---
stage: Application Security Testing
group: Composition Analysis
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---
# Container Scanning
DETAILS:
**Tier:** Free, Premium, Ultimate
**Offering:** GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated
> - [Changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/86092) the major analyzer version from `4` to `5` in GitLab 15.0.
> - [Moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/86783) from GitLab Ultimate to GitLab Free in 15.0.
> - Container Scanning variables that reference Docker [renamed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/357264) in GitLab 15.4.
> - Container Scanning template [moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/381665) from `Security/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml` to `Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml` in GitLab 15.6.
Your application's Docker image may itself be based on Docker images that contain known
vulnerabilities. By including an extra Container Scanning job in your pipeline that scans for those
vulnerabilities and displays them in a merge request, you can use GitLab to audit your Docker-based
apps.
-
For an overview, see [Container Scanning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0jn2eN5MAs).
- For a video walkthrough, see [How to set up Container Scanning using GitLab](https://youtu.be/h__mcXpil_4?si=w_BVG68qnkL9x4l1).
- For an introductory tutorial, see [Scan a Docker container for vulnerabilities](../../../tutorials/container_scanning/index.md).
Container Scanning is often considered part of Software Composition Analysis (SCA). SCA can contain
aspects of inspecting the items your code uses. These items typically include application and system
dependencies that are almost always imported from external sources, rather than sourced from items
you wrote yourself.
GitLab offers both Container Scanning and [Dependency Scanning](../dependency_scanning/index.md)
to ensure coverage for all these dependency types. To cover as much of your risk area as
possible, we encourage you to use all the security scanners. For a comparison of these features, see
[Dependency Scanning compared to Container Scanning](../comparison_dependency_and_container_scanning.md).
GitLab integrates with the [Trivy](https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy) security scanner to perform vulnerability static analysis in containers.
WARNING:
The Grype analyzer is no longer maintained, except for limited fixes as explained in our
[statement of support](https://about.gitlab.com/support/statement-of-support/#version-support).
The existing current major version for the Grype analyzer image will continue to be updated with the
latest advisory database, and operating system packages until GitLab 19.0, at which point the analyzer
will stop working.
GitLab compares the found vulnerabilities between the source and target branches, then:
- Displays the results in the merge request widget.
- Saves the results as a [container scanning report artifact](../../../ci/yaml/artifacts_reports.md#artifactsreportscontainer_scanning)
that you can download and analyze later. When downloading, you always receive the most recent
artifact.
- Saves a [CycloneDX SBOM JSON report](#cyclonedx-software-bill-of-materials) which lists the
components detected.

## Features
| Features | In Free and Premium | In Ultimate |
| --- | ------ | ------ |
| Customize Settings ([Variables](#available-cicd-variables), [Overriding](#overriding-the-container-scanning-template), [offline environment support](#running-container-scanning-in-an-offline-environment), etc) | **{check-circle}** Yes | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| [View JSON Report](#reports-json-format) as a CI job artifact | **{check-circle}** Yes | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| Generate a [CycloneDX SBOM JSON report](#cyclonedx-software-bill-of-materials) as a CI job artifact | **{check-circle}** Yes | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| Ability to enable container scanning via an MR in the GitLab UI | **{check-circle}** Yes | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| [UBI Image Support](#fips-enabled-images) | **{check-circle}** Yes | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| Support for Trivy | **{check-circle}** Yes | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| Inclusion of GitLab Advisory Database | Limited to the time-delayed content from GitLab [advisories-communities](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/advisories-community/) project | Yes - all the latest content from [Gemnasium DB](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/gemnasium-db) |
| Presentation of Report data in Merge Request and Security tab of the CI pipeline job | **{dotted-circle}** No | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| [Solutions for vulnerabilities (auto-remediation)](#solutions-for-vulnerabilities-auto-remediation) | **{dotted-circle}** No | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| Support for the [vulnerability allow list](#vulnerability-allowlisting) | **{dotted-circle}** No | **{check-circle}** Yes |
| [Access to Dependency List page](../dependency_list/index.md) | **{dotted-circle}** No | **{check-circle}** Yes |
## Configuration
Enable the Container Scanning analyzer in your CI/CD pipeline. When a pipeline runs, the images your
application depends on are scanned for vulnerabilities. You can customize Container Scanning by
using CI/CD variables.
### Enabling the analyzer
Prerequisites:
- The test stage is required in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.
- With self-managed runners you need a GitLab Runner with the `docker` or `kubernetes` executor on
Linux/amd64. If you're using the instance runners on GitLab.com, this is enabled by default.
- An image matching the [supported distributions](#supported-distributions).
- [Build and push](../../packages/container_registry/build_and_push_images.md#use-gitlab-cicd)
the Docker image to your project's container registry.
- If you're using a third-party container registry, you might need to provide authentication
credentials through the `CS_REGISTRY_USER` and `CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD` [configuration variables](#available-cicd-variables).
