Understanding vibeguard RLS_DISABLED RLS_TAUTOLOGY findings and fixes

VibeGuard scans a deployed Supabase app’s public bundle, finds the connection details, and runs its RLS_DISABLED and RLS_TAUTOLOGY detection rules. If present, the table can be read or modified by anyone with the anon key, exposing data without any policy protection.

What the RLS_DISABLED detection means

VibeGuard’s RLS_DISABLED rule examines the Supabase schema that is discoverable from the public bundle. When the rule flags a table, it means that row level security is not enabled for that table in the database. According to the problem description, a table with RLS disabled will be served by PostgREST to anyone holding the anon key, which is public by design and ships in the client bundle. Consequently, the table can be read, inserted, updated, or deleted without any policy checks, even if the dashboard shows a policy present.

Why RLS_TAUTOLOGY policies are a silent breach

The RLS_TAUTOLOGY detection rule identifies policies whose expression evaluates to the constant true for every row. Although the Supabase dashboard may display the table as “protected,” the policy effectively disables RLS because it allows all operations on all rows. The problem statement notes that such permissive policies make the dashboard report the table as protected while it is wide open. An attacker with the anon key can therefore access all rows as if no policy existed.

How leaked service_role keys bypass all RLS

VibeGuard also checks for the SERVICE_ROLE_KEY_EXPOSED rule. If a service_role key is found inside the client bundle, the key grants administrative privileges that bypass every row level security policy. The problem description explains that a service_role key in a client bundle makes every policy in the project decorative, because the key can perform any operation regardless of RLS settings. This means that data protection relies solely on the secrecy of the key, which is compromised when it is embedded in publicly accessible code.

Public storage bucket exposures and their impact

The PUBLIC_BUCKET_EXPOSURE rule detects Supabase storage buckets that are configured with public read access. When a bucket is public, any file stored in it can be downloaded without authentication, using only the bucket name and file path. The problem statement lists publicly accessible storage buckets as one of the dangerous defaults that ship with high‑velocity Supabase backends. Exposed buckets can lead to leakage of assets such as images, uploads, or backup files that were intended to be private.

Remediation SQL generated for each finding

For every finding, VibeGuard outputs remediation SQL that is generated from the actual columns and objects in the project, not from a generic template. The SQL for an RLS_DISABLED finding includes an ALTER TABLE … ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY statement followed by a CREATE POLICY that restricts access based on the appropriate user identifier (commonly auth.uid()). For an RLS_TAUTOLOGY finding, the generated SQL replaces the permissive true expression with a proper conditional expression that matches the intended access pattern. When a SERVICE_ROLE_KEY_EXPOSED finding is reported, the remediation advises removing the key from the client bundle and regenerating it if needed, which is communicated as a note rather than SQL because the key lives in the application code. For a PUBLIC_BUCKET_EXPOSURE finding, the remediation includes an SQL call to update the bucket’s access level to private via the Supabase storage API (e.g., updating the bucket’s public flag to false). Because the SQL is derived from the real schema, it applies directly to the user’s tables and columns without requiring manual adaptation.

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