devsecops

Implementing Aqua Security for Container Scanning

Deploy Aqua Security's Trivy scanner to detect vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, secrets, and license issues in container images across CI/CD pipelines and registries.

aqua-securitycontainer-scanningimage-securitysbomsupply-chaintrivyvulnerability-scanning
Install this skill
npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills
Framework mappings

Overview

Aqua Security provides Trivy, the world's most popular open-source universal security scanner, designed to find vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, secrets, SBOM data, and license issues in containers, Kubernetes, code repositories, and cloud environments. Trivy covers OS packages (Alpine, Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, etc.) and language-specific dependencies (npm, pip, Maven, Go modules, Cargo, etc.) with vulnerability databases sourced from NVD, vendor advisories, and GitHub Security Advisories. The enterprise Aqua Platform extends Trivy with centralized policy management, runtime protection, and compliance reporting.

When to Use

  • When deploying or configuring implementing aqua security for container scanning capabilities in your environment
  • When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
  • When building or improving security architecture for this domain
  • When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

  • Docker installed for local image scanning
  • CI/CD platform (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, etc.)
  • Container registry access (Docker Hub, ECR, GCR, ACR, Harbor)
  • Trivy CLI (trivy) or Trivy Operator for Kubernetes
  • Aqua Platform license for enterprise features (optional)

Core Scanning Capabilities

Image Vulnerability Scanning

Trivy scans container images layer by layer, identifying CVEs in OS packages and application dependencies. It supports scanning local images, remote registry images, and tar archives.

# Scan a remote image
trivy image python:3.11-slim
 
# Scan with severity filter
trivy image --severity HIGH,CRITICAL nginx:latest
 
# Scan and fail CI if critical CVEs found
trivy image --exit-code 1 --severity CRITICAL myapp:latest
 
# Generate SBOM in CycloneDX format
trivy image --format cyclonedx --output sbom.json myapp:latest

Filesystem and Repository Scanning

# Scan project directory for vulnerabilities in dependencies
trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret,misconfig .
 
# Scan a specific lockfile
trivy fs --scanners vuln package-lock.json
 
# Scan git repository
trivy repo https://github.com/org/project

Kubernetes Scanning with Trivy Operator

The Trivy Operator runs inside a Kubernetes cluster and continuously scans workloads:

# Install Trivy Operator via Helm
helm repo add aqua https://aquasecurity.github.io/helm-charts/
helm repo update
helm install trivy-operator aqua/trivy-operator \
  --namespace trivy-system \
  --create-namespace \
  --set trivy.severity="HIGH,CRITICAL" \
  --set operator.scanJobTimeout="5m"

The operator creates VulnerabilityReport and ConfigAuditReport custom resources for each workload.

IaC Misconfiguration Scanning

# Scan Terraform files
trivy config --severity HIGH,CRITICAL ./terraform/
 
# Scan Dockerfile for misconfigurations
trivy config Dockerfile
 
# Scan Kubernetes manifests
trivy config ./k8s-manifests/

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Container Security Scan
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
 
jobs:
  scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Build Docker image
        run: docker build -t myapp:${{ github.sha }} .
 
      - name: Run Trivy vulnerability scanner
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          image-ref: 'myapp:${{ github.sha }}'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-results.sarif'
          severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH'
          exit-code: '1'
 
      - name: Upload Trivy scan results to GitHub Security tab
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        if: always()
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-results.sarif'

GitLab CI

container_scanning:
  stage: security
  image:
    name: aquasec/trivy:latest
    entrypoint: [""]
  variables:
    FULL_IMAGE_NAME: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA
  script:
    - trivy image --exit-code 0 --format template --template "@/contrib/gitlab.tpl"
      --output gl-container-scanning-report.json $FULL_IMAGE_NAME
    - trivy image --exit-code 1 --severity CRITICAL $FULL_IMAGE_NAME
  artifacts:
    reports:
      container_scanning: gl-container-scanning-report.json

Jenkins Pipeline

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                sh 'docker build -t myapp:${BUILD_NUMBER} .'
            }
        }
        stage('Security Scan') {
            steps {
                sh '''
                    trivy image --exit-code 1 \
                      --severity HIGH,CRITICAL \
                      --format json \
                      --output trivy-report.json \
                      myapp:${BUILD_NUMBER}
                '''
            }
            post {
                always {
                    archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'trivy-report.json'
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Policy Configuration