For more details on how to use these variables, see [authenticate to a remote registry](#authenticate-to-a-remote-registry).
To enable the analyzer, either:
- Enable Auto DevOps, which includes dependency scanning.
- Use a preconfigured merge request.
- Create a [scan execution policy](../policies/scan_execution_policies.md) that enforces container
scanning.
- Edit the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file manually.
#### Use a preconfigured merge request
This method automatically prepares a merge request that includes the container scanning template
in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. You then merge the merge request to enable dependency scanning.
NOTE:
This method works best with no existing `.gitlab-ci.yml` file, or with a minimal configuration file.
If you have a complex GitLab configuration file it might not be parsed successfully, and an error
might occur. In that case, use the [manual](#edit-the-gitlab-ciyml-file-manually) method instead.
To enable Container Scanning:
1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Secure > Security configuration**.
1. In the **Container Scanning** row, select **Configure with a merge request**.
1. Select **Create merge request**.
1. Review the merge request, then select **Merge**.
Pipelines now include a Container Scanning job.
#### Edit the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file manually
This method requires you to manually edit the existing `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. Use this method if
your GitLab CI/CD configuration file is complex or you need to use non-default options.
To enable Container Scanning:
1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Build > Pipeline editor**.
1. If no `.gitlab-ci.yml` file exists, select **Configure pipeline**, then delete the example
content.
1. Copy and paste the following to the bottom of the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file. If an `include` line
already exists, add only the `template` line below it.
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
```
1. Select the **Validate** tab, then select **Validate pipeline**.
The message **Simulation completed successfully** confirms the file is valid.
1. Select the **Edit** tab.
1. Complete the fields. Do not use the default branch for the **Branch** field.
1. Select the **Start a new merge request with these changes** checkbox, then select
**Commit changes**.
1. Complete the fields according to your standard workflow, then select **Create merge request**.
1. Review and edit the merge request according to your standard workflow, wait until the pipeline
passes, then select **Merge**.
Pipelines now include a Container Scanning job.
### Customizing analyzer behavior
To customize Container Scanning, use [CI/CD variables](#available-cicd-variables).
#### Enable verbose output
Enable verbose output when you need to see in detail what the Dependency Scanning job does, for
example when troubleshooting.
In the following example, the Container Scanning template is included and verbose output is enabled.
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
variables:
SECURE_LOG_LEVEL: 'debug'
```
#### Scan an image in a remote registry
To scan images located in a registry other than the project's, use the following `.gitlab-ci.yml`:
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
variables:
CS_IMAGE: example.com/user/image:tag
```
##### Authenticate to a remote registry
Scanning an image in a private registry requires authentication. Provide the username in the `CS_REGISTRY_USER`
variable, and the password in the `CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD` configuration variable.
For example, to scan an image from AWS Elastic Container Registry:
```yaml
container_scanning:
before_script:
- ruby -r open-uri -e "IO.copy_stream(URI.open('https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip'), 'awscliv2.zip')"
- unzip awscliv2.zip
- sudo ./aws/install
- aws --version
- export AWS_ECR_PASSWORD=$(aws ecr get-login-password --region region)
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
variables:
CS_IMAGE: .dkr.ecr..amazonaws.com/:
CS_REGISTRY_USER: AWS
CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD: "$AWS_ECR_PASSWORD"
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION:
```
Authenticating to a remote registry is not supported when [FIPS mode](../../../development/fips_compliance.md#enable-fips-mode) is enabled.
#### Report language-specific findings
The `CS_DISABLE_LANGUAGE_VULNERABILITY_SCAN` CI/CD variable controls whether the scan reports
findings related to programming languages. For more information about the supported languages, see [Language-specific Packages](https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy/latest/docs/coverage/language/#supported-languages) in the Trivy documentation.
By default, the report only includes packages managed by the Operating System (OS) package manager
(for example, `yum`, `apt`, `apk`, `tdnf`). To report security findings in non-OS packages, set
`CS_DISABLE_LANGUAGE_VULNERABILITY_SCAN` to `"false"`:
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
variables:
CS_DISABLE_LANGUAGE_VULNERABILITY_SCAN: "false"
```
When you enable this feature, you may see [duplicate findings](../terminology/index.md#duplicate-finding)
in the [Vulnerability Report](../vulnerability_report/index.md)
if [Dependency Scanning](../dependency_scanning/index.md)
is enabled for your project. This happens because GitLab can't automatically deduplicate findings
across different types of scanning tools. To understand which types of dependencies are likely to be duplicated, see [Dependency Scanning compared to Container Scanning](../comparison_dependency_and_container_scanning.md).
#### Running jobs in merge request pipelines
See [Use security scanning tools with merge request pipelines](../detect/roll_out_security_scanning.md#use-security-scanning-tools-with-merge-request-pipelines).
#### Available CI/CD variables
To customize Container Scanning, use CI/CD variables. The following table lists CI/CD variables
specific to Container Scanning. You can also use any of the [predefined CI/CD variables](../../../ci/variables/predefined_variables.md).
