The spatial Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography results in the alteration of the smooth characteristics between adjoining pixels of the raw image. The relation between the length of embedded message and the gradient energy is theoretically analyzed, and then a steganalysis and detection method, named Gradient Energy-Flipping Rate (GEFR) detection is proposed. Based on the analysis of the variation of the gradient energy, which results from the LSB steganography in color and grayscale image, the secret message embedded in the target image is detected, and the length of the embedded message is estimated. The method is proved effective and accurate by simulation (detection rate reaches 0.01bit per pixel).