Introducing Ruby Support in Socket

We're excited to announce that Socket’s support for Ruby is now in Beta! This marks another major milestone in our mission to provide comprehensive, enterprise-grade software composition analysis (SCA) across a wide range of programming languages.

Ruby has long been celebrated for its elegance and developer-friendly syntax, powering everything from simple scripts to complex web applications. As the vibrant open source Ruby ecosystem continues to expand, prioritizing the security of Ruby projects is critical for safeguarding collaborative development.

Our robust support for Ruby is now available to all Socket users, enabling you to add security scanning and zero-day supply chain attack prevention to your projects in just two clicks via our free Socket for GitHub app.

Whether you’re working with legacy apps, code inherited from other developers, or a brand new Rails project, Socket has you covered!

Securing Ruby Dependencies from Supply Chain Risks#

Ruby boasts a passionate and active community, driving innovation and fostering a rich ecosystem of libraries and frameworks. At the heart of Ruby’s success is Ruby on Rails, a powerful web framework that has revolutionized web development by promoting convention over configuration. The extensive collection of gems (Ruby libraries) available through RubyGems.org allows developers to rapidly build and scale applications with ease.

However, with the vast number of gems and dependencies, it's impossible to manually review all the code you incorporate, especially when managing multiple Rails applications.

Although tools like Dependabot, Brakeman, and bundle-audit can be useful for catching known security vulnerabilities and insecure coding practices, they typically rely on existing vulnerability databases and are not equipped to detect zero-day supply chain threats.

Socket scans your open source dependencies for vulnerable and malicious code, including CVEs but also a whole host of supply chain risks like typosquatting, protestware, telemetry, network access, file system access, and various other indicators of gem hijacking or compromise. Our AI-powered threat analysis identifies malicious and suspicious behaviors in the code, enabling Socket to detect gems containing malware, mining software, and other harmful components that could compromise your applications.

Getting Started with Socket’s Ruby Support#

Understanding the critical role that dependency management plays in Ruby projects, Socket’s new Ruby support focuses on scanning Gemfile.lock manifests. Here’s why:

• Targeted Scanning: Gemfile.lock provides a comprehensive snapshot of all the gems and their specific versions used in a project. By focusing on this manifest, Socket can efficiently analyze dependencies without getting bogged down by the complexities inherent in Ruby source code.
• Performance and Reliability: Scanning Gemfile and .gemspec files directly poses significant challenges. These files often contain Ruby code that can be highly dynamic and varied, making it impractical to scan them in a robust and consistent manner. By limiting support to Gemfile.lock, we ensure that the scanning process remains fast, accurate, and reliable for the vast majority of Ruby projects.
• Broad Compatibility: For most Ruby applications, especially those following conventional project structures, Gemfile.lock provides all the necessary information for effective dependency scanning. This approach ensures that a wide range of projects can benefit from Socket’s security features without requiring extensive configuration.

Handling Advanced and Complex Ruby Projects#

While our Gemfile.lock-based scanning covers the majority of Ruby projects, we recognize that some applications have more intricate setups. For these advanced or highly customized projects, we recommend leveraging CycloneDX to generate a comprehensive software bill of materials (SBOM).

Here’s how you can integrate CycloneDX with Socket:

1. Generate a CycloneDX Manifest: Use CycloneDX tools to create a detailed manifest of your project's dependencies, including all direct and transitive gems, their versions, and associated metadata.

2. Submit the Manifest to Socket: Once you have your CycloneDX SBOM, you can send it directly to Socket for scanning. This ensures that even the most complex dependency structures are thoroughly analyzed for vulnerabilities and licensing issues.

By adopting CycloneDX for manifest generation, you maintain the flexibility to manage advanced project configurations while still benefiting from Socket’s comprehensive security scanning capabilities.

Enhanced Enterprise Security with Socket#

Although we’re just now opening up the Beta to all Socket users, we have customers who have been battle testing our Ruby support for months. Check out our case study with Doctolib, a premier healthcare scheduling platform that serves 90 million customers, and runs on Typescript and Ruby on Rails.

Whether you’re working on a standard Ruby on Rails app or managing a complex, multi-faceted project, Socket is designed to meet the needs of enterprise organizations. With the recent addition of our state-of-the-art license scanner and license policy enforcement tools, our platform now provides comprehensive security and compliance solutions.

• Vulnerability and Malicious Code Detection: We identify vulnerabilities in your dependencies and malicious code in our open source components.
• Policy Enforcement: Set custom policies to ensure compliance with security and license standards and best practices.
• Integration with CI/CD Pipelines: Seamlessly integrate Socket into your development workflow to catch vulnerabilities early.
• Expert Support: Our team of security experts is available to assist you with any questions or concerns.

We're committed to expanding our language coverage further and plan to support all major languages within the next six months. Join the growing community of Ruby developers who trust Socket to protect their projects. Get started today with our free GitHub app and take your Ruby application's security to the next level!