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Security: dfrostar/neuralmind

SECURITY.md

Security Policy

Executive Summary for Enterprise

NeuralMind is designed with enterprise security as a first-class concern:

  • No external API calls – all processing happens locally on your machines
  • No data exfiltration – your code never leaves your development environment
  • Fully auditable – open-source code, MIT license, complete transparency
  • Zero telemetry – no usage tracking, no analytics, no hidden data collection
  • Compliance-ready – works with GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulatory frameworks
  • Supply-chain safe – minimal dependencies, all vendorable, no cloud lock-in

Supported Versions

We release patches for security vulnerabilities in the following versions:

Version Supported
0.1.x

Reporting a Vulnerability

We take the security of NeuralMind seriously. If you have discovered a security vulnerability, please report it responsibly.

How to Report

Please do NOT report security vulnerabilities through public GitHub issues.

Instead, please report them via one of these methods:

  1. GitHub Security Advisories (Preferred)

    • Go to the Security tab
    • Click "Report a vulnerability"
    • Fill in the details
  2. Email

    • Send details to the project maintainers
    • Include "SECURITY" in the subject line

What to Include

Please include the following information:

  • Type of vulnerability (e.g., injection, authentication bypass, information disclosure)
  • Full paths of source file(s) related to the vulnerability
  • Location of the affected source code (tag/branch/commit or direct URL)
  • Step-by-step instructions to reproduce the issue
  • Proof-of-concept or exploit code (if possible)
  • Impact of the vulnerability
  • Suggested fix (if any)

Response Timeline

  • Initial Response: Within 48 hours
  • Confirmation: Within 1 week
  • Fix Timeline: Depends on severity (see below)

Severity Levels

Severity Description Target Fix Time
Critical Remote code execution, data breach 24-48 hours
High Significant security impact 1 week
Medium Limited security impact 2-4 weeks
Low Minimal security impact Next release

Security Considerations

Data Handling

NeuralMind processes code from your projects. Here's what you should know:

  1. Local Processing: All embeddings are generated and stored locally using ChromaDB
  2. No External Transmission: Code is not sent to external servers (unless you use a remote ChromaDB)
  3. Storage Location: Database files are stored in graphify-out/neuralmind_db/

Best Practices for Enterprise Deployments

For individuals:

  1. Ensure the neural index files have appropriate permissions:

    # Set restrictive permissions on database
    chmod 700 graphify-out/neuralmind_db/
  2. Add the database to .gitignore:

    graphify-out/neuralmind_db/
    

For enterprise/shared environments:

  1. Centralized Index Storage

    • Build the index on a secure, controlled machine
    • Store in a centralized location (shared filesystem, artifact repo)
    • Limit access to developers who need it (ACLs, RBAC)
    • Version-lock indexes to git commits for reproducibility
  2. Secrets Management

    • NeuralMind never transmits code externally, but be cautious when processing repositories containing:
      • API keys or secrets (use .gitignore or secret scanning first)
      • Credentials
      • Proprietary algorithms
      • Personal data (PII)
    • Recommendation: Strip or mask secrets before indexing if at all possible
  3. Compliance & Audit Trails

    • Log which teams/users access the index
    • Track changes to the knowledge graph with git commit history
    • Document your data retention policy (indexes can be regenerated)
    • Provide evidence of local-only processing to auditors
  4. On-Premise / Air-Gapped Deployments

    • NeuralMind works without any internet access
    • Pre-build the index offline, then copy to disconnected environments
    • Perfectly suited for SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) or other classified environments

Known Security Considerations

  1. ChromaDB: We rely on ChromaDB for vector storage. Monitor their security advisories.

  2. MCP Server: If using the MCP server, be aware:

    • It runs locally by default
    • Ensure firewall rules if exposing to network
    • Consider authentication if in shared environments
  3. Dependencies: Keep dependencies updated:

    pip install --upgrade neuralmind

Compliance Framework Alignment

NeuralMind is designed to support standard enterprise compliance requirements. Because it runs entirely locally and makes no external calls, it can fit into existing compliance workflows:

Note: NeuralMind itself is not "certified" for any framework, but the tool's architecture aligns with the security requirements of these standards.

✅ GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

  • Data Residency: All code remains in your jurisdiction (on your machine/infrastructure)
  • No External Processing: No third-party APIs, no cloud services
  • Data Deletion: Delete graphify-out/neuralmind_db/ to fully remove the index
  • Transparency: Open-source code for full audit trail

✅ HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

  • Encryption at Rest: Store index on encrypted filesystems (you control encryption)
  • Access Controls: Use OS-level permissions to restrict index access
  • Audit Logging: All processing happens locally with no external calls
  • Business Associate Agreements: No BAA needed (no external vendors processing your data)

✅ SOC 2 Type II

  • Security: Local processing, no exfiltration, encrypted at rest (your choice)
  • Availability: No dependencies on external services for core functionality
  • Confidentiality: No data leaves your organization
  • Integrity: Deterministic, reproducible indexing from your source code
  • Privacy: No collection, no analytics, no tracking

✅ ISO 27001 / 27002

  • Information Security Management: Runs entirely within your security perimeter
  • Access Controls: Fine-grained OS-level permissions on index files
  • Encryption: Compatible with whatever encryption strategy you use
  • Supplier Management: Open-source, no hidden dependencies or data sharing agreements

✅ PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)

  • Local Processing: Never transmits code to external networks
  • Network Segmentation: Can run on completely isolated networks
  • Audit Capability: Fully transparent, no black-box components
  • Change Management: Source code control, open-source, version-locked

✅ FedRAMP / Government Compliance

  • Air-Gap Ready: Works completely offline
  • On-Premise: No cloud dependencies
  • Classified Environments: Suitable for SCIF and other compartmented processing
  • Supply Chain Security: Minimal dependencies, vendorable, no external calls

Disclosure Policy

When we receive a security report:

  1. We will confirm receipt within 48 hours
  2. We will investigate and validate the issue
  3. We will work on a fix
  4. We will release a patch
  5. We will credit the reporter (unless they prefer anonymity)

Security Updates

Security updates are announced through:

Auditability & Explainability

One of the biggest enterprise concerns with AI tools is the "black box" problem — models make decisions without clear justification, leading to hallucinations and liability.

How NeuralMind Solves This

NeuralMind is transparent by design:

Full Query Provenance

When NeuralMind answers a question, it provides complete metadata about the context:

  • Which layers were used – L0 (identity), L1 (summary), L2 (on-demand modules), L3 (semantic search)
  • Which code communities were loaded – Specific clusters of related code
  • Search quality metrics – Number of semantic hits, relevance scores
  • Token budget breakdown – Exactly how many tokens came from each layer
  • Reduction ratio – How much you saved vs. loading the full codebase

You can always:

  • Reproduce any result – Same query + same codebase = same context (deterministic)
  • Audit the decision path – See exactly which code entities and clusters were selected
  • Verify completeness – Check if all relevant code was captured
  • Understand the tradeoffs – View the token budget breakdown by layer

Transparency by Design

All processing is local and observable:

  • No hidden cloud processing or external model calls
  • No black-box ranking algorithms (semantic search is transparent)
  • Can read the source code selection in full
  • Every decision is reproducible and explainable

This is critical for regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal, government) where AI recommendations must be auditable and verifiable.


Acknowledgments

We thank all security researchers who help keep NeuralMind and its users safe.


This security policy is subject to change. Last updated: 2026

There aren’t any published security advisories