ecomtech-oss/piscPublic OCI-Image (docker image) Security Checker
PISC (Public OCI-Image or docker-image Security Checker) is command-line tool to assess the security of OCI container images.
Exits with code 1 if any of the following conditions are met:
It can be used to automatically check the security of public OCI images before running them in a private environment or using them as base images in a CI/CD pipeline.
Get API key for virustotal. The standard free end-user account has limitations.
docker run kapistka/pisc:latest /bin/bash ./scan.sh -delm --virustotal-key <virustotal-api-key> -i r0binak/mtkpi:v1.5
docker run kapistka/pisc:latest-feeds /bin/bash ./scan.sh -delm --offline-feeds --virustotal-key <virustotal-api-key> -i r0binak/mtkpi:v1.5
Refer to the Dockerfile for a list of dependencies. You need to install trivy, grype, skopeo, jq, and other packages based on the distribution you are using.
Usage:
scan.sh [flags] [-i IMAGE | -f FILE | --tar TARFILE]
Flags:
-d, --date Check image age against threshold (default: 365 days).
--d-days <int> Custom threshold for build date check (in days). Example: '--d-days 180'.
-e, --exploits Check for vulnerabilities with known exploits (using Trivy + Grype + inthewild.io + empiricalsecurity.com).
--epss-and Use AND logic to combine EPSS score and exploit presence. If disabled, OR logic is applied (default: OR).
--epss-min <float> Minimum EPSS score threshold used for filtering vulnerabilities (default: 0.5).
-f, --file <string> Batch scan images from file. Example: '-f images.txt'.
-h, --help Display this help message.
--ignore-errors Ignore errors from external tools and continue execution.
-i, --image <string> Single image to scan. Example: '-i r0binak/mtkpi:v1.4'.
-l, --latest Detect non-versioned tags (e.g., ':latest').
-m, --misconfig Scan for dangerous build misconfigurations.
--offline-feeds Use a self-contained offline image with pre-downloaded vulnerability feeds (e.g., :latest-feeds).
--scanner [trivy|grype|all] Choose which scanner to use: Trivy, Grype, or both (default: all)
--severity-min <string> Minimal severity of vulnerabilities [UNKNOWN|LOW|MEDIUM|HIGH|CRITICAL] default [HIGH]
--show-exploits Show exploit details
--tar <string> Scan local TAR archive of image layers. Example: '--tar /path/to/private-image.tar'.
--trivy-server <string> Trivy server endpoint URL. Example: '--trivy-server http://trivy.something.io:8080'.
--trivy-token <string> Authentication token for Trivy server. Example: '--trivy-token 0123456789abZ'.
-v, --version Display version.
--virustotal-key <string> VirusTotal API key for malware scanning. Example: '--virustotal-key 0123456789abcdef'.
--vulners-key <string> Vulners.com API key (alternative to inthewild.io). Example: '--vulners-key 0123456789ABCDXYZ'.
Additional Notes:
- To authenticate with a registry, refer to 'scan-download-unpack.sh#L14'.
- To configure exclusions for specific CVEs or other criteria, see 'check-exclusion.sh#L5'.
This utility can be integrated into a CI pipeline to perform a security scan on container images before pushing them to a private registry. Combine this step with image signing and automated registry pushing for a secure DevSecOps workflow. Below is an example configuration:
security_scan:
stage: security
image: $SECURITY_IMAGE_FEEDS
script:
- |
/bin/bash /home/nonroot/scan.sh -delm --offline-feeds --virustotal-key $VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY -f ${NEW_IMAGES_FILE}
# Auto-approve: If the scan fails (exit code >0), the pipeline stops before reaching this point.
rules:
- if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
# CVE-2024-3094 (XZ Utils) exploit
./scan.sh --virustotal-key <virustotal-api-key> -i r0binak/xzk8s:v1.1
════════════════════════════════════════
🍄 r0binak/xzk8s:v1.1 >>> virustotal detected malicious file
layer:0f28dfeb
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/0f28dfebbf3451ccfe3d5b11d17bc38cc8d1c4e721b842969466dc7989d835e3
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/dc24581c3500b9640e03c7a4c14cd7c22f88c533b831a7f6a49aaf3ba39fcde4
layer:230cc513
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/230cc513debf36c5294ba6dd2babd27934bb231362cd8d916ea1c58e9495d38f
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/935cfccfa8d31d0e03f2162e9b46b7f9df77db64efa2e4cfb4dbaebdf94be6d3
root/liblzma.so.5.6.0.patch 37/64 🐴 trojan.xzbackdoor/cve20243094
# vulnerabilities: trivy + grype + epss + exploits (IngressNightmare)
./scan.sh -e -i registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/controller:v1.11.2
════════════════════════════════════════════════
🐞 registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/controller:v1.11.2 >>> detected exploitable vulnerabilities
CVE SEVERITY SCORE EPSS EXPL FIX PACKAGE
CVE-2025-1974 CRITICAL 9.8 0.87 0 + k8s.io/ingress-nginx
📆 registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/controller:v1.11.2 >>> created: 2024-08-15. Last update: 2025-06-04
💡 registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/controller:v1.11.2 >>> use a newer tags:
v1.11.3 v1.11.4 v1.11.5 v1.11.6 v1.11.7
v1.12.0 v1.12.0-beta.0 v1.12.1 v1.12.2 v1.12.3
# dangerous image build misconfiguration cve-2024-21626
./scan.sh -m -i r0binak/cve-2024-21626:v4
════════════════════════════════════════
🐳 r0binak/cve-2024-21626:v4 >>> detected dangerous misconfiguration
CVE-2024-21626 runC Escape
https://nitroc.org/en/posts/cve-2024-21626-illustrated/