Container scanner

Last updated: Oct 20, 2026

Quick scan vs. configuration file

The container scanner supports two modes of operation.

Quick scan — analyze a single public image directly from the command line, without a configuration file:

cs scan alpine:3.17

This outputs a SARIF report by default.

Configuration file — use a YAML configuration file for more advanced scenarios: scanning private or ECR images, scanning multiple images at once, specifying custom output paths, or exporting an SBOM alongside a vulnerability report:

cs scan --config config.yaml

The rest of this page describes the configuration file options in detail.

For common configuration file keys that apply to all scanners, see Use a configuration file.

Specific configuration file keys

The following key is available for the container scanner, and it can be used to perform SCA analysis over container images.

containers_sca

This key contains an images list of container images to scan. Each entry supports the following options:

• image_uri (mandatory): The URI of the container image to analyze. Accepts standard image references such as alpine:3.17.
• image_config (optional): Additional settings for pulling and analyzing the image. See image_config options for details.

For example:

containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: alpine:3.17
    - image_uri: registry.example.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        docker_credentials:
          docker_username: user
          docker_password: token

image_config options

The image_config sub-key supports the following options:

• use_docker_daemon (optional): When set to true, the scanner connects to your local Docker daemon to analyze images stored locally. This is only available on Linux systems.
• os_override (optional): Override the target OS for image analysis. Defaults to linux.
• arch_override (optional): Override the target architecture for image analysis. Defaults to arm64.

For example, to scan an amd64 Windows image:

containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: mcr.microsoft.com/windows/server:2022
      image_config:
        os_override: windows
        arch_override: amd64

• docker_credentials (optional): Credentials for authenticating against a Docker-compatible registry:

  • docker_username: The registry username.
  • docker_password: The password or token with read access to the image.

  Both fields support the ${VAR_NAME} syntax — see example.

• ecr_credentials (optional): Credentials for authenticating against AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR). Accepts either static credentials or role assumption:

  Static credentials:

  • access_key_id (mandatory): AWS access key ID.
  • secret_access_key (mandatory): AWS secret access key.
  • session_token (optional): Required when using temporary credentials (i.e., when access_key_id starts with ASIA).
  • aws_region (optional): AWS region of the ECR registry. Defaults to us-east-1.

  access_key_id, secret_access_key, and session_token support the ${VAR_NAME} syntax — see example.

  Role assumption:

  • role_arn (mandatory): ARN of the IAM role to assume.
  • external_id (mandatory): External ID required for role assumption.
  • aws_region (optional): AWS region of the ECR registry. Defaults to us-east-1.

  Both role_arn and external_id support the ${VAR_NAME} syntax — see example.

Output configuration

Vulnerability report

Use the top-level output key to configure the vulnerability report:

• file_path (optional): Path where the report will be written. Defaults to .fluidattacks-containers-sca-results.sarif or .fluidattacks-containers-sca-results.csv depending on the selected format.
• format (optional): Report format. Accepted values: SARIF (default) or CSV.

output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF

SBOM output

Use the sbom key to export a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM):

• output.name (optional): Path where the SBOM will be written.
• output.format (optional): SBOM format. Accepted values: fluid-json (default), cyclonedx-json, cyclonedx-xml, spdx-json, or spdx-xml.

sbom:
  output:
    name: /results/fluid-sbom.json
    format: fluid-json

Configuration file examples

Scanning a public image

language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: alpine:3.17

Scanning an image from a private registry

language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.csv
  format: CSV
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: registry.example.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        docker_credentials:
          docker_username: user
          docker_password: token

Scanning an ECR image with static credentials

language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        ecr_credentials:
          access_key_id: access_key_id
          secret_access_key: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
          aws_region: us-east-1

Scanning an ECR image via IAM role assumption

language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        ecr_credentials:
          role_arn: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/MyECRReadRole
          external_id: my-external-id
          aws_region: us-east-1

Scanning an image with envars

Credential fields accept the ${VAR_NAME} syntax. The scanner reads the value from the matching environment variable at scan time.

language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: registry.example.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        docker_credentials:
          docker_username: user
          docker_password: ${REGISTRY_PASSWORD}
    - image_uri: 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        ecr_credentials:
          role_arn: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/MyECRReadRole
          external_id: ${ECR_EXTERNAL_ID}
          aws_region: us-east-1

Scanning a locally stored image (Linux only)

language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: myapp:local
      image_config:
        use_docker_daemon: true

Scanning multiple images with SBOM export

namespace: my_app
language: EN
output:
  file_path: /results/fluid-attacks-results.sarif
  format: SARIF
sbom:
  output:
    name: /results/fluid-sbom.json
    format: fluid-json
containers_sca:
  images:
    - image_uri: alpine:3.17
    - image_uri: 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/myapp:latest
      image_config:
        ecr_credentials:
          role_arn: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/MyECRReadRole
          external_id: my-external-id