Skills

trivy

Installation
SKILL.md

Aqua Trivy - Comprehensive Security Scanner

When to Use Trivy

Ideal scenarios:

  • Container image vulnerability scanning
  • Filesystem and repository scanning
  • Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) misconfiguration detection
  • Secrets detection in code and images
  • Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) generation
  • License compliance checking
  • Kubernetes cluster security assessment
  • CI/CD security gates

Complements other tools:

  • Use alongside Semgrep/CodeQL for application code analysis
  • Combine with KICS for additional IaC coverage
  • Use with Gitleaks for dedicated secrets scanning
  • Pair with OSV-Scanner/Depscan for enhanced SCA

When NOT to Use

Do NOT use this skill for:

  • Deep application code vulnerability analysis (use Semgrep or CodeQL)
  • API endpoint discovery (use Noir)
  • Advanced SAST with taint tracking (use CodeQL)
  • Penetration testing (use specialized tools)

Installation

Homebrew (Recommended for macOS/Linux)

# macOS and Linux (preferred method)
brew install trivy

# Verify installation
trivy --version

Other Installation Methods

# Docker
docker pull aquasec/trivy:latest

# Install script (Linux/macOS)
curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aquasecurity/trivy/main/contrib/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin

# apt (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get install wget apt-transport-https gnupg lsb-release
wget -qO - https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy-repo/deb/public.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/trivy.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/trivy.gpg] https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy-repo/deb $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/trivy.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install trivy

# yum/dnf (RHEL/CentOS/Fedora)
sudo rpm -ivh https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy/releases/latest/download/trivy_*_Linux-64bit.rpm

# Windows (Chocolatey)
choco install trivy

# Windows (Scoop)
scoop install trivy

# Go install
go install github.com/aquasecurity/trivy/cmd/trivy@latest

Core Workflow

1. Quick Scan

# Scan container image
trivy image nginx:latest

# Scan filesystem/project directory
trivy fs /path/to/project

# Scan current directory
trivy fs .

# Scan remote git repository
trivy repo https://github.com/owner/repo

# Scan Kubernetes cluster
trivy k8s --report summary cluster

2. SARIF Output

# Container image to SARIF
trivy image --format sarif --output results.sarif nginx:latest

# Filesystem to SARIF
trivy fs --format sarif --output results.sarif /path/to/project

# Repository to SARIF
trivy repo --format sarif --output results.sarif https://github.com/owner/repo

# IaC scan to SARIF
trivy config --format sarif --output iac-results.sarif /path/to/terraform

3. Specific Scanner Types

# Vulnerability scanning only
trivy image --scanners vuln nginx:latest

# Secrets scanning only
trivy fs --scanners secret /path/to/project

# Misconfiguration scanning only
trivy config /path/to/iac

# License scanning
trivy image --scanners license nginx:latest

# Combined scanners
trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret,misconfig /path/to/project

4. SBOM Generation

# Generate CycloneDX SBOM
trivy image --format cyclonedx --output sbom.json nginx:latest

# Generate SPDX SBOM
trivy image --format spdx-json --output sbom.spdx.json nginx:latest

# Scan existing SBOM for vulnerabilities
trivy sbom sbom.json

Scan Targets

Target Command Description
Container Image trivy image IMAGE Scan container images from registries or local
Filesystem trivy fs PATH Scan local project directory
Repository trivy repo URL Scan remote git repository
Kubernetes trivy k8s Scan Kubernetes cluster resources
IaC/Config trivy config PATH Scan IaC files (Terraform, CloudFormation, etc.)
SBOM trivy sbom FILE Scan existing SBOM file
VM Image trivy vm IMAGE Scan virtual machine images
Rootfs trivy rootfs PATH Scan root filesystem

Supported Ecosystems

Package Managers

Ecosystem Manifest/Lock Files
npm package.json, package-lock.json, yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml
Python requirements.txt, Pipfile.lock, poetry.lock, setup.py
Go go.mod, go.sum
Rust Cargo.lock
Java pom.xml, build.gradle, gradle.lockfile
Ruby Gemfile.lock
PHP composer.lock
.NET packages.lock.json, *.deps.json
Swift Package.resolved
Dart pubspec.lock
Elixir mix.lock
Conan (C/C++) conan.lock

IaC Platforms

Platform File Types
Terraform *.tf, *.tf.json
CloudFormation *.yaml, *.json (CFN templates)
Kubernetes *.yaml (K8s manifests)
Helm Chart.yaml, values.yaml
Docker Dockerfile
Azure ARM *.json (ARM templates)

