diff --git a/examples/profile-attribute.yml b/examples/profile-attribute.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7458333af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/profile-attribute.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+user: bob
+password: secret
diff --git a/examples/profile-attribute/README.md b/examples/profile-attribute/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6aa3de000
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/profile-attribute/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Example InSpec Profile with Attributes
+
+This profile uses InSpec attributes to parameterize a profile.
diff --git a/examples/profile-attribute/controls/example.rb b/examples/profile-attribute/controls/example.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26c16d4f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/profile-attribute/controls/example.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+val_user = attribute('user', default: 'alice', required: true)
+val_password = attribute('password', required: true)
+
+# that works
+describe 'bob' do
+  it { should eq val_user.value }
+end
+
+describe 'secret' do
+  it { should eq val_password.value }
+end
+
+describe val_user.value do
+  it { should eq 'bob' }
+end
+
+describe val_password.value do
+  it { should eq 'secret' }
+end
diff --git a/examples/profile-attribute/inspec.yml b/examples/profile-attribute/inspec.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3193991fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/profile-attribute/inspec.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+name: profile-attribute
+title: InSpec Profile
+maintainer: The Authors
+copyright: The Authors
+copyright_email: you@example.com
+license: All Rights Reserved
+summary: An InSpec Compliance Profile
+version: 0.1.0
diff --git a/examples/profile-inheritance/inspec.yml b/examples/profile-inheritance/inspec.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3cc2de922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/profile-inheritance/inspec.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+name: inheritance
+title: InSpec example inheritance
+maintainer: Chef Software, Inc.
+copyright: Chef Software, Inc.
+copyright_email: support@chef.io
+license: Apache 2 license
+summary: Demonstrates the use of InSpec profile inheritance
+version: 1.0.0
+supports:
+  - os-family: unix
diff --git a/lib/inspec/cli.rb b/lib/inspec/cli.rb
index 80ea5e119..662930874 100644
--- a/lib/inspec/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/inspec/cli.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ require 'json'
 require 'pp'
 require 'utils/base_cli'
 require 'utils/json_log'
+require 'yaml'
 
 class Inspec::InspecCLI < Inspec::BaseCLI # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
   class_option :diagnose, type: :boolean,
@@ -106,9 +107,18 @@ class Inspec::InspecCLI < Inspec::BaseCLI # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
 
   desc 'exec PATHS', 'run all test files at the specified PATH.'
   exec_options
+  option :attr_file, type: :array
   def exec(*targets)
     diagnose
-    run_tests(targets, opts)
+    o = opts.dup
+    # parse attribute file
+    unless o['attr_file'].nil?
+      o['attrs'] = {}
+      o['attr_file'].each do |file|
+        o['attrs'] = o['attrs'].merge(YAML.load_file(file))
+      end
+    end
+    run_tests(targets, o)
   end
 
   desc 'detect', 'detect the target OS'
diff --git a/lib/inspec/objects.rb b/lib/inspec/objects.rb
index 8b4a63b8d..21342ff8b 100644
--- a/lib/inspec/objects.rb
+++ b/lib/inspec/objects.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
 
 module Inspec
+  autoload :Attribute, 'inspec/objects/attribute'
   autoload :Control, 'inspec/objects/control'
   autoload :EachLoop, 'inspec/objects/each_loop'
   autoload :List, 'inspec/objects/list'
diff --git a/lib/inspec/objects/attribute.rb b/lib/inspec/objects/attribute.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..078a4c159
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/inspec/objects/attribute.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# encoding:utf-8
+
+module Inspec
+  class Attribute
+    attr_accessor :name
+    def initialize(name, options)
+      @name = name
+      @opts = options
+      @value = nil
+    end
+
+    # implicit call is done by inspec to determine the value of an attribute
+    def value(newvalue = nil)
+      unless newvalue.nil?
+        @value = newvalue
+      end
+      @value || default
+    end
+
+    def default
+      @opts[:default]
+    end
+
+    def to_hash
+      {
+        name: @name,
+        options: @opts,
+      }
+    end
+
+    def to_s
+      "Attribute #{@name} with #{@value}"
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/inspec/profile.rb b/lib/inspec/profile.rb
index de2cb9923..9314f5a0f 100644
--- a/lib/inspec/profile.rb
+++ b/lib/inspec/profile.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ module Inspec
 