WARNING:
Test customization of GitLab analyzers in a merge request before merging these changes to the
default branch. Failure to do so can give unexpected results, including a large number of false
positives.
| CI/CD Variable | Default | Description |
| ------------------------------ | ------------- | ----------- |
| `ADDITIONAL_CA_CERT_BUNDLE` | `""` | Bundle of CA certs that you want to trust. See [Using a custom SSL CA certificate authority](#using-a-custom-ssl-ca-certificate-authority) for more details. |
| `CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY` | `$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG` | Docker repository URL for the image to be scanned. |
| `CI_APPLICATION_TAG` | `$CI_COMMIT_SHA` | Docker repository tag for the image to be scanned. |
| `CS_ANALYZER_IMAGE` | `registry.gitlab.com/security-products/container-scanning:7` | Docker image of the analyzer. Do not use the `:latest` tag with analyzer images provided by GitLab. |
| `CS_DEFAULT_BRANCH_IMAGE` | `""` | The name of the `CS_IMAGE` on the default branch. See [Setting the default branch image](#setting-the-default-branch-image) for more details. |
| `CS_DISABLE_DEPENDENCY_LIST` | `"false"` | **{warning}** **[Removed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/439782)** in GitLab 17.0. |
| `CS_DISABLE_LANGUAGE_VULNERABILITY_SCAN` | `"true"` | Disable scanning for language-specific packages installed in the scanned image. |
| `CS_DOCKER_INSECURE` | `"false"` | Allow access to secure Docker registries using HTTPS without validating the certificates. |
| `CS_DOCKERFILE_PATH` | `Dockerfile` | The path to the `Dockerfile` to use for generating remediations. By default, the scanner looks for a file named `Dockerfile` in the root directory of the project. You should configure this variable only if your `Dockerfile` is in a non-standard location, such as a subdirectory. See [Solutions for vulnerabilities](#solutions-for-vulnerabilities-auto-remediation) for more details. |
| `CS_IGNORE_STATUSES` | `""` | Force the analyzer to ignore findings with specified statuses in a comma-delimited list. The following values are allowed: `unknown,not_affected,affected,fixed,under_investigation,will_not_fix,fix_deferred,end_of_life`. 1 |
| `CS_IGNORE_UNFIXED` | `"false"` | Ignore findings that are not fixed. Ignored findings are not included in the report. |
| `CS_IMAGE` | `$CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY:$CI_APPLICATION_TAG` | The Docker image to be scanned. If set, this variable overrides the `$CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY` and `$CI_APPLICATION_TAG` variables. |
| `CS_IMAGE_SUFFIX` | `""` | Suffix added to `CS_ANALYZER_IMAGE`. If set to `-fips`, `FIPS-enabled` image is used for scan. See [FIPS-enabled images](#fips-enabled-images) for more details. |
| `CS_QUIET` | `""` | If set, this variable disables output of the [vulnerabilities table](#container-scanning-job-log-format) in the job log. [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning/-/merge_requests/50) in GitLab 15.1. |
| `CS_REGISTRY_INSECURE` | `"false"` | Allow access to insecure registries (HTTP only). Should only be set to `true` when testing the image locally. Works with all scanners, but the registry must listen on port `80/tcp` for Trivy to work. |
| `CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD` | `$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD` | Password for accessing a Docker registry requiring authentication. The default is only set if `$CS_IMAGE` resides at [`$CI_REGISTRY`](../../../ci/variables/predefined_variables.md). Not supported when [FIPS mode](../../../development/fips_compliance.md#enable-fips-mode) is enabled. |
| `CS_REGISTRY_USER` | `$CI_REGISTRY_USER` | Username for accessing a Docker registry requiring authentication. The default is only set if `$CS_IMAGE` resides at [`$CI_REGISTRY`](../../../ci/variables/predefined_variables.md). Not supported when [FIPS mode](../../../development/fips_compliance.md#enable-fips-mode) is enabled. |
| `CS_SEVERITY_THRESHOLD` | `UNKNOWN` | Severity level threshold. The scanner outputs vulnerabilities with severity level higher than or equal to this threshold. Supported levels are `UNKNOWN`, `LOW`, `MEDIUM`, `HIGH`, and `CRITICAL`. |
| `CS_TRIVY_JAVA_DB` | `"registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dependencies/trivy-java-db"` | Specify an alternate location for the [trivy-java-db](https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy-java-db) vulnerability database. |
| `SECURE_LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | Set the minimum logging level. Messages of this logging level or higher are output. From highest to lowest severity, the logging levels are: `fatal`, `error`, `warn`, `info`, `debug`. |
| `TRIVY_TIMEOUT` | `5m0s` | Set the timeout for the scan. |
**Footnotes:**
1. Fix status information is highly dependent on accurate fix availability data from the software
vendor and container image operating system package metadata. It is also subject to
interpretation by individual container scanners. In cases where a container scanner misreports
the availability of a fixed package for a vulnerability, using `CS_IGNORE_STATUSES` can lead to
false positive or false negative filtering of findings when this setting is enabled.