Trivy Policy with OPA/Rego

Create .trivy/policy.rego for custom policy enforcement:

package trivy
 
deny[msg] {
    input.Results[_].Vulnerabilities[_].Severity == "CRITICAL"
    msg := "Critical vulnerabilities found in image"
}
 
deny[msg] {
    input.Results[_].Vulnerabilities[vuln]
    vuln.FixedVersion != ""
    vuln.Severity == "HIGH"
    msg := sprintf("Fixable HIGH vulnerability: %s", [vuln.VulnerabilityID])
}

Ignore File Configuration

Create .trivyignore for accepted risks:

# Accepted risk: vulnerability in test dependency only
CVE-2023-12345
 
# Accepted until expiry date
CVE-2024-67890 exp:2025-06-01

SBOM Generation and Management

# Generate CycloneDX SBOM
trivy image --format cyclonedx --output sbom-cyclonedx.json myapp:latest
 
# Generate SPDX SBOM
trivy image --format spdx-json --output sbom-spdx.json myapp:latest
 
# Scan an existing SBOM for new vulnerabilities
trivy sbom sbom-cyclonedx.json

Monitoring and Reporting

Metric Description Target
Images scanned per day Total images passing through scanning pipeline All production images
Critical CVE count Open critical vulnerabilities across all images 0 in production
Mean time to patch Average days from CVE publication to patched image < 7 days
SBOM coverage Percentage of production images with generated SBOMs 100%
Scan duration Average time per image scan < 2 minutes

References

Source materials

References and resources

Everything below is rendered for inspection. Script files are read-only and never run.

References 3

api-reference.md1.9 KB

API Reference: Container Image Vulnerability Scanner (Trivy)

Dependencies

Library Version Purpose
trivy CLI >=0.50 Container image scanning (invoked via subprocess)

CLI Usage

python scripts/agent.py \
  --images nginx:latest alpine:3.19 myapp:v1.2 \
  --severity CRITICAL,HIGH \
  --sbom \
  --output-dir /reports/ \
  --output trivy_report.json

Functions

check_trivy_installed() -> bool

Verifies Trivy CLI is available in PATH by running trivy --version.

scan_image(image, severity, ignore_unfixed) -> dict

Runs trivy image --format json --severity CRITICAL,HIGH <image>. Returns parsed JSON output.

scan_image_misconfig(image) -> dict

Runs trivy image --scanners misconfig to detect Dockerfile and config issues.

scan_image_secrets(image) -> dict

Runs trivy image --scanners secret to find embedded secrets in image layers.

generate_sbom(image, output_path) -> bool

Runs trivy image --format cyclonedx to produce CycloneDX SBOM.

parse_vuln_results(scan_data) -> list

Extracts vulnerability details from Trivy JSON: VulnerabilityID, PkgName, InstalledVersion, FixedVersion, Severity.

compute_summary(vulns) -> dict

Counts vulnerabilities by severity level (CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW) and fixable count.

scan_multiple_images(images, severity) -> dict

Orchestrates scanning of multiple images and aggregates results.

Trivy CLI Commands Used

Command Purpose
trivy image --format json Vulnerability scan with JSON output
trivy image --scanners misconfig Misconfiguration detection
trivy image --scanners secret Secret detection in layers
trivy image --format cyclonedx SBOM generation

Output Schema

{
  "images": [{"image": "nginx:latest", "summary": {"CRITICAL": 2, "HIGH": 5, "fixable": 4}}],
  "overall_summary": {"CRITICAL": 2, "HIGH": 5, "total": 7}
}
standards.md1.6 KB

Standards Reference for Container Scanning

NIST SP 800-190: Application Container Security Guide

Recommendation Trivy Coverage
4.1 Image vulnerabilities CVE scanning of OS packages and app dependencies
4.2 Image configuration defects IaC misconfig scanning of Dockerfiles
4.3 Embedded malware Secret scanning detects embedded credentials
4.4 Embedded cleartext secrets Secret scanner with regex and entropy detection
4.5 Use of untrusted images Registry scanning and image provenance verification

