How to Run a 5-Minute Security Audit on Your v0 App (2026)

Estimated reading time: 9–11 minutes

Building with v0? Ship fast without shipping vulnerabilities.

v0 by Vercel helps you transform natural-language prompts into production-ready interfaces in minutes. But rapid iteration means AI-generated code lands in your repo before you can double-check it. Secrets slip, dependencies lag, and permissive handlers sneak in.

The fix is simple: run a five-minute security audit with Rafter. Rafter scans your v0 repo, categorizes risks, and hands you AI-ready fix prompts that you can feed right back into v0's Copilot.

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to:

Run a Rafter security audit on your v0 project
Understand every finding and apply fixes with v0's AI tools
Re-scan and automate audits so each deploy stays secure

All for free, with no security background required.

Introduction

The rise of AI UI builders like v0 has changed how frontend teams work. Instead of hand-crafting prototypes and production views, builders ship prompts and iterate in real time. While v0 handles the scaffolding, security is still on you.

Typical vulnerabilities in AI-generated v0 projects include:

Insecure third-party dependencies
Hardcoded secrets or API keys in generated files
Unsanitized input that enables injection attacks
Generous API handlers or route rules with missing validation

A single oversight can expose customer data or compromise your infrastructure. That’s why Rafter exists. Rafter links to your GitHub repo, runs a static analysis scan tuned for AI-generated code, and produces shareable fix prompts you can hand to any AI assistant—including v0 Copilot.

Step 1 — Connect Your v0 Project to GitHub

Before Rafter can analyze your project, sync v0 with GitHub.

Sign in at v0.dev and open the project you want to audit.
In the left sidebar, click Project Settings.
Under Integrations, select GitHub.
Click Connect Repository and choose the repo Rafter should scan (or create a new one).
When GitHub prompts you, confirm the installation scope and click Install & Authorize.
Back in v0, press Save to finalize the connection.

If you don’t already have a GitHub account, create one here—it’s free and quick.

Why GitHub?
v0 treats GitHub as the source of truth for your generated code. Rafter uses read-only access to inspect your repository, so it can’t push, delete, or modify files.

Example repo structure (your layout may vary):


my-v0-project/
├── app/
├── components/
├── lib/
├── package.json
└── .env

Step 2 — Run Your First Rafter Scan

With GitHub connected, you’re ready to scan.

Visit rafter.so.
Accept cookies and click SCAN NOW.
Sign in with GitHub—this creates your Rafter account automatically.
Choose the repository and branch tied to your v0 project (usually main).
Click START SCAN.

Rafter inspects your code within seconds. Larger projects might take a minute or two, but most v0 apps finish fast.

What Rafter checks

Leaked secrets (API keys, tokens, credentials)
Dependency vulnerabilities using up-to-date CVE data
Unsafe patterns like unsanitized inputs, eval, or open HTTP endpoints
AI-specific anti-patterns (permissive handlers, missing auth guards)
Dangerous configuration drift in .env, deployment, or CI files

Your results appear in a dashboard you can share with teammates or export as a report.

Step 3 — Review and Interpret the Results

Rafter triages findings by severity so you know what to fix first:

Severity	Description	Example
Critical	High-risk issues that can expose or destroy data	Exposed API key, unsanitized request body, SSRF risk
Warning	Medium-risk misconfigurations and weaknesses	Outdated dependency, overly broad CORS policy
Improvement	Low-risk best-practice recommendations	Stronger type guards, redundant route logic

Each finding ships with:

A short description of the issue
File path and code context
An AI-ready fix prompt you can paste into v0 Copilot

Example output:


{
  "severity": "Critical",
  "description": "Hardcoded API key detected in lib/auth.ts",
  "fix_prompt": "Remove the hardcoded API key from lib/auth.ts and load it via environment variables instead."
}

Visualizing the feedback loop

Step 4 — Fix Vulnerabilities with v0 Copilot

Leverage v0’s built-in AI to patch issues quickly.

Copy the highest-severity findings from Rafter (Critical first).
Open v0 Copilot in your project.
Paste the fix prompt and ask Copilot to apply the changes.
Review the diff, run tests, and commit the update.

Repeat the process for Warnings, then Improvements.

Why Rafter doesn’t auto-fix your code:
You maintain control over every change. Rafter flags the risk and packages AI-ready context; v0 Copilot implements the fix under your supervision. No black-box commits.

Step 5 — Re-Scan and Automate

Security is a loop, not a one-off task.

After each batch of fixes, re-run your Rafter scan to confirm the issue count drops to zero.
Schedule scans whenever you ship new features or accept Copilot changes.
Wire Rafter into CI so every push or pull request is scanned automatically.

Learn how to set it up in our guide:
Integrating Rafter with GitHub Actions →

Security hygiene checklist

Connect your v0 project to GitHub
Run the first Rafter scan
Fix Critical and Warning findings with Copilot
Re-scan after each release
Automate scans in CI/CD

Common Pitfalls and Pro Tips

1. Trusting generated environment files

v0 can generate .env stubs with placeholder secrets. Replace them immediately and store real values in GitHub Actions secrets or Vercel environment variables.

2. Forgetting to lock dependency versions

Regenerate your package-lock.json or pnpm-lock.yaml regularly and review dependency diffs when Copilot upgrades packages.

3. Leaving wide-open API routes

Even internal v0 routes can be invoked externally once deployed. Add auth checks, rate limits, and validation.

4. Ignoring “Warnings”

Warnings often mask future incidents. Schedule time each sprint to burn them down.

5. Skipping post-fix scans

Every change (manual or AI-driven) deserves a follow-up scan. Prevent regressions before they ship.

Conclusion

Speed and safety can coexist. With v0 building your UI and Rafter guarding your repo, you can ship faster than ever while staying compliant and secure.

Start your first scan today → rafter.so

🎥 Or follow along with the full video tutorial:

Internal

External