Is the Tea App Another Victim of Vibe Coding?

The recent breach of the Tea app—a dating platform that allowed women to verify men and anonymously share reviews—has become a cautionary tale. But is it just a story of bad luck, or does it represent something more systemic in early-stage app development? Specifically: was this the result of “vibe coding”?

Let’s unpack what happened, why it matters, and what lessons founders and technical leaders can take from it.

The Tea App Hack: A Quick Breakdown

What happened?
Hackers exploited publicly accessible Firebase storage buckets to download approximately 72,000 images, including 13,000 verification selfies and government-issued IDs, and 59,000 images from posts, comments, and DMs. In a separate breach, over 1.1 million direct messages were exposed.

This wasn’t a sophisticated cyberattack. There were no zero-day exploits or brute force attempts. Instead, it was a textbook example of how weak security hygiene—and possibly inexperienced development—can open the door wide to catastrophic data exposure.

How It Went Wrong

Here are the major security failures that enabled the breach:

• Public Firebase Buckets: Tea’s Firebase Storage was misconfigured to allow public read access (allow read: if true;). Anyone with the URL could download sensitive files.

• Hardcoded Credentials: API keys and storage URLs were embedded directly in the mobile app’s code. Attackers could decompile the APK and get full access.

• Failure to Delete Sensitive Data: Despite a privacy policy claiming verification data would be deleted post-authentication, IDs and selfies were still sitting on servers months later.

• Unencrypted Data: Nothing was encrypted at rest. Once accessed, the data was ready for immediate distribution.

• No Rate Limiting or Monitoring: The attackers could pull tens of thousands of files without triggering any alarms.

In short: a perfect storm of rookie mistakes and misconfigurations.

What Is "Vibe Coding"?

"Vibe coding" refers to building software based more on vibes than technical understanding—often using low-code tools, AI-generated code, or copy-pasted snippets from Stack Overflow without a solid grasp of what the code actually does.

It's not about tools themselves being bad. Glide, Bubble, Firebase—these are powerful platforms when used correctly. But when founders or early devs lean on them without understanding how to configure them securely, the result is a codebase held together more by optimism than engineering discipline.

In the Tea app’s case, some developers on X described the Firebase bucket as having “no encryption, no auth, no nothing.” That screams vibe coding.

Was Tea Actually Vibe Coded?

We can't say with certainty that the Tea app was built entirely by non-technical people or with AI-generated code. But we can say this:

• Security was clearly neglected.

• The vulnerabilities reflect beginner-level mistakes.

• The app prioritized fast shipping over secure foundations.

Whether those mistakes were due to AI assistance, inexperience, or simply rushing to meet user demand (Tea hit #1 on the App Store), the end result is the same: user trust destroyed and massive reputational damage.

Why Founders and Startups Should Care

If you’ve built your MVP using low-code tools like Glide, Retool, Airtable, or Firebase, this story should hit close to home.

You are not immune.
Many low-code platforms offer little to no built-in security defaults. Firebase, for example, ships with permissive rules that need to be manually locked down. And if you’re embedding credentials in your frontend app, you’re inviting attackers in through the front door.

Shipping fast is not the same as building right.
Yes, MVPs need speed. But once you reach any level of traction, user data becomes a liability—not just an asset.

What You Can Do Today

Here’s a checklist for founders and fractional CTOs moving beyond the MVP phase:

1. Audit your data storage and access rules.
   Especially if you're using Firebase, Supabase, or Airtable.

2. Remove any hardcoded secrets.
   Use server-side APIs or secure vaults (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, Firebase Functions).

3. Encrypt sensitive data at rest.
   Firebase supports this—use it.

4. Monitor and alert on anomalous activity.
   Unusual download spikes? Push notification anomalies? Log and review them.

5. Bring in technical leadership earlier.
   Even a fractional CTO can help you catch issues like these before they explode.

Final Thoughts

The Tea app’s breach isn’t just a headline—it’s a reminder that shipping fast and breaking things doesn’t work when what you're breaking is people’s trust.

If you’ve reached the limits of low-code or you’re unsure when to hire senior technical help, let this be a wake-up call. Vibe coding might get you to launch, but it won’t get you to scale safely.

Need help transitioning from low-code to a scalable, secure architecture?
Let’s talk. I help founders like you move from MVP to robust, production-grade platforms—without losing momentum.