Output Formats

# Table format (default, human-readable)
trivy image nginx:latest

# JSON output
trivy image --format json --output results.json nginx:latest

# SARIF output (for CI/CD integration)
trivy image --format sarif --output results.sarif nginx:latest

# CycloneDX SBOM
trivy image --format cyclonedx --output sbom.cdx.json nginx:latest

# SPDX SBOM
trivy image --format spdx-json --output sbom.spdx.json nginx:latest

# GitHub dependency snapshot
trivy image --format github nginx:latest

# Template output (custom)
trivy image --format template --template "@contrib/html.tpl" --output report.html nginx:latest

Advanced Options

Severity Filtering

# Critical and High only
trivy image --severity CRITICAL,HIGH nginx:latest

# All severities (default)
trivy image --severity UNKNOWN,LOW,MEDIUM,HIGH,CRITICAL nginx:latest

# Exit with error on findings
trivy image --exit-code 1 --severity HIGH,CRITICAL nginx:latest

Vulnerability Options

# Show only fixed vulnerabilities
trivy image --ignore-unfixed nginx:latest

# Ignore specific vulnerabilities
trivy image --ignorefile .trivyignore nginx:latest

# Skip vulnerability database update
trivy image --skip-db-update nginx:latest

# Offline mode (use cached DB)
trivy image --offline-scan nginx:latest

Image Scanning Options

# Scan from tar archive
trivy image --input image.tar

# Scan specific platform
trivy image --platform linux/amd64 nginx:latest

# Scan with image config
trivy image --image-config-scanners config nginx:latest

# Skip files by pattern
trivy image --skip-files "/path/to/skip" nginx:latest

# Skip directories
trivy image --skip-dirs node_modules nginx:latest

Secret Scanning

# Enable secret scanning
trivy fs --scanners secret /path/to/project

# Custom secret config
trivy fs --scanners secret --secret-config trivy-secret.yaml /path/to/project

CI/CD Integration (GitHub Actions)

name: Trivy Security Scan

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'  # Daily

jobs:
  trivy-scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run Trivy vulnerability scanner (filesystem)
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          scan-type: 'fs'
          scan-ref: '.'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-fs-results.sarif'
          severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH'

      - name: Upload Trivy SARIF (filesystem)
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-fs-results.sarif'
          category: trivy-fs

      - name: Run Trivy config scanner (IaC)
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          scan-type: 'config'
          scan-ref: '.'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-config-results.sarif'

      - name: Upload Trivy SARIF (config)
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-config-results.sarif'
          category: trivy-config

  container-scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [build]  # Assuming a build job creates the image

    steps:
      - name: Run Trivy container scan
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          image-ref: 'myapp:${{ github.sha }}'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-image-results.sarif'
          severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH'
          ignore-unfixed: true

      - name: Upload Trivy SARIF (image)
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-image-results.sarif'
          category: trivy-image

Configuration

Config File (trivy.yaml)

# trivy.yaml
severity:
  - CRITICAL
  - HIGH
  - MEDIUM

exit-code: 1

ignore-unfixed: true

# Vulnerability settings
vulnerability:
  type:
    - os
    - library

# Secret scanning
secret:
  config: trivy-secret.yaml

# Misconfiguration settings
misconfiguration:
  terraform:
    excluded-checks:
      - AVD-AWS-0013

# Skip patterns
skip-files:
  - "**/*.test.js"
  - "**/testdata/**"

skip-dirs:
  - node_modules
  - .git
  - vendor

# Cache settings
cache:
  dir: /tmp/trivy-cache

Ignore File (.trivyignore)

# .trivyignore
# Ignore specific CVEs
CVE-2023-12345
CVE-2023-67890

# Ignore with expiration
CVE-2024-11111 exp:2025-06-01

# Ignore specific package vulnerabilities
CVE-2024-22222 pkg:lodash

# Secret ignore patterns
aws-access-key-id

Secret Config (trivy-secret.yaml)

# trivy-secret.yaml
rules:
  - id: custom-api-key
    category: general
    title: Custom API Key
    severity: HIGH
    regex: 'CUSTOM_API_KEY[=:]\s*["\']?([A-Za-z0-9]{32})["\']?'

allow-rules:
  - id: allow-test-secrets
    description: Allow test/mock secrets
    path: '.*test.*|.*mock.*'

