Brakeman is a security analysis tool that is designed specifically for Ruby on Rails applications.

it is a popular gem that scans Rails applications for potential security vulnerabilities

This blog post will discuss the Brakeman gem and its features, how to install and use it, and how it can help secure your Rails application.

Features of Brakeman:-

• Scanning for vulnerabilities: Brakeman scans your Rails application for potential security vulnerabilities, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting, mass assignment, and more.
• Detailed reporting: Brakeman provides a detailed report of any vulnerabilities it finds, including the affected code and the potential risk.
• Customizable configuration: Brakeman allows you to customize its configuration to suit your specific needs. You can set options such as which directories to scan, which checks to perform, and more.
• Integration with CI/CD: Brakeman integrates easily with CI/CD pipelines, making automating security testing in your development process easy.

Installation:-

• add brakeman gem to your gemfile and bundle install it

  Note:- add this gem to the development group

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group :development, :test do
  gem 'brakeman', require: false
end

• run gem install brakeman on the console

Uses:-

• in your project directory run

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brakeman your_rails_app

• To specify your result in a file you can use

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brakeman -o file

current output option can be in the below formats

text, html, tabs, json, JUnit, markdown and csv

we can also specify more than one files

example:-

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brakeman -o file.json -o file.csv 

How Brakeman Helps Secure Your Rails Application:-

Additionally, Brakeman can help you stay up to date with the latest security best practices by providing information on new vulnerabilities as they are discovered.

Types of issues which are raised by brakeman:-

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, SQL injection, Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks,

Remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities, Directory traversal attacks, Information disclosure, Mass assignment vulnerabilities, and many more. By using Brakeman, you can ensure that your Rails application is secure and free from potential security vulnerabilities.

In summary, Brakeman is a must-have tool for ensuring the security of your Ruby on Rails application.

credits:-

https://brakemanscanner.org/