CIS Docker Benchmark v1.6 Alignment

CIS Control Trivy Check
4.1 Ensure image is created from a trusted base Base image vulnerability scanning
4.3 Ensure unnecessary packages are not installed SBOM generation reveals full package inventory
4.6 Add HEALTHCHECK instruction Dockerfile misconfiguration check
4.9 Ensure COPY instead of ADD Dockerfile misconfiguration check
4.10 Ensure secrets are not stored in Dockerfiles Secret detection in filesystem scan

Vulnerability Database Sources

Source Coverage Update Frequency
NVD (NIST) All CVEs Continuous
Alpine SecDB Alpine Linux packages Daily
Debian Security Tracker Debian packages Daily
Ubuntu CVE Tracker Ubuntu packages Daily
Red Hat OVAL RHEL/CentOS packages Daily
GitHub Advisory Database Language packages Continuous
Go Vulnerability Database Go modules Continuous
RustSec Advisory Database Rust crates Continuous
workflows.md1.2 KB

Aqua Security Container Scanning Workflows

Workflow 1: CI/CD Image Gate

Developer commits code
       |
Docker image built in CI
       |
Trivy scans image for vulnerabilities
       |
[No Critical/High] --> Image pushed to registry
[Critical found] --> Pipeline fails, image rejected
       |
SBOM generated and stored alongside image
       |
Image tagged with scan metadata
       |
Kubernetes admission controller validates scan results
       |
Deployment proceeds only with scanned images

Workflow 2: Registry Continuous Scanning

New image pushed to container registry
       |
Trivy Operator detects new image tag
       |
Scheduled scan triggered
       |
VulnerabilityReport CR created in cluster
       |
New CVE published in NVD
       |
Re-scan of all running images
       |
Alert generated for newly affected images
       |
Remediation ticket created automatically

Workflow 3: SBOM-Based Vulnerability Tracking

Image scanned, SBOM generated (CycloneDX/SPDX)
       |
SBOM stored in artifact repository
       |
New CVE published
       |
SBOM re-scanned without rebuilding image
       |
Affected images identified across fleet
       |
Prioritized patching based on exposure and severity

Scripts 2

agent.py5.7 KB
Display-only source. This catalog never executes bundled scripts.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Container image vulnerability scanning agent using Trivy CLI via subprocess."""

import argparse
import json
import logging
import os
import subprocess
import sys
from datetime import datetime
from typing import List

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s [%(levelname)s] %(message)s")
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)


def check_trivy_installed() -> bool:
    """Check if Trivy CLI is available."""
    try:
        result = subprocess.run(["trivy", "--version"], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10)
        return result.returncode == 0
    except FileNotFoundError:
        return False


def scan_image(image: str, severity: str = "CRITICAL,HIGH",
               ignore_unfixed: bool = True) -> dict:
    """Scan a container image for vulnerabilities using Trivy."""
    cmd = ["trivy", "image", "--format", "json", "--severity", severity, image]
    if ignore_unfixed:
        cmd.append("--ignore-unfixed")
    try:
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=300)
        if result.stdout:
            return json.loads(result.stdout)
    except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, json.JSONDecodeError) as exc:
        logger.error("Trivy scan failed for %s: %s", image, exc)
    return {}


def scan_image_misconfig(image: str) -> dict:
    """Scan a container image for misconfigurations."""
    cmd = ["trivy", "image", "--format", "json", "--scanners", "misconfig", image]
    try:
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=300)
        if result.stdout:
            return json.loads(result.stdout)
    except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, json.JSONDecodeError) as exc:
        logger.error("Misconfig scan failed: %s", exc)
    return {}


def scan_image_secrets(image: str) -> dict:
    """Scan a container image for embedded secrets."""
    cmd = ["trivy", "image", "--format", "json", "--scanners", "secret", image]
    try:
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=300)
        if result.stdout:
            return json.loads(result.stdout)
    except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, json.JSONDecodeError) as exc:
        logger.error("Secret scan failed: %s", exc)
    return {}


def generate_sbom(image: str, output_path: str) -> bool:
    """Generate SBOM in CycloneDX format for an image."""
    cmd = ["trivy", "image", "--format", "cyclonedx", "--output", output_path, image]
    try:
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=300)
        return result.returncode == 0
    except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
        return False