### Supported distributions
The following Linux distributions are supported:
- Alma Linux
- Alpine Linux
- Amazon Linux
- CentOS
- CBL-Mariner
- Debian
- Distroless
- Oracle Linux
- Photon OS
- Red Hat (RHEL)
- Rocky Linux
- SUSE
- Ubuntu
#### FIPS-enabled images
GitLab also offers [FIPS-enabled Red Hat UBI](https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/introducing-red-hat-universal-base-image)
versions of the container-scanning images. You can therefore replace standard images with FIPS-enabled
images. To configure the images, set the `CS_IMAGE_SUFFIX` to `-fips` or modify the `CS_ANALYZER_IMAGE` variable to the
standard tag plus the `-fips` extension.
NOTE:
The `-fips` flag is automatically added to `CS_ANALYZER_IMAGE` when FIPS mode is enabled in the GitLab instance.
Container scanning of images in authenticated registries is not supported when [FIPS mode](../../../development/fips_compliance.md#enable-fips-mode)
is enabled. When `CI_GITLAB_FIPS_MODE` is `"true"`, and `CS_REGISTRY_USER` or `CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD` is set,
the analyzer exits with an error and does not perform the scan.
### Overriding the container scanning template
If you want to override the job definition (for example, to change properties like `variables`), you
must declare and override a job after the template inclusion, and then
specify any additional keys.
This example sets `GIT_STRATEGY` to `fetch`:
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
variables:
GIT_STRATEGY: fetch
```
### Setting the default branch image
By default, container scanning assumes that the image naming convention stores any branch-specific
identifiers in the image tag rather than the image name. When the image name differs between the
default branch and the non-default branch, previously-detected vulnerabilities show up as newly
detected in merge requests.
When the same image has different names on the default branch and a non-default branch, you can use
the `CS_DEFAULT_BRANCH_IMAGE` variable to indicate what that image's name is on the default branch.
GitLab then correctly determines if a vulnerability already exists when running scans on non-default
branches.
As an example, suppose the following:
- Non-default branches publish images with the naming convention
`$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH:$CI_COMMIT_SHA`.
- The default branch publishes images with the naming convention
`$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA`.
In this example, you can use the following CI/CD configuration to ensure that vulnerabilities aren't
duplicated:
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
variables:
CS_DEFAULT_BRANCH_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
before_script:
- export CS_IMAGE="$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH:$CI_COMMIT_SHA"
- |
if [ "$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH" == "$CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH" ]; then
export CS_IMAGE="$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA"
fi
```
`CS_DEFAULT_BRANCH_IMAGE` should remain the same for a given `CS_IMAGE`. If it changes, then a
duplicate set of vulnerabilities are created, which must be manually dismissed.
When using [Auto DevOps](../../../topics/autodevops/index.md), `CS_DEFAULT_BRANCH_IMAGE` is
automatically set to `$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH:$CI_APPLICATION_TAG`.
### Using a custom SSL CA certificate authority
You can use the `ADDITIONAL_CA_CERT_BUNDLE` CI/CD variable to configure a custom SSL CA certificate authority, which is used to verify the peer when fetching Docker images from a registry which uses HTTPS. The `ADDITIONAL_CA_CERT_BUNDLE` value should contain the [text representation of the X.509 PEM public-key certificate](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7468#section-5.1). For example, to configure this value in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file, use the following:
```yaml
container_scanning:
variables:
ADDITIONAL_CA_CERT_BUNDLE: |
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIGqTCCBJGgAwIBAgIQI7AVxxVwg2kch4d56XNdDjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADCB
...
jWgmPqF3vUbZE0EyScetPJquRFRKIesyJuBFMAs=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
```
The `ADDITIONAL_CA_CERT_BUNDLE` value can also be configured as a [custom variable in the UI](../../../ci/variables/index.md#for-a-project), either as a `file`, which requires the path to the certificate, or as a variable, which requires the text representation of the certificate.
### Vulnerability allowlisting
DETAILS:
**Tier:** Ultimate
**Offering:** GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated
To allowlist specific vulnerabilities, follow these steps:
1. Set `GIT_STRATEGY: fetch` in your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file by following the instructions in
[overriding the container scanning template](#overriding-the-container-scanning-template).
1. Define the allowlisted vulnerabilities in a YAML file named `vulnerability-allowlist.yml`. This must use
the format described in [`vulnerability-allowlist.yml` data format](#vulnerability-allowlistyml-data-format).
1. Add the `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` file to the root folder of your project's Git repository.
#### `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` data format
The `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` file is a YAML file that specifies a list of CVE IDs of vulnerabilities that are **allowed** to exist, because they're _false positives_, or they're _not applicable_.
If a matching entry is found in the `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` file, the following happens:
- The vulnerability **is not included** when the analyzer generates the `gl-container-scanning-report.json` file.
