A vulnerability scanner for container images and filesystems. Easily [install the binary](#installation) to try it out. Works with [Syft](https://github.com/anchore/syft), the powerful SBOM (software bill of materials) tool for container images and filesystems.
You can also choose another destination directory and release version for the installation. The destination directory doesn't need to be `/usr/local/bin`, it just needs to be a location found in the user's PATH and writable by the user that's installing Grype.
If you're using GitHub Actions, you can simply use our [Grype-based action](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/anchore-container-scan) to run vulnerability scans on your code or container images during your CI workflows.
1. Download the files you want, and the checksums.txt, checksums.txt.pem and checksums.txt.sig files from the [releases](https://github.com/anchore/grype/releases) page:
The above command scans for vulnerabilities that are visible in the container (i.e., the squashed representation of the image). To include software from all image layers in the vulnerability scan, regardless of its presence in the final image, provide `--scope all-layers`:
If an image source is not provided and cannot be detected from the given reference it is assumed the image should be pulled from the Docker daemon.
If docker is not present, then the Podman daemon is attempted next, followed by reaching out directly to the image registry last.
This default behavior can be overridden with the `default-image-pull-source` configuration option (See [Configuration](https://github.com/anchore/grype#configuration) for more details).
- **Vulnerability**: All information on the specific vulnerability that was directly matched on (e.g. ID, severity, CVSS score, fix information, links for more information)
- **RelatedVulnerabilities**: Information pertaining to vulnerabilities found to be related to the main reported vulnerability. Maybe the vulnerability we matched on was a GitHub Security Advisory, which has an upstream CVE (in the authoritative national vulnerability database). In these cases we list the upstream vulnerabilities here.
- **MatchDetails**: This section tries to explain what we searched for while looking for a match and exactly what details on the package and vulnerability that lead to a match.
- **Artifact**: This is a subset of the information that we know about the package (when compared to the [Syft](https://github.com/anchore/syft) json output, we summarize the metadata section).
This has information about where within the container image or directory we found the package, what kind of package it is, licensing info, pURLs, CPEs, etc.
- Specify the path to the template file (`-t ./path/to/custom.template`).
- Grype's template processing uses the same data models as the `json` output format — so if you're wondering what data is available as you author a template, you can use the output from `grype <image> -o json` as a reference.
**Please note:** Templates can access information about the system they are running on, such as environment variables. You should never run untrusted templates.
There are several example templates in the [templates](https://github.com/anchore/grype/tree/main/templates) directory in the Grype source which can serve as a starting point for a custom output format. For example, [csv.tmpl](https://github.com/anchore/grype/blob/main/templates/csv.tmpl) produces a vulnerability report in CSV (comma separated value) format:
Grype also includes a vast array of utility templating functions from [sprig](http://masterminds.github.io/sprig/) apart from the default golang [text/template](https://pkg.go.dev/text/template#hdr-Functions) to allow users to customize the output from Grype.
You can have Grype exit with an error if any vulnerabilities are reported at or above the specified severity level. This comes in handy when using Grype within a script or CI pipeline. To do this, use the `--fail-on <severity>` CLI flag.
For example, here's how you could trigger a CI pipeline failure if any vulnerabilities are found in the `ubuntu:latest` image with a severity of "medium" or higher:
```
grype ubuntu:latest --fail-on medium
```
### Specifying matches to ignore
If you're seeing Grype report **false positives** or any other vulnerability matches that you just don't want to see, you can tell Grype to **ignore** matches by specifying one or more _"ignore rules"_ in your Grype configuration file (e.g. `~/.grype.yaml`). This causes Grype not to report any vulnerability matches that meet the criteria specified by any of your ignore rules.
Each rule can specify any combination of the following criteria:
Vulnerability matches will be ignored if **any** rules apply to the match. A rule is considered to apply to a given vulnerability match only if **all** fields specified in the rule apply to the vulnerability match.