def parse_vuln_results(scan_data: dict) -> List[dict]:
    """Parse Trivy JSON output into structured vulnerability list."""
    vulns = []
    for result in scan_data.get("Results", []):
        target = result.get("Target", "")
        for vuln in result.get("Vulnerabilities", []):
            vulns.append({
                "target": target,
                "vuln_id": vuln.get("VulnerabilityID", ""),
                "pkg_name": vuln.get("PkgName", ""),
                "installed": vuln.get("InstalledVersion", ""),
                "fixed": vuln.get("FixedVersion", ""),
                "severity": vuln.get("Severity", ""),
                "title": vuln.get("Title", ""),
            })
    return vulns


def compute_summary(vulns: List[dict]) -> dict:
    """Compute severity summary from vulnerability list."""
    summary = {"CRITICAL": 0, "HIGH": 0, "MEDIUM": 0, "LOW": 0}
    for v in vulns:
        sev = v.get("severity", "").upper()
        if sev in summary:
            summary[sev] += 1
    summary["total"] = len(vulns)
    fixable = sum(1 for v in vulns if v.get("fixed"))
    summary["fixable"] = fixable
    return summary


def scan_multiple_images(images: List[str], severity: str) -> dict:
    """Scan multiple container images and aggregate results."""
    report = {"scan_date": datetime.utcnow().isoformat(), "images": []}
    for image in images:
        logger.info("Scanning %s...", image)
        scan_data = scan_image(image, severity)
        vulns = parse_vuln_results(scan_data)
        report["images"].append({
            "image": image, "vulnerabilities": vulns,
            "summary": compute_summary(vulns),
        })
    totals = {"CRITICAL": 0, "HIGH": 0, "MEDIUM": 0, "LOW": 0, "total": 0}
    for img in report["images"]:
        for k in totals:
            totals[k] += img["summary"].get(k, 0)
    report["overall_summary"] = totals
    return report


def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Container Image Vulnerability Scanner (Trivy)")
    parser.add_argument("--images", nargs="+", required=True, help="Container images to scan")
    parser.add_argument("--severity", default="CRITICAL,HIGH", help="Severity filter")
    parser.add_argument("--sbom", action="store_true", help="Generate SBOM for each image")
    parser.add_argument("--output-dir", default=".", help="Output directory")
    parser.add_argument("--output", default="trivy_report.json")
    args = parser.parse_args()

    if not check_trivy_installed():
        logger.error("Trivy CLI not found. Install: https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy/")
        sys.exit(1)

    os.makedirs(args.output_dir, exist_ok=True)
    report = scan_multiple_images(args.images, args.severity)

    if args.sbom:
        for image in args.images:
            sbom_name = image.replace("/", "_").replace(":", "_") + "_sbom.json"
            sbom_path = os.path.join(args.output_dir, sbom_name)
            generate_sbom(image, sbom_path)

    out_path = os.path.join(args.output_dir, args.output)
    with open(out_path, "w") as f:
        json.dump(report, f, indent=2)
    logger.info("Report saved to %s", out_path)
    print(json.dumps(report["overall_summary"], indent=2))


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()
process.py5.4 KB
Display-only source. This catalog never executes bundled scripts.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Trivy Container Scanning Report Aggregator

Processes Trivy JSON scan results and generates consolidated
vulnerability reports across multiple container images.
"""

import json
import os
import sys
import subprocess
from datetime import datetime
from collections import defaultdict


def run_trivy_scan(image: str, output_file: str) -> dict:
    cmd = [
        "trivy", "image",
        "--format", "json",
        "--output", output_file,
        "--severity", "CRITICAL,HIGH,MEDIUM,LOW",
        image,
    ]
    result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
    if result.returncode not in (0, 1):
        print(f"Trivy scan failed for {image}: {result.stderr}")
        return {}
    with open(output_file) as f:
        return json.load(f)