     def info
       res = params.dup
+      # add information about the controls
       controls = res[:controls].map do |id, rule|
         next if id.to_s.empty?
         data = rule.dup
@@ -67,6 +68,9 @@ module Inspec
         [id, data]
       end
       res[:controls] = Hash[controls.compact]
+
+      # add information about the required attributes
+      res[:attributes] = res[:attributes].map(&:to_hash) unless res[:attributes].nil? || res[:attributes].empty?
       res
     end
 
@@ -248,13 +252,16 @@ module Inspec
           f = load_rule_filepath(prefix, rule)
           load_rule(rule, f, controls, groups)
         end
+        params[:attributes] = runner.attributes
       else
         # load from context
         @runner_context.rules.values.each do |rule|
           f = load_rule_filepath(prefix, rule)
           load_rule(rule, f, controls, groups)
         end
+        params[:attributes] = @runner_context.attributes
       end
+      params
     end
 
     def load_rule_filepath(prefix, rule)
diff --git a/lib/inspec/profile_context.rb b/lib/inspec/profile_context.rb
index cf9ded7f2..42713672f 100644
--- a/lib/inspec/profile_context.rb
+++ b/lib/inspec/profile_context.rb
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ require 'inspec/rule'
 require 'inspec/dsl'
 require 'inspec/require_loader'
 require 'securerandom'
+require 'inspec/objects/attribute'
 
 module Inspec
   class ProfileContext # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
     attr_reader :rules
+    attr_reader :attributes
     def initialize(profile_id, backend, conf)
       if backend.nil?
         fail 'ProfileContext is initiated with a backend == nil. ' \
@@ -21,7 +23,7 @@ module Inspec
       @conf = conf.dup
       @rules = {}
       @require_loader = ::Inspec::RequireLoader.new
-
+      @attributes = []
       reload_dsl
     end
 
@@ -84,6 +86,19 @@ module Inspec
       end
     end
 
+    def register_value(&block)
+      @values.push(block)
+    end
+
+    def register_attribute(name, options = {})
+      # we need to return an attribute object, in order to allow lazy access
+      attr = Attribute.new(name, options)
+      # set value
+      attr.value(@conf['attrs'][attr.name]) unless @conf['attrs'].nil?
+      @attributes.push(attr)
+      attr
+    end
+
     def set_header(field, val)
       @current_load[field] = val
     end
@@ -180,9 +195,9 @@ module Inspec
           profile_context_owner.register_rule(control, &block) unless control.nil?
         end
 
-        # TODO: mock method for attributes; import attribute handling
-        define_method :attributes do |_name, _options|
-          nil
+        # method for attributes; import attribute handling
+        define_method :attribute do |name, options|
+          profile_context_owner.register_attribute(name, options)
         end
 
         define_method :skip_control do |id|
diff --git a/lib/inspec/runner.rb b/lib/inspec/runner.rb
index e03a45063..07e893d46 100644
--- a/lib/inspec/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/inspec/runner.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ require 'inspec/metadata'
 module Inspec
   class Runner # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
     extend Forwardable
-    attr_reader :backend, :rules
+    attr_reader :backend, :rules, :attributes
     def initialize(conf = {})
       @rules = {}
       @conf = conf.dup
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ module Inspec
         RunnerRspec.new(@conf)
       end
 
+      # list of profile attributes
+      @attributes = []
+      load_attributes(@conf)
       configure_transport
     end
 
@@ -110,6 +113,9 @@ module Inspec
       tests = [tests] unless tests.is_a? Array
       tests.each { |t| add_test_to_context(t, ctx) }
 
+      # merge all collect all attributes
+      @attributes |= ctx.attributes
+
       # process the resulting rules
       filter_controls(ctx.rules, options[:controls]).each do |rule_id, rule|
         register_rule(rule_id, rule)