When you run Grype while specifying ignore rules, the following happens to the vulnerability matches that are "ignored":
- Ignored matches are **completely hidden** from Grype's output, except for when using the `json` or `template` output formats; however, in these two formats, the ignored matches are **removed** from the existing `matches` array field, and they are placed in a new `ignoredMatches` array field. Each listed ignored match also has an additional field, `appliedIgnoreRules`, which is an array of any rules that caused Grype to ignore this vulnerability match.
- Ignored matches **do not** factor into Grype's exit status decision when using `--fail-on <severity>`. For instance, if a user specifies `--fail-on critical`, and all of the vulnerability matches found with a "critical" severity have been _ignored_, Grype will exit zero.
**Note:** Please continue to **[report](https://github.com/anchore/grype/issues/new/choose)** any false positives you see! Even if you can reliably filter out false positives using ignore rules, it's very helpful to the Grype community if we have as much knowledge about Grype's false positives as possible. This helps us continuously improve Grype!
If you only want Grype to report vulnerabilities **that have a confirmed fix**, you can use the `--only-fixed` flag. (This automatically adds [ignore rules](#specifying-matches-to-ignore) into Grype's configuration, such that vulnerabilities that aren't fixed will be ignored.)
If you want Grype to only report vulnerabilities **that do not have a confirmed fix**, you can use the `--only-notfixed` flag. Alternatively, you can use the `--ignore-states` flag to filter results for vulnerabilities with specific states such as `wont-fix` (see `--help` for a list of valid fix states). These flags automatically add [ignore rules](#specifying-matches-to-ignore) into Grype's configuration, such that vulnerabilities which are fixed, or will not be fixed, will be ignored.
libcrypto3 3.0.8-r3 3.0.8-r4 apk CVE-2023-1255 Medium (suppressed by VEX)
```
Statements with an `affected` or `under_investigation` status will only be
considered to augment the result set when specifically requested using the
`GRYPE_VEX_ADD` environment variable or in a configuration file.
### VEX Ignore Rules
Ignore rules can be written to control how Grype honors VEX statements. For
example, to configure Grype to only act on VEX statements when the justification is `vulnerable_code_not_present`, you can write a rule like this:
```yaml
---
ignore:
- vex-status: not_affected
vex-justification: vulnerable_code_not_present
```
See the [list of justifications](https://github.com/openvex/spec/blob/main/OPENVEX-SPEC.md#status-justifications) for details. You can mix `vex-status` and `vex-justification`
When Grype performs a scan for vulnerabilities, it does so using a vulnerability database that's stored on your local filesystem, which is constructed by pulling data from a variety of publicly available vulnerability data sources. These sources include:
- Alpine Linux SecDB: https://secdb.alpinelinux.org/
- Amazon Linux ALAS: https://alas.aws.amazon.com/AL2/alas.rss
By default, Grype automatically manages this database for you. Grype checks for new updates to the vulnerability database to make sure that every scan uses up-to-date vulnerability information. This behavior is configurable. For more information, see the [Managing Grype's database](#managing-grypes-database) section.
### How database updates work
Grype's vulnerability database is a SQLite file, named `vulnerability.db`. Updates to the database are atomic: the entire database is replaced and then treated as "readonly" by Grype.
Grype's first step in a database update is discovering databases that are available for retrieval. Grype does this by requesting a "listing file" from a public endpoint:
With this information, Grype can select the correct database (the most recently built database with the current schema version), download the database, and verify the database's integrity using the listed `checksum` value.
### Managing Grype's database
> **Note:** During normal usage, _there is no need for users to manage Grype's database!_ Grype manages its database behind the scenes. However, for users that need more control, Grype provides options to manage the database more explicitly.
#### Local database cache directory
By default, the database is cached on the local filesystem in the directory `$XDG_CACHE_HOME/grype/db/<SCHEMA-VERSION>/`. For example, on macOS, the database would be stored in `~/Library/Caches/grype/db/3/`. (For more information on XDG paths, refer to the [XDG Base Directory Specification](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html).)
You can set the cache directory path using the environment variable `GRYPE_DB_CACHE_DIR`.
