[Route(”api/[controller]”)]
public class AdminController : ControllerBase
{
    private readonly IUserService _userService;
    
    public AdminController(IUserService userService)
    {
        _userService = userService;
    }
    
    // VULNERABILITY: No [Authorize] attribute
    [HttpGet(”users/export”)]
    public async Task<IActionResult> ExportAllUsers()
    {
        var users = await _userService.GetAllUsersWithSensitiveDataAsync();
        return Ok(users); // Exposes PII to anyone
    }
    
    // VULNERABILITY: No role-based authorization
    [HttpPost(”users/{id}/promote”)]
    public async Task<IActionResult> PromoteToAdmin(int id)
    {
        await _userService.GrantAdminRoleAsync(id);
        return Ok(”User promoted to admin”);
    }
}

Attack Sequence Diagram

Visual Attack Flow:

Defensive Implementation

// Security-aware AI-generated controller
[ApiController]
[Route(”api/[controller]”)]
[Authorize(Roles = “Administrator”)] // Global authorization requirement
public class AdminController : ControllerBase
{
    private readonly IUserService _userService;
    private readonly IAuthorizationService _authorizationService;
    
    public AdminController(IUserService userService, IAuthorizationService authorizationService)
    {
        _userService = userService;
        _authorizationService = authorizationService;
    }
    
    [HttpGet(”users/export”)]
    public async Task<IActionResult> ExportAllUsers()
    {
        // Additional authorization check for sensitive data
        var authResult = await _authorizationService.AuthorizeAsync(User, “DataExportPolicy”);
        if (!authResult.Succeeded)
        {
            return Forbid(”Insufficient privileges for data export”);
        }
        
        var users = await _userService.GetUsersForExportAsync(); // Returns sanitized data
        return Ok(users);
    }
    
    [HttpPost(”users/{id}/promote”)]
    public async Task<IActionResult> PromoteToAdmin(int id)
    {
        // Verify super admin role for privilege escalation
        if (!User.IsInRole(”SuperAdministrator”))
        {
            return Forbid(”Only super administrators can promote users”);
        }
        
        await _userService.GrantAdminRoleAsync(id);
        return Ok(”User promoted with proper authorization”);
    }
}

Visual Defense Architecture:

Semgrep Detection Rule

rules:
  - id: missing-authorize-attribute
    pattern: |
      [ApiController]
      ...
      public class $CLASS : ControllerBase
      {
        ...
        [Http$METHOD(”...”)]
        public ... $ACTION(...)
        {
          ...
        }
      }
    pattern-not: |
      [Authorize]
      ...
      [Http$METHOD(”...”)]
      public ... $ACTION(...)
    message: “Controller action missing [Authorize] attribute - potential unauthorized access”
    severity: ERROR
    languages: [csharp]

Claude Prompt for Secure .NET Generation

You are a security-focused .NET/ASP.NET Core developer. Generate code that:

- Always applies [Authorize] attributes to controllers unless explicitly documented with [AllowAnonymous]
- Uses IAuthorizationService for complex authorization logic
- Implements proper input validation using Data Annotations or FluentValidation
- Stores secrets in Azure Key Vault or user secrets during development
- Uses Entity Framework with parameterized queries, never string concatenation
- Includes comprehensive error handling without information disclosure
- Applies the principle of least privilege to all data access operations

Focus on OWASP ASVS Level 2 compliance for authentication and authorization controls.

2. Java/Spring Boot: SQL Injection via String Concatenation