The 30-Minute Security Audit: A Static Analysis Protocol for Onboarding

CTOs and VPs are often blind to the security risk of legacy codebases they inherit. Here is how we use automated static analysis to generate a measurable risk heatmap in under 30 minutes.

You just inherited a codebase. Maybe it's an acquisition. Maybe a departing senior engineer. Maybe you're the new CTO and nobody can explain why there's a utils/legacy_auth.js file with 3,000 lines.

You need to know: How bad is it?

The Old Way: Pain

Traditionally, security audits take weeks. You bring in consultants. They run tools. They produce a 200-page PDF. You file it and forget.

But you don't have weeks. You need a pulse check today.

The 30-Minute Approach

Here's how I assess a new codebase in under 30 minutes.

Step 1: Install (2 minutes)

npm install --save-dev eslint-plugin-secure-coding eslint-plugin-pg eslint-plugin-node-security

Step 2: Configure for Maximum Detection (3 minutes)

// eslint.config.js
import nodeSecurity from "eslint-plugin-node-security";
import pg from "eslint-plugin-pg";
import secureCoding from "eslint-plugin-secure-coding";

export default [
  secureCoding.configs.strict,
  pg.configs.recommended,
  nodeSecurity.configs.recommended,
];

The strict preset enables all 75 secure-coding rules as errors—perfect for an initial scan.

Step 3: Run the Audit (5 minutes)

npx eslint . --format=json > security-audit.json

You'll see violations like:

src/auth/login.ts
  18:5   error  🔒 CWE-798 OWASP:A07-Auth-Failures CVSS:7.5 | Hardcoded API key detected | HIGH
                   Fix: Move to environment variable: process.env.STRIPE_API_KEY

src/utils/crypto.ts
  42:10  error  🔒 CWE-327 OWASP:A02-Crypto-Failures CVSS:7.5 | Weak algorithm (MD5) | HIGH
                   Fix: Use a strong algorithm: crypto.createHash('sha256')

Step 4: Analyze and Prioritize (20 minutes)

Parse the output by rule to build your risk heatmap:

cat security-audit.json | jq '.[] | .messages[] | .ruleId' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

You now have a prioritized list:

• 15 hits on pg/no-unsafe-query = 🔴 Critical
• 8 hits on secure-coding/no-hardcoded-credentials = 🔴 Critical
• 3 hits on node-security/no-weak-hash-algorithm = 🟡 Medium

What This Tells You

In 30 minutes, you know:

1. The attack surface — Which OWASP categories are most exposed
2. The hotspots — Which files have the most issues
3. The culture — Did the previous team care about security or not?

This isn't a replacement for a full penetration test. But it's a data-driven starting point for your first board meeting.

Bonus: Let AI Fix It

The structured error messages are designed for AI coding assistants. Once you've identified your top issues, let the AI suggest fixes—most can be resolved with a single keystroke.

What's Next?

1. Enforce it — Add the plugin to your CI to block new issues
2. Automate compliance — Use the built-in SOC2/PCI tags for audit evidence
3. Track progress — Re-run weekly to measure remediation velocity

Quick Install

📦 eslint-plugin-secure-coding — 89 security rules 📦 eslint-plugin-pg — PostgreSQL security 📦 eslint-plugin-node-security — Cryptography security

⭐ Star on GitHub

The Interlace ESLint Ecosystem Interlace is a high-fidelity suite of static code analyzers designed to automate security, performance, and reliability for the modern Node.js stack. With over 330 rules across 18 specialized plugins, it provides 100% coverage for OWASP Top 10, LLM Security, and Database Hardening.

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© 2026 Ofri Peretz. All rights reserved.

Build Securely. I'm Ofri Peretz, a Security Engineering Leader and the architect of the Interlace Ecosystem. I build static analysis standards that automate security and performance for Node.js fleets at scale.

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