Post cover image

June 15, 2026

Before You Deploy, Ask One Question: Are Your Gems Secure?

A hands-on introduction to Bundler Audit, CVEs, dependency security, and safer Ruby deployments.

J3

2 min read

Installing and Using Bundler Audit

Auditing Ruby Dependencies for Security Vulnerabilities

None

Keywords

Bundler Audit
Ruby Security
Dependency Auditing
CVE
GHSA
RubySec
Gemfile.lock
CI/CD
Rails Security

Overview

This guide demonstrates how to install, configure, and run Bundler Audit to identify vulnerable dependencies in a Ruby application.

The goal is simple:

Ensure all application dependencies are up to date
and free from known security vulnerabilities
before they reach production.

Bundler Audit compares your project's Gemfile.lock against the RubySec vulnerability database and reports gems affected by known CVEs and security advisories.

Installation and Usage

1. Add Bundler Audit to the Gemfile

group :development do
  gem 'bundler-audit', require: false
end

2. Install Project Dependencies

bundle install

3. Update the Vulnerability Database

bundle exec bundler-audit update

This command downloads the latest vulnerability advisories from the RubySec database.

4. Run the Security Audit

bundle exec bundler-audit check --update

This command:

Updates the vulnerability database
Scans all gems listed in Gemfile.lock
Reports vulnerable dependencies
Suggests secure versions when available

5. Update Vulnerable Gems

When vulnerabilities are detected, update the affected gems according to the recommended secure versions.

Optionally, update installed Ruby gems:

gem update

Production Recommendation

Exercise caution when updating dependencies in production systems.

Recommended approach:

Update one dependency at a time.
Execute the full test suite after each update.
Validate critical application workflows.
Deploy incrementally when possible.

This process minimizes the risk of introducing regressions while improving security.

Validate Application Integrity

After updating dependencies, execute the test suite:

rails test -v

or

bin/rspec

This step confirms that security updates did not introduce regressions or break existing functionality.

Bonus: Use This Process with Claude

A dedicated bundler-audit.skill is available for Claude users.

The skill includes:

Complete installation guide
Gemfile configuration
Vulnerability database management
Audit execution
Result interpretation
Production upgrade strategies
CI/CD integration examples
CVE and GHSA reference guides
Six-step security audit workflow

What Are CVEs?

CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is the industry-standard system for identifying publicly disclosed security vulnerabilities.

Each CVE receives a unique identifier, such as:

CVE-2025-25184

This identifier allows developers, security teams, vendors, and researchers to reference the same vulnerability consistently across tools, reports, and databases.

In short:

CVE = Public vulnerability identifier
GHSA = GitHub Security Advisory identifier
RubySec = Security database used by Bundler Audit

Together, they help teams identify, track, and remediate security issues before they become production incidents.

Thank You

Thank you for following along.

This first episode covered Bundler Audit and the importance of securing your application's dependencies before vulnerabilities become production incidents.

In the next episode, we'll explore Brakeman, the leading static security analysis tool for Ruby on Rails applications. We'll learn how to detect vulnerabilities such as SQL Injection, XSS, insecure configurations, and other common security risks directly in your codebase.

As AI continues to accelerate software development, security must evolve just as quickly.

Stay tuned.

Episode #2: Brakeman — Finding Security Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Do.