Homebase prevents authorization vulnerabilities before they hit production with Semgrep

At a glance

• Customer: Homebase

• Industry: Workforce management software

• Use case: Application security and logic vulnerability detection

• Challenge: High noise, business-logic vulns, manual triage, lack of developer trust

• Solution: Semgrep Code with AI-powered detection

Impact

• Reduced time spent on triage from ~8 hours/week to 1-2 hours/week

• Early detection of authorization vulnerabilities prevented costly bug bounty payouts, saving tens of thousands each year.

• ~75% of vulnerabilities identified by Semgrep required remediation

• Reduced time-to-remediation for authorization vulnerabilities from weeks to days

• Developers received vetted, actionable findings they could trust and fix quickly

Homebase is a workforce management platform that helps hourly teams manage scheduling, time tracking, payroll, and compliance across web and mobile applications. As Homebase scaled in complexity, the team outgrew traditional approaches and needed more precise coverage of logic-layer risk. Protecting this environment required confidence that the most serious vulnerabilities, especially business‑logic and authorization flaws, were being caught early.

To help identify security issues, Homebase relied on automated tools and external testing, but the signal wasn’t clear. Too much noise, risk of late discovery of potentially serious issues, and rising costs left teams without confidence that critical risks would be caught early.

“We had scanners, but they weren’t useful for what we actually cared about. We still didn’t feel confident we were seeing the critical issues. We needed a clear baseline,” said Minh Nghiem, Senior Security Engineer at Homebase.

Before Semgrep, the team relied on a combination of static analysis tools, manual review, annual penetration tests, and a bug bounty program. This approach created persistent challenges:

• High noise: Security engineers spent up to a full day each week triaging findings, many of which were irrelevant or non‑exploitable.

• Low confidence: Existing tools offered little assurance that critical logic bugs were actually being detected.

• Late discovery: Potentially serious issues were occasionally first identified by external researchers.

• Real cost: Bug bounty payouts and emergency fixes disrupted engineering work and slowed delivery.

As the platform scaled, the security team’s concern was ensuring they had consistent, high-confidence visibility into the most critical vulnerabilities across the codebase. 

Why Semgrep Code with AI-Powered Detection was the right fit

Homebase adopted Semgrep AI‑Powered Detection to gain accurate, context-aware visibility into logic and authorization vulnerabilities across its entire codebase.

Unlike generic scanners or LLM‑only tools, Semgrep combines AI with deep code understanding—reasoning about data flow, sources and sinks, and application context. This approach produces high‑confidence findings that security teams can quickly validate and developers can act on immediately.

Immediate actionable findings

After deploying Semgrep AI‑Powered Detection, Homebase quickly saw results. In an early scan, Semgrep identified a critical business‑logic vulnerability.

The finding was immediately actionable. Clear explanations and contextual detail allowed the team to validate the issue within an hour and remediate it well within their seven‑day SLA. Issues that previously might have required weeks of manual review or external discovery were now surfaced automatically during routine scans.

“That finding alone made it worthwhile. It would have been extremely difficult to find any other way,” said Minh.

From reactive to proactive application security

With Semgrep AI‑powered detection in place, Homebase shifted from a reactive AppSec model to a proactive one. The security team now maintains continuous visibility into the logic vulnerabilities that matter most.

Developers trust the findings they receive and remediate issues faster, while engineering  leaders have confidence that critical risks are identified early—before they reach production or external researchers.

“Before, I had to wait for pen tests or bug bounty discoveries. Now I can be proactive. I have a baseline, and I know where to focus,”  noted Minh.

Why Homebase trusts Semgrep

Homebase sees Semgrep as a clear step beyond free or generic scanning tools. Accurate results, flexible rule customization, strong community support, and a steady stream of high‑impact product improvements make Semgrep a core part of their security strategy.

According to Minh, “With Semgrep, I trust that a critical finding will be relevant to us. It saves time and helps our developers focus on the issues that actually matter.”