- The Security tab of the pipeline **does not show** the vulnerability. It is not included in the JSON file, which is the source of truth for the Security tab.
Example `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` file:
```yaml
generalallowlist:
CVE-2019-8696:
CVE-2014-8166: cups
CVE-2017-18248:
images:
registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast/webgoat-8.0@sha256:
CVE-2018-4180:
your.private.registry:5000/centos:
CVE-2015-1419: libxml2
CVE-2015-1447:
```
This example excludes from `gl-container-scanning-report.json`:
1. All vulnerabilities with CVE IDs: _CVE-2019-8696_, _CVE-2014-8166_, _CVE-2017-18248_.
1. All vulnerabilities found in the `registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast/webgoat-8.0@sha256` container image with CVE ID _CVE-2018-4180_.
1. All vulnerabilities found in `your.private.registry:5000/centos` container with CVE IDs _CVE-2015-1419_, _CVE-2015-1447_.
##### File format
- `generalallowlist` block allows you to specify CVE IDs globally. All vulnerabilities with matching CVE IDs are excluded from the scan report.
- `images` block allows you to specify CVE IDs for each container image independently. All vulnerabilities from the given image with matching CVE IDs are excluded from the scan report. The image name is retrieved from one of the environment variables used to specify the Docker image to be scanned, such as `$CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY:$CI_APPLICATION_TAG` or `CS_IMAGE`. The image provided in this block **must** match this value and **must not** include the tag value. For example, if you specify the image to be scanned using `CS_IMAGE=alpine:3.7`, then you would use `alpine` in the `images` block, but you cannot use `alpine:3.7`.
You can specify container image in multiple ways:
- as image name only (such as `centos`).
- as full image name with registry hostname (such as `your.private.registry:5000/centos`).
- as full image name with registry hostname and sha256 label (such as `registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast/webgoat-8.0@sha256`).
NOTE:
The string after CVE ID (`cups` and `libxml2` in the previous example) is an optional comment format. It has **no impact** on the handling of vulnerabilities. You can include comments to describe the vulnerability.
##### Container scanning job log format
You can verify the results of your scan and the correctness of your `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` file by looking
at the logs that are produced by the container scanning analyzer in `container_scanning` job details.
The log contains a list of found vulnerabilities as a table, for example:
```plaintext
+------------+-------------------------+------------------------+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| STATUS | CVE SEVERITY | PACKAGE NAME | PACKAGE VERSION | CVE DESCRIPTION |
+------------+-------------------------+------------------------+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Approved | High CVE-2019-3462 | apt | 1.4.8 | Incorrect sanitation of the 302 redirect field in HTTP transport metho |
| | | | | d of apt versions 1.4.8 and earlier can lead to content injection by a |
| | | | | MITM attacker, potentially leading to remote code execution on the ta |
| | | | | rget machine. |
+------------+-------------------------+------------------------+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Unapproved | Medium CVE-2020-27350 | apt | 1.4.8 | APT had several integer overflows and underflows while parsing .deb pa |
| | | | | ckages, aka GHSL-2020-168 GHSL-2020-169, in files apt-pkg/contrib/extr |
| | | | | acttar.cc, apt-pkg/deb/debfile.cc, and apt-pkg/contrib/arfile.cc. This |
| | | | | issue affects: apt 1.2.32ubuntu0 versions prior to 1.2.32ubuntu0.2; 1 |
| | | | | .6.12ubuntu0 versions prior to 1.6.12ubuntu0.2; 2.0.2ubuntu0 versions |
| | | | | prior to 2.0.2ubuntu0.2; 2.1.10ubuntu0 versions prior to 2.1.10ubuntu0 |
| | | | | .1; |
+------------+-------------------------+------------------------+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Unapproved | Medium CVE-2020-3810 | apt | 1.4.8 | Missing input validation in the ar/tar implementations of APT before v |
| | | | | ersion 2.1.2 could result in denial of service when processing special |
| | | | | ly crafted deb files. |
+------------+-------------------------+------------------------+-----------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
```
Vulnerabilities in the log are marked as `Approved` when the corresponding CVE ID is added to the `vulnerability-allowlist.yml` file.
### Running container scanning in an offline environment
For self-managed GitLab instances in an environment with limited, restricted, or intermittent access
to external resources through the internet, some adjustments are required for the container scanning job to
successfully run. For more information, see [Offline environments](../offline_deployments/index.md).
#### Requirements for offline container scanning
To use container scanning in an offline environment, you need:
- GitLab Runner with the [`docker` or `kubernetes` executor](#enabling-the-analyzer).
