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dockerscan

v2.1.0 open-source

Scans Docker container images for CVEs, secrets, supply chain attacks, CISCISA nonprofit that publishes consensus-based configuration benchmarks and controls for hardening operating systems, cloud environments, and software; cyber tools use it as a ready-made compliance baseline. benchmark compliance, and runtime security issues.

Summary

dockerscan is a proprietary command-line scanner for Docker container images, checking them against CIS benchmarks and screening for supply-chain attacks, exposed secrets, CVEs, and runtime security issues. Despite the open-source-style README, the project's own license badge marks it proprietary, so licensing terms should be confirmed before adoption. It runs as a CLI, invoked per-image with flags to select specific scanners, filter by severity, or manage its CVE database, including optional CVSSCVSSCommon Vulnerability Scoring System, a method for describing a vulnerability's characteristics and severity. Its score is not the probability that attackers will exploit it. enrichment from the NVDNVDThe National Vulnerability Database, maintained by NIST, is the U.S. government repository of CVE records enriched with CVSS scores and metadata; cyber tools query it to drive vulnerability prioritization. API that degrades gracefully if NVD is down. It suits application security engineers and DevOps teams who need image scanning ahead of deployment rather than cluster-wide runtime monitoring.

Scans Docker container images for CVEs, secrets, supply chain attacks, CIS benchmark compliance, and runtime security issues.

How dockerscan helps

Which of my images ship known-vulnerable packages, and how confident is that match?

matches installed package versions against a CVE database using a dpkg-style version comparator, tagging each finding as vendor-confirmed or a heuristic name-only match with remediation caveats

Which of my images fail the CIS benchmark before they ever reach production?

runs the CIS checks against the image and lists every violation, so it can be caught before deployment rather than at runtime

Have I accidentally baked a credential or key into an image layer?

screens the image contents for exposed secrets and reports what it found and where

Is this image carrying a supply-chain compromise rather than just an outdated package?

runs dedicated supply-chain scanners over the image separate from CVE matching, surfacing tampering-style findings CVE checks would miss

How severe are the vulnerabilities I actually need to act on first?

filters findings down to a chosen severity level so only critical issues are shown, optionally enriched with CVSS scores pulled from the NVD API

Can I trust a CVE finding if the NVD service is unreachable when I scan?

falls back to the CVE database's own data when NVD enrichment cannot be reached, so the scan still completes and the finding still stands, just without the extra CVSS detail

all 9 features, with the evidence for each →

Languages

Not documented

Features

9 capabilities across