• Overview
• Contribute your scanner
• Use cases
• Requirements
• Configuration
  • Customizing the Container Scanning settings
    • Available variables
  • Overriding the Container Scanning template
  • Vulnerability whitelisting
  • Running Container Scanning in an offline environment
• Running the standalone Container Scanning Tool
• Reports JSON format
• Security Dashboard
• Vulnerabilities database update
• Interacting with the vulnerabilities
• Solutions for vulnerabilities (auto-remediation)
• Troubleshooting
  • docker: Error response from daemon: failed to copy xattrs

Container Scanning

Overview

If you are using GitLab CI/CD, you can check your Docker images (or more precisely the containers) for known vulnerabilities by using Clair and klar, two open source tools for Vulnerability Static Analysis for containers.

You can take advantage of Container Scanning by either including the CI job in your existing .gitlab-ci.yml file or by implicitly using Auto Container Scanning that is provided by Auto DevOps.

GitLab checks the Container Scanning report, compares the found vulnerabilities between the source and target branches, and shows the information right on the merge request.

Contribute your scanner

The Security Scanner Integration documentation explains how to integrate other security scanners into GitLab.

Use cases

If you distribute your application with Docker, then there’s a great chance that your image is based on other Docker images that may in turn contain some known vulnerabilities that could be exploited.

Having an extra job in your pipeline that checks for those vulnerabilities, and the fact that they are displayed inside a merge request, makes it very easy to perform audits for your Docker-based apps.

Requirements

To enable Container Scanning in your pipeline, you need:

• A GitLab Runner with the docker or kubernetes executor.
• Docker 18.09.03 or higher installed on the machine where the Runners are running. If you’re using the shared Runners on GitLab.com, this is already the case.

• To build and push your Docker image to your project’s Container Registry. The name of the Docker image should use the following predefined environment variables as defined below:

  $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
  

  These can be used directly in your .gitlab-ci.yml file:

  build:
    image: docker:19.03.1
    stage: build
    services:
      - docker:19.03.1-dind
    variables:
      IMAGE_TAG: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
    script:
      - docker login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $CI_REGISTRY
      - docker build -t $IMAGE_TAG .
      - docker push $IMAGE_TAG
  

Configuration

For GitLab 11.9 and later, to enable Container Scanning, you must include the Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml template that’s provided as a part of your GitLab installation. For GitLab versions earlier than 11.9, you can copy and use the job as defined in that template.

Add the following to your .gitlab-ci.yml file:

include:
  - template: Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

The included template will:

1. Create a container_scanning job in your CI/CD pipeline.
2. Pull the already built Docker image from your project’s Container Registry (see requirements) and scan it for possible vulnerabilities.

The results will be saved as a Container Scanning report artifact that you can later download and analyze. Due to implementation limitations, we always take the latest Container Scanning artifact available. Behind the scenes, the GitLab Klar analyzer is used and runs the scans.

The following is a sample .gitlab-ci.yml that will build your Docker image, push it to the Container Registry, and run Container Scanning:

variables:
  DOCKER_DRIVER: overlay2

services:
  - docker:19.03.5-dind

stages:
  - build
  - test

build:
  image: docker:stable
  stage: build
  variables:
    IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/$CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
  script:
    - docker info
    - docker login -u gitlab-ci-token -p $CI_JOB_TOKEN $CI_REGISTRY
    - docker build -t $IMAGE .
    - docker push $IMAGE

include:
  - template: Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

Customizing the Container Scanning settings

You can change container scanning settings by using the variables parameter in your .gitlab-ci.yml to change environment variables.

In the following example, we include the template and also set the CLAIR_OUTPUT variable to High:

include:
  template: Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

variables:
  CLAIR_OUTPUT: High

The CLAIR_OUTPUT variable defined in the main gitlab-ci.yml will overwrite what’s defined in Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml, changing the Container Scanning behavior.

Available variables

Container Scanning can be configured using environment variables.

Overriding the Container Scanning template

If you want to override the job definition (for example, change properties like variables), you need to declare a container_scanning job after the template inclusion and specify any additional keys under it. For example:

include:
  template: Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

container_scanning:
  variables:
    GIT_STRATEGY: fetch

Vulnerability whitelisting

If you want to whitelist specific vulnerabilities, you’ll need to:

1. Set GIT_STRATEGY: fetch in your .gitlab-ci.yml file by following the instructions described in the overriding the Container Scanning template section of this document.
2. Define the whitelisted vulnerabilities in a YAML file named clair-whitelist.yml which must use the format described in the whitelist example file.
3. Add the clair-whitelist.yml file to the Git repository of your project.

Running Container Scanning in an offline environment

Container Scanning can be executed on an offline GitLab Ultimate installation by using the following process:

1. Host the following Docker images on a local Docker container registry:
   • arminc/clair-db vulnerabilities database
   • GitLab klar analyzer: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/klar

2. Override the container scanning template in your .gitlab-ci.yml file to refer to the Docker images hosted on your local Docker container registry:

   include:
     - template: Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
   
   container_scanning:
     image: $CI_REGISTRY/namespace/gitlab-klar-analyzer
     variables:
       CLAIR_DB_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY/namespace/clair-vulnerabilities-db
   

3. If your local Docker container registry is running securely over HTTPS, but you’re using a self-signed certificate, then you must set DOCKER_INSECURE: "true" in the above container_scanning section of your .gitlab-ci.yml.