- To configure a local Docker container registry with copies of the container scanning images. You
can find these images in their respective registries:
| GitLab Analyzer | Container registry |
| --- | --- |
| [Container-Scanning](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning) | [Container-Scanning container registry](https://gitlab.com/security-products/container-scanning/container_registry/) |
GitLab Runner has a [default `pull policy` of `always`](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/docker.html#using-the-always-pull-policy),
meaning the runner tries to pull Docker images from the GitLab container registry even if a local
copy is available. The GitLab Runner [`pull_policy` can be set to `if-not-present`](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/executors/docker.html#using-the-if-not-present-pull-policy)
in an offline environment if you prefer using only locally available Docker images. However, we
recommend keeping the pull policy setting to `always` if not in an offline environment, as this
enables the use of updated scanners in your CI/CD pipelines.
##### Support for Custom Certificate Authorities
Support for custom certificate authorities for Trivy was introduced in version [4.0.0](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning/-/releases/4.0.0).
#### Make GitLab container scanning analyzer images available inside your Docker registry
For container scanning, import the following images from `registry.gitlab.com` into your
[local Docker container registry](../../packages/container_registry/index.md):
```plaintext
registry.gitlab.com/security-products/container-scanning:7
registry.gitlab.com/security-products/container-scanning/trivy:7
```
The process for importing Docker images into a local offline Docker registry depends on
**your network security policy**. Consult your IT staff to find an accepted and approved
process by which you can import or temporarily access external resources. These scanners
are [periodically updated](../index.md#vulnerability-scanner-maintenance),
and you may be able to make occasional updates on your own.
For more information, see [the specific steps on how to update an image with a pipeline](#automating-container-scanning-vulnerability-database-updates-with-a-pipeline).
For details on saving and transporting Docker images as a file, see the Docker documentation on
[`docker save`](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/image/save/), [`docker load`](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/image/load/),
[`docker export`](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/container/export/), and [`docker import`](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/image/import/).
#### Set container scanning CI/CD variables to use local container scanner analyzers
1. [Override the container scanning template](#overriding-the-container-scanning-template) in your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file to refer to the Docker images hosted on your local Docker container registry:
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
image: $CI_REGISTRY/namespace/container-scanning
```
1. If your local Docker container registry is running securely over `HTTPS`, but you're using a
self-signed certificate, then you must set `CS_DOCKER_INSECURE: "true"` in the above
`container_scanning` section of your `.gitlab-ci.yml`.
#### Automating container scanning vulnerability database updates with a pipeline
We recommend that you set up a [scheduled pipeline](../../../ci/pipelines/schedules.md)
to fetch the latest vulnerabilities database on a preset schedule.
Automating this with a pipeline means you do not have to do it manually each time. You can use the
following `.gitlab-ci.yml` example as a template.
```yaml
variables:
SOURCE_IMAGE: registry.gitlab.com/security-products/container-scanning:7
TARGET_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY/namespace/container-scanning
image: docker:latest
update-scanner-image:
services:
- docker:dind
script:
- docker pull $SOURCE_IMAGE
- docker tag $SOURCE_IMAGE $TARGET_IMAGE
- echo "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" | docker login $CI_REGISTRY --username $CI_REGISTRY_USER --password-stdin
- docker push $TARGET_IMAGE
```
The above template works for a GitLab Docker registry running on a local installation. However, if
you're using a non-GitLab Docker registry, you must change the `$CI_REGISTRY` value and the
`docker login` credentials to match your local registry's details.
#### Scan images in external private registries
To scan an image in an external private registry, you must configure access credentials so the
container scanning analyzer can authenticate itself before attempting to access the image to scan.
If you use the GitLab [Container Registry](../../packages/container_registry/index.md),
the `CS_REGISTRY_USER` and `CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD` [configuration variables](#available-cicd-variables)
are set automatically and you can skip this configuration.
This example shows the configuration needed to scan images in a private [Google Container Registry](https://cloud.google.com/artifact-registry):
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
variables:
CS_REGISTRY_USER: _json_key
CS_REGISTRY_PASSWORD: "$GCP_CREDENTIALS"
CS_IMAGE: "gcr.io/path-to-you-registry/image:tag"
```
Before you commit this configuration, [add a CI/CD variable](../../../ci/variables/index.md#for-a-project)
for `GCP_CREDENTIALS` containing the JSON key, as described in the
[Google Cloud Platform Container Registry documentation](https://cloud.google.com/container-registry/docs/advanced-authentication#json-key).
Also:
- The value of the variable may not fit the masking requirements for the **Mask variable** option,
so the value could be exposed in the job logs.
- Scans may not run in unprotected feature branches if you select the **Protect variable** option.
- Consider creating credentials with read-only permissions and rotating them regularly if the
options aren't selected.
Scanning images in external private registries is not supported when [FIPS mode](../../../development/fips_compliance.md#enable-fips-mode) is enabled.
