Some Supabase customers are publicly exposing reams of people’s data to the web

Now, the boom in AI vibe-coding is helping fuel a new wave of data breaches, many of which are now being linked to Supabase as people increasingly use it for storing their data.

UpGuard says it sought to understand the scale of exposed data across the platform, and found publicly accessible names, addresses, phone numbers and user passwords. The research surfaced a fewer number of passwords and authentication tokens.

The firm said the databases contained data linked to various projects, such as private conversations with sex workers on an Indian adult streaming site; thousands of license plates of a U.S. valet service; and the contact information of people who used an immigration and relocation service. One of the databases belonged to an African government’s consulate in France, said UpGuard, while another was used to intercept text messages by a virtual SIM farm for sending one-time passcodes to verify online accounts, typically for launching scams and phishing attacks.

While the majority of these exposed datasets appear to be located in the United States, UpGuard said this is a worldwide problem. The findings build on earlier research that also found a range of exposed databases hosted on Supabase, including those by Y Combinator startups and other popular apps.

Supabase has made changes to its platform over the years, including bolstering its platform and user access to databases.

When reached for comment, Supabase’s Chief Information Security Officer Bil Harmer said that while the company has not seen the research, its projects are “secure by default.” He described security as a shared responsibility between the company and its customers. “We provide secure defaults and tooling, and customers control how their own projects are configured,” and the company notifies affected customers when security issues are discovered, he said.

“Security at Supabase is never finished. We care deeply about getting it right, and we’ll keep making it easier for every developer to ship securely,” said Harmer.

UpGuard security researcher Greg Pollock said the company’s research was important for raising awareness about the issue of data exposures.