It may be worthwhile to set up a scheduled pipeline to automatically build a new version of the vulnerabilities database on a preset schedule. You can use the following .gitlab-yml.ci as a template:

image: docker:stable

services:
  - docker:19.03.5-dind

stages:
  - build

build_latest_vulnerabilities:
  stage: build
  script:
    - docker pull arminc/clair-db:latest
    - docker tag arminc/clair-db:latest $CI_REGISTRY/namespace/clair-vulnerabilities-db
    - docker login -u gitlab-ci-token -p $CI_JOB_TOKEN $CI_REGISTRY
    - docker push $CI_REGISTRY/namespace/clair-vulnerabilities-db

The above template will work for a GitLab Docker registry running on a local installation, however, if you’re using a non-GitLab Docker registry, you’ll need to change the $CI_REGISTRY value and the docker login credentials to match the details of your local registry.

Running the standalone Container Scanning Tool

It’s possible to run the GitLab Container Scanning Tool against a Docker container without needing to run it within the context of a CI job. To scan an image directly, follow these steps:

1. Run Docker Desktop or Docker Machine.

2. Run the latest prefilled vulnerabilities database Docker image:

   docker run -p 5432:5432 -d --name clair-db arminc/clair-db:latest
   

3. Configure an environment variable to point to your local machine’s IP address (or insert your IP address instead of the LOCAL_MACHINE_IP_ADDRESS variable in the CLAIR_DB_CONNECTION_STRING in the next step):

   export LOCAL_MACHINE_IP_ADDRESS=your.local.ip.address
   

4. Run the analyzer’s Docker image, passing the image and tag you want to analyze in the CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY and CI_APPLICATION_TAG environment variables:

   docker run \
     --interactive --rm \
     --volume "$PWD":/tmp/app \
     -e CI_PROJECT_DIR=/tmp/app \
     -e CLAIR_DB_CONNECTION_STRING="postgresql://postgres:password@${LOCAL_MACHINE_IP_ADDRESS}:5432/postgres?sslmode=disable&statement_timeout=60000" \
     -e CI_APPLICATION_REPOSITORY=registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast/webgoat-8.0@sha256 \
     -e CI_APPLICATION_TAG=bc09fe2e0721dfaeee79364115aeedf2174cce0947b9ae5fe7c33312ee019a4e \
     registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/analyzers/klar
   

The results are stored in gl-container-scanning-report.json.

Reports JSON format

The Container Scanning tool emits a JSON report file. Here is an example of the report structure with all important parts of it highlighted:

{
  "version": "2.3",
  "vulnerabilities": [
    {
      "id": "ac0997ad-1006-4c81-81fb-ee2bbe6e78e3",
      "category": "container_scanning",
      "message": "CVE-2019-3462 in apt",
      "description": "Incorrect sanitation of the 302 redirect field in HTTP transport method of apt versions 1.4.8 and earlier can lead to content injection by a MITM attacker, potentially leading to remote code execution on the target machine.",
      "severity": "High",
      "confidence": "Unknown",
      "solution": "Upgrade apt from 1.4.8 to 1.4.9",
      "scanner": {
        "id": "klar",
        "name": "klar"
      },
      "location": {
        "dependency": {
          "package": {
            "name": "apt"
          },
          "version": "1.4.8"
        },
        "operating_system": "debian:9",
        "image": "registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/security-products/dast/webgoat-8.0@sha256:bc09fe2e0721dfaeee79364115aeedf2174cce0947b9ae5fe7c33312ee019a4e"
      },
      "identifiers": [
        {
          "type": "cve",
          "name": "CVE-2019-3462",
          "value": "CVE-2019-3462",
          "url": "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-3462"
        }
      ],
      "links": [
        {
          "url": "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-3462"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "remediations": [
    {
      "fixes": [
        {
          "id": "c0997ad-1006-4c81-81fb-ee2bbe6e78e3"
        }
      ],
      "summary": "Upgrade apt from 1.4.8 to 1.4.9",
      "diff": "YXB0LWdldCB1cGRhdGUgJiYgYXB0LWdldCB1cGdyYWRlIC15IGFwdA=="
    }
  ]
}

Here is the description of the report file structure nodes and their meaning. All fields are mandatory to be present in the report JSON unless stated otherwise. Presence of optional fields depends on the underlying analyzers being used.

Security Dashboard

The Security Dashboard shows you an overview of all the security vulnerabilities in your groups, projects and pipelines.

Vulnerabilities database update

For more information about the vulnerabilities database update, check the maintenance table.

Interacting with the vulnerabilities

Once a vulnerability is found, you can interact with it.

Solutions for vulnerabilities (auto-remediation)

Some vulnerabilities can be fixed by applying the solution that GitLab automatically generates.

To enable remediation support, the scanning tool must have access to the Dockerfile specified by the DOCKERFILE_PATH environment variable. To ensure that the scanning tool has access to this file, it’s necessary to set GIT_STRATEGY: fetch in your .gitlab-ci.yml file by following the instructions described in this document’s overriding the Container Scanning template section.

Read more about the solutions for vulnerabilities.

Troubleshooting

docker: Error response from daemon: failed to copy xattrs

When the GitLab Runner uses the Docker executor and NFS is used (for example, /var/lib/docker is on an NFS mount), Container Scanning might fail with an error like the following:

docker: Error response from daemon: failed to copy xattrs: failed to set xattr "security.selinux" on /path/to/file: operation not supported.

This is a result of a bug in Docker which is now fixed. To prevent the error, ensure the Docker version that the Runner is using is 18.09.03 or higher. For more information, see issue #10241.