Grype needs up-to-date vulnerability information to provide accurate matches. By default, it will fail execution if the local database was not built in the last 5 days. The data staleness check is configurable via the environment variable `GRYPE_DB_MAX_ALLOWED_BUILT_AGE` and `GRYPE_DB_VALIDATE_AGE` or the field `max-allowed-built-age` and `validate-age`, under `db`. It uses [golang's time duration syntax](https://pkg.go.dev/time#ParseDuration). Set `GRYPE_DB_VALIDATE_AGE` or `validate-age` to `false` to disable staleness check.
By default, Grype checks for a new database on every run, by making a network call over the Internet. You can tell Grype not to perform this check by setting the environment variable `GRYPE_DB_AUTO_UPDATE` to `false`.
As long as you place Grype's `vulnerability.db` and `metadata.json` files in the cache directory for the expected schema version, Grype has no need to access the network. Additionally, you can get a listing of the database archives available for download from the `grype db list` command in an online environment, download the database archive, transfer it to your offline environment, and use `grype db import <db-archive-path>` to use the given database in an offline capacity.
If you would like to distribute your own Grype databases internally without needing to use `db import` manually you can leverage Grype's DB update mechanism. To do this you can craft your own `listing.json` file similar to the one found publically (see `grype db list -o raw` for an example of our public `listing.json` file) and change the download URL to point to an internal endpoint (e.g. a private S3 bucket, an internal file server, etc). Any internal installation of Grype can receive database updates automatically by configuring the `db.update-url` (same as the `GRYPE_DB_UPDATE_URL` environment variable) to point to the hosted `listing.json` file you've crafted.
Grype provides database-specific CLI commands for users that want to control the database from the command line. Here are some of the useful commands provided:
`grype db status` — report the current status of Grype's database (such as its location, build date, and checksum)
`grype db check` — see if updates are available for the database
`grype db update` — ensure the latest database has been downloaded to the cache directory (Grype performs this operation at the beginning of every scan by default)
`grype db list` — download the listing file configured at `db.update-url` and show databases that are available for download
`grype db import` — provide grype with a database archive to explicitly use (useful for offline DB updates)
Grype supplies shell completion through its CLI implementation ([cobra](https://github.com/spf13/cobra/blob/master/shell_completions.md)). Generate the completion code for your shell by running one of the following commands:
When a container runtime is not present, grype can still utilize credentials configured in common credential sources (such as `~/.docker/config.json`).
It will pull images from private registries using these credentials. The config file is where your credentials are stored when authenticating with private registries via some command like `docker login`.
For more information see the `go-containerregistry` [documentation](https://github.com/google/go-containerregistry/tree/main/pkg/authn).
1. Create a secret. The value of `config.json` is important. It refers to the specification detailed [here](https://github.com/google/go-containerregistry/tree/main/pkg/authn#the-config-file).
Below this section is the `secret.yaml` file that the pod configuration will consume as a volume.
The key `config.json` is important. It will end up being the name of the file when mounted into the pod.
``` # secret.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
name: registry-config
namespace: grype
data:
config.json: <base64encodedconfig.json>
```
`kubectl apply -f secret.yaml`
2. Create your pod running grype. The env `DOCKER_CONFIG` is important because it advertises where to look for the credential file.
In the below example, setting `DOCKER_CONFIG=/config` informs grype that credentials can be found at `/config/config.json`.
This is why we used `config.json` as the key for our secret. When mounted into containers the secrets' key is used as the filename.
The `volumeMounts` section mounts our secret to `/config`. The `volumes` section names our volume and leverages the secret we created in step one.
``` # pod.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
spec:
containers:
- image: anchore/grype:latest
name: grype-private-registry-demo
env:
- name: DOCKER_CONFIG
value: /config
volumeMounts:
- mountPath: /config
name: registry-config
readOnly: true
args:
-<private_image>
volumes:
- name: registry-config
secret:
secretName: registry-config
```
`kubectl apply -f pod.yaml`
3. The user can now run `kubectl logs grype-private-registry-demo`. The logs should show the grype analysis for the `<private_image>` provided in the pod configuration.
Using the above information, users should be able to configure private registry access without having to do so in the `grype` or `syft` configuration files.
They will also not be dependent on a docker daemon, (or some other runtime software) for registry configuration and access.
