Skip to content

Safely Executing AI Generated Code on your local machine

What Is It?

Safely executing AI-generated code involves using containerization and best practices to isolate, test, and review code produced by AI assistants. This protects your local environment from potential security risks and vulnerabilities inherent in automatically generated code.

Why Do It?

AI code assistants can boost productivity, but studies show that about 40% of AI-generated code contains security vulnerabilities. Risks include system compromise, resource exploitation, data privacy violations, file system manipulation, and remote code execution. Containerization and careful review help mitigate these risks.

When To Do It?

Whenever you want to run or test code generated by an AI assistant, especially if the code will be executed on your local machine or in a sensitive environment.

Who To Involve?

  • Developers using AI code assistants
  • DevOps and security engineers
  • Code reviewers

Tools You Might Need

How To Do It (Steps)

1. Use Development Containers

  • Set up VS Code with the Remote - Containers extension.
  • Create standardized devcontainer configurations for your projects.
  • Define resource limits in container configurations.
  • Implement network isolation policies.
  • Mount only necessary source code volumes.

2. Follow Docker Best Practices

  • Use official base images from trusted sources.
  • Implement least privilege principles.
  • Keep base images updated.
  • Define clear resource limits.

3. Code Review Process

  • Ensure a human-in-the-loop code review for AI-generated code.
  • Use automated security scanning tools.
  • Implement pre-commit hooks for secret detection.