#### Create and use a Trivy Java database mirror
When the `trivy` scanner is used and a `jar` file is encountered in a container image being scanned, `trivy` downloads an additional `trivy-java-db` vulnerability database. By default, the `trivy-java-db` database is hosted as an [OCI artifact](https://oras.land/docs/quickstart/) at `ghcr.io/aquasecurity/trivy-java-db:1`. If this registry is [not accessible](#running-container-scanning-in-an-offline-environment) or responds with `TOOMANYREQUESTS`, one solution is to mirror the `trivy-java-db` to a more accessible container registry:
```yaml
mirror trivy java db:
image:
name: ghcr.io/oras-project/oras:v1.1.0
entrypoint: [""]
script:
- oras login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $CI_REGISTRY
- oras pull ghcr.io/aquasecurity/trivy-java-db:1
- oras push $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:1 --config /dev/null:application/vnd.aquasec.trivy.config.v1+json javadb.tar.gz:application/vnd.aquasec.trivy.javadb.layer.v1.tar+gzip
```
The vulnerability database is not a regular Docker image, so it is not possible to pull it by using `docker pull`.
The image shows an error if you go to it in the GitLab UI.
If the above container registry is `gitlab.example.com/trivy-java-db-mirror`, then the container scanning job should be configured in the following way. Do not add the tag `:1` at the end, it is added by `trivy`:
```yaml
include:
- template: Jobs/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
container_scanning:
variables:
CS_TRIVY_JAVA_DB: gitlab.example.com/trivy-java-db-mirror
```
## Running the standalone container scanning tool
It's possible to run the [GitLab container scanning tool](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning)
against a Docker container without needing to run it within the context of a CI job. To scan an
image directly, follow these steps:
1. Run [Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/)
or [Docker Machine](https://github.com/docker/machine).
1. Run the analyzer's Docker image, passing the image and tag you want to analyze in the
`CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY` and `CI_APPLICATION_TAG` variables:
```shell
docker run \
--interactive --rm \
--volume "$PWD":/tmp/app \
-e CI_PROJECT_DIR=/tmp/app \
-e CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY=registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast/webgoat-8.0@sha256 \
-e CI_APPLICATION_TAG=bc09fe2e0721dfaeee79364115aeedf2174cce0947b9ae5fe7c33312ee019a4e \
registry.gitlab.com/security-products/container-scanning
```
The results are stored in `gl-container-scanning-report.json`.
## Reports JSON format
The container scanning tool emits JSON reports which the [GitLab Runner](https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/)
recognizes through the [`artifacts:reports`](../../../ci/yaml/index.md#artifactsreports)
keyword in the CI configuration file.
Once the CI job finishes, the Runner uploads these reports to GitLab, which are then available in
the CI Job artifacts. In GitLab Ultimate, these reports can be viewed in the corresponding [pipeline](../vulnerability_report/pipeline.md)
and become part of the [Vulnerability Report](../vulnerability_report/index.md).
These reports must follow a format defined in the
[security report schemas](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/security-report-schemas/). See:
- [Latest schema for the container scanning report](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/security-report-schemas/-/blob/master/dist/container-scanning-report-format.json).
- [Example container scanning report](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-examples/security/security-reports/-/blob/master/samples/container-scanning.json)
For more information, see [Security scanner integration](../../../development/integrations/secure.md).
### CycloneDX Software Bill of Materials
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/396381) in GitLab 15.11.
In addition to the [JSON report file](#reports-json-format), the [Container Scanning](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning) tool outputs a [CycloneDX](https://cyclonedx.org/) Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) for the scanned image. This CycloneDX SBOM is named `gl-sbom-report.cdx.json` and is saved in the same directory as the `JSON report file`. This feature is only supported when the `Trivy` analyzer is used.
This report can be viewed in the [Dependency List](../dependency_list/index.md).
You can download CycloneDX SBOMs [the same way as other job artifacts](../../../ci/jobs/job_artifacts.md#download-job-artifacts).
## Container Scanning for Registry
DETAILS:
**Tier:** Ultimate
**Offering:** GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/2340) in GitLab 17.1 [with a flag](../../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `enable_container_scanning_for_registry`. Disabled by default.
> - [Enabled on self-managed, and GitLab Dedicated](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/443827) in GitLab 17.2.
> - [Generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/443827) in GitLab 17.2. Feature flag `enable_container_scanning_for_registry` removed.
When a container image is pushed with the `latest` tag, a container scanning job is automatically triggered by the security policy bot in a new pipeline against the default branch.
Unlike regular container scanning, the scan results do not include a security report. Instead, Container Scanning for Registry relies on [Continuous Vulnerability Scanning](../continuous_vulnerability_scanning/index.md) to inspect the components detected by the scan.
When security findings are identified, GitLab populates the [Vulnerability Report](../vulnerability_report/index.md) with these findings. Vulnerabilities can be viewed under the **Container registry vulnerabilities** tab of the Vulnerability Report page.
NOTE:
Container Scanning for Registry populates the Vulnerability Report only when a new advisory is published to the [GitLab Advisory Database](../gitlab_advisory_database/index.md). Support for populating the Vulnerability Report with all present advisory data, instead of only newly-detected data, is proposed in [epic 8026](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/8026).
### Prerequisites
- You must have at least the Maintainer role in a project to enable Container Scanning for Registry.