Common Use Cases

1. Container Security Pipeline

# Build image
docker build -t myapp:latest .

# Scan for vulnerabilities
trivy image --severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 1 myapp:latest

# Generate SBOM
trivy image --format cyclonedx --output sbom.json myapp:latest

# Export SARIF for tracking
trivy image --format sarif --output results.sarif myapp:latest

2. IaC Security Review

# Scan Terraform files
trivy config --format sarif --output iac-results.sarif ./terraform

# Scan Kubernetes manifests
trivy config --format sarif --output k8s-results.sarif ./k8s

# Scan Dockerfiles
trivy config --format sarif --output docker-results.sarif .

3. Repository Security Audit

# Full repository scan
trivy fs --scanners vuln,secret,misconfig \
  --format sarif --output full-scan.sarif \
  /path/to/project

# Scan remote repository
trivy repo --format sarif --output repo-scan.sarif \
  https://github.com/owner/repo

4. Kubernetes Cluster Assessment

# Summary report
trivy k8s --report summary cluster

# Detailed scan with SARIF
trivy k8s --format sarif --output k8s-cluster.sarif cluster

# Scan specific namespace
trivy k8s --namespace production --report all cluster

5. Supply Chain Security

# Generate SBOM
trivy image --format cyclonedx --output sbom.cdx.json myapp:latest

# Scan SBOM for vulnerabilities
trivy sbom sbom.cdx.json

# Sign SBOM with cosign (if available)
cosign sign-blob --key cosign.key sbom.cdx.json

Understanding Output

SARIF Structure

Trivy SARIF v2.1.0 includes:

  • Rules: Each vulnerability, misconfiguration, or secret type
  • Results: Individual findings with location
  • Properties:
    • CVE/vulnerability ID
    • Severity (CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW, UNKNOWN)
    • CVSS scores
    • Package name and version
    • Fixed version (if available)
    • References and links
    • File path and line number (for secrets/misconfig)

Vulnerability Information

Each finding includes:

  • VulnerabilityID: CVE-YYYY-NNNNN
  • PkgName: Affected package name
  • InstalledVersion: Current vulnerable version
  • FixedVersion: Version with fix (if available)
  • Severity: CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW, UNKNOWN
  • Title: Brief vulnerability description
  • Description: Detailed explanation
  • References: Links to advisories
  • CVSS: Score vectors if available

Remediation Workflow

Step 1: Scan

trivy image --format json --output vulns.json myapp:latest

Step 2: Prioritize

# Extract critical vulnerabilities
jq '.Results[].Vulnerabilities[] | select(.Severity == "CRITICAL")' vulns.json

# Count by severity
jq '[.Results[].Vulnerabilities[].Severity] | group_by(.) | map({severity: .[0], count: length})' vulns.json

Step 3: Fix

# Review fix versions
jq -r '.Results[].Vulnerabilities[] | select(.FixedVersion != null) | "\(.PkgName): \(.InstalledVersion) -> \(.FixedVersion)"' vulns.json

# Update base image
# Edit Dockerfile: FROM nginx:1.25-alpine (newer patched version)

# Rebuild
docker build -t myapp:latest .

Step 4: Verify

# Rescan
trivy image --format json --output post-fix.json myapp:latest

# Compare vulnerability counts
echo "Before: $(jq '[.Results[].Vulnerabilities[]] | length' vulns.json)"
echo "After: $(jq '[.Results[].Vulnerabilities[]] | length' post-fix.json)"

Performance Optimization

# Skip database update (use cached)
trivy image --skip-db-update nginx:latest

# Offline scanning
trivy image --offline-scan nginx:latest

# Skip specific directories
trivy fs --skip-dirs node_modules,.git,vendor /path/to/project

# Cache directory (faster subsequent scans)
trivy image --cache-dir /tmp/trivy-cache nginx:latest

# Parallel scanning (default)
trivy image --parallel 4 nginx:latest

Database Management

# Download/update vulnerability database
trivy image --download-db-only

# Clear cache
trivy clean --all

# Check database status
trivy version --format json | jq '.VulnerabilityDB'

Limitations

  • Image layers: Only scans final image filesystem, not intermediate layers
  • Runtime: Static analysis only; doesn't detect runtime vulnerabilities
  • Custom packages: May not detect vulnerabilities in custom/private packages
  • False positives: OS package detection may include packages not actually installed
  • Zero-days: Only detects publicly disclosed vulnerabilities

Rationalizations to Reject

Shortcut Why It's Wrong
"Base image from vendor is secure" Vendors lag on patches; always scan regardless of source
"Only scan production images" Dev/staging images can leak secrets or introduce supply chain attacks
"Skip IaC scanning for speed" Misconfigurations are easier to fix before deployment
"Ignore unfixed vulnerabilities" Even without patches, you can mitigate or compensate with other controls
"Weekly scans are enough" New CVEs are disclosed daily; scan on every build and daily on deployed images
"Low severity = safe to ignore" Low severity issues can combine into exploitable chains

References

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