def parse_trivy_results(scan_data: dict) -> dict:
    summary = {
        "vulnerabilities": [],
        "severity_counts": defaultdict(int),
        "fixable_count": 0,
        "packages_affected": set(),
    }
    for result in scan_data.get("Results", []):
        target = result.get("Target", "")
        target_type = result.get("Type", "")
        for vuln in result.get("Vulnerabilities", []):
            entry = {
                "id": vuln.get("VulnerabilityID"),
                "severity": vuln.get("Severity", "UNKNOWN"),
                "package": vuln.get("PkgName"),
                "installed_version": vuln.get("InstalledVersion"),
                "fixed_version": vuln.get("FixedVersion"),
                "title": vuln.get("Title", ""),
                "target": target,
                "target_type": target_type,
            }
            summary["vulnerabilities"].append(entry)
            summary["severity_counts"][entry["severity"]] += 1
            summary["packages_affected"].add(entry["package"])
            if entry["fixed_version"]:
                summary["fixable_count"] += 1

    summary["packages_affected"] = list(summary["packages_affected"])
    summary["severity_counts"] = dict(summary["severity_counts"])
    return summary


def generate_fleet_report(images: list) -> dict:
    report = {
        "generated_at": datetime.utcnow().isoformat() + "Z",
        "total_images": len(images),
        "total_vulnerabilities": 0,
        "total_critical": 0,
        "total_fixable": 0,
        "severity_summary": defaultdict(int),
        "top_cves": defaultdict(int),
        "image_reports": [],
    }

    for i, image in enumerate(images):
        print(f"Scanning {i+1}/{len(images)}: {image}")
        output_file = f"/tmp/trivy_scan_{i}.json"
        scan_data = run_trivy_scan(image, output_file)
        if not scan_data:
            continue

        parsed = parse_trivy_results(scan_data)
        vuln_count = len(parsed["vulnerabilities"])
        report["total_vulnerabilities"] += vuln_count
        report["total_critical"] += parsed["severity_counts"].get("CRITICAL", 0)
        report["total_fixable"] += parsed["fixable_count"]

        for sev, count in parsed["severity_counts"].items():
            report["severity_summary"][sev] += count

        for vuln in parsed["vulnerabilities"]:
            report["top_cves"][vuln["id"]] += 1

        report["image_reports"].append({
            "image": image,
            "total_vulnerabilities": vuln_count,
            "severity_counts": parsed["severity_counts"],
            "fixable": parsed["fixable_count"],
            "critical_vulns": [
                v for v in parsed["vulnerabilities"] if v["severity"] == "CRITICAL"
            ],
        })

    report["severity_summary"] = dict(report["severity_summary"])
    top_sorted = sorted(report["top_cves"].items(), key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)[:20]
    report["top_cves"] = dict(top_sorted)
    return report


def print_fleet_report(report: dict) -> None:
    print(f"\n{'='*60}")
    print(f"Container Fleet Vulnerability Report")
    print(f"Generated: {report['generated_at']}")
    print(f"{'='*60}")
    print(f"Images scanned: {report['total_images']}")
    print(f"Total vulnerabilities: {report['total_vulnerabilities']}")
    print(f"Total critical: {report['total_critical']}")
    print(f"Total fixable: {report['total_fixable']}")
    print(f"\nSeverity Breakdown:")
    for sev in ["CRITICAL", "HIGH", "MEDIUM", "LOW", "UNKNOWN"]:
        count = report["severity_summary"].get(sev, 0)
        if count:
            print(f"  {sev:12s}: {count}")
    print(f"\nImages by Risk (sorted by critical count):")
    for img in sorted(
        report["image_reports"],
        key=lambda x: x["severity_counts"].get("CRITICAL", 0),
        reverse=True,
    ):
        crits = img["severity_counts"].get("CRITICAL", 0)
        print(f"  {img['image']:50s} | Critical: {crits} | Total: {img['total_vulnerabilities']}")


def main():
    images_env = os.environ.get("SCAN_IMAGES", "")
    if images_env:
        images = [i.strip() for i in images_env.split(",") if i.strip()]
    else:
        images = [
            "python:3.11-slim",
            "node:20-alpine",
            "nginx:latest",
            "golang:1.22-alpine",
        ]
        print("No SCAN_IMAGES env var set, using default image list")

    report = generate_fleet_report(images)
    print_fleet_report(report)

    output = f"container_scan_report_{datetime.utcnow().strftime('%Y%m%d_%H%M%S')}.json"
    with open(output, "w") as f:
        json.dump(report, f, indent=2, default=str)
    print(f"\nReport saved to: {output}")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

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