- The project being used must not be empty. If you are utilizing an empty project solely for storing container images, this feature won't function as intended. As a workaround, ensure the project contains an initial commit on the default branch.
- By default there is a limit of `50` scans per project per day.
- You must [configure container registry notifications](../../../administration/packages/container_registry.md#configure-container-registry-notifications).
### Enabling Container Scanning for Registry
To enable container scanning for the GitLab Container Registry:
1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Secure > Security configuration**.
1. Scroll down to the **Container Scanning For Registry** section and turn on the toggle.
## Vulnerabilities database
All analyzer images are [updated daily](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning/-/blob/master/README.md#image-updates).
The images use data from upstream advisory databases:
- AlmaLinux Security Advisory
- Amazon Linux Security Center
- Arch Linux Security Tracker
- SUSE CVRF
- CWE Advisories
- Debian Security Bug Tracker
- GitHub Security Advisory
- Go Vulnerability Database
- CBL-Mariner Vulnerability Data
- NVD
- OSV
- Red Hat OVAL v2
- Red Hat Security Data API
- Photon Security Advisories
- Rocky Linux UpdateInfo
- Ubuntu CVE Tracker (only data sources from mid 2021 and later)
In addition to the sources provided by these scanners, GitLab maintains the following vulnerability databases:
- The proprietary [GitLab Advisory Database](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/gemnasium-db).
- The open source [GitLab Advisory Database (Open Source Edition)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/advisories-community).
In the GitLab Ultimate tier, the data from the [GitLab Advisory Database](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/gemnasium-db) is merged in to augment the data from the external sources. In the GitLab Premium and Free tiers, the data from the [GitLab Advisory Database (Open Source Edition)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/advisories-community) is merged in to augment the data from the external sources. This augmentation currently only applies to the analyzer images for the Trivy scanner.
Database update information for other analyzers is available in the
[maintenance table](../index.md#vulnerability-scanner-maintenance).
## Solutions for vulnerabilities (auto-remediation)
DETAILS:
**Tier:** Ultimate
**Offering:** GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated
Some vulnerabilities can be fixed by applying the solution that GitLab
automatically generates.
To enable remediation support, the scanning tool _must_ have access to the `Dockerfile` specified by
the [`CS_DOCKERFILE_PATH`](#available-cicd-variables) CI/CD variable. To ensure that the scanning tool
has access to this
file, it's necessary to set [`GIT_STRATEGY: fetch`](../../../ci/runners/configure_runners.md#git-strategy) in
your `.gitlab-ci.yml` file by following the instructions described in this document's
[overriding the container scanning template](#overriding-the-container-scanning-template) section.
Read more about the [solutions for vulnerabilities](../vulnerabilities/index.md#resolve-a-vulnerability).
## Troubleshooting
### `docker: Error response from daemon: failed to copy xattrs`
When the runner uses the `docker` executor and NFS is used
(for example, `/var/lib/docker` is on an NFS mount), container scanning might fail with
an error like the following:
```plaintext
docker: Error response from daemon: failed to copy xattrs: failed to set xattr "security.selinux" on /path/to/file: operation not supported.
```
This is a result of a bug in Docker which is now [fixed](https://github.com/containerd/continuity/pull/138 "fs: add WithAllowXAttrErrors CopyOpt").
To prevent the error, ensure the Docker version that the runner is using is
`18.09.03` or higher. For more information, see
[issue #10241](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/10241 "Investigate why Container Scanning is not working with NFS mounts").
### Getting warning message `gl-container-scanning-report.json: no matching files`
For information on this, see the [general Application Security troubleshooting section](../../../ci/jobs/job_artifacts_troubleshooting.md#error-message-no-files-to-upload).
### `unexpected status code 401 Unauthorized: Not Authorized` when scanning an image from AWS ECR
This might happen when AWS region is not configured and the scanner cannot retrieve an authorization token. When you set `SECURE_LOG_LEVEL` to `debug` you will see a log message like below:
```shell
[35mDEBUG[0m failed to get authorization token: MissingRegion: could not find region configuration
```
To resolve this, add the `AWS_DEFAULT_REGION` to your CI/CD variables:
```yaml
variables:
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION:
```
### `unable to open a file: open /home/gitlab/.cache/trivy/ee/db/metadata.json: no such file or directory`
The compressed Trivy database is stored in the `/tmp` folder of the container and it is extracted to `/home/gitlab/.cache/trivy/{ee|ce}/db` at runtime. This error can happen if you have a volume mount for `/tmp` directory in your runner configuration.
To resolve this, instead of binding the `/tmp` folder, bind specific files or folders in `/tmp` (for example `/tmp/myfile.txt`).
### Resolving `context deadline exceeded` error
This error means a timeout occurred. To resolve it, add the `TRIVY_TIMEOUT` environment variable to the `container_scanning` job with a sufficiently long duration.
## Changes
Changes to the container scanning analyzer can be found in the project's
[changelog](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/container-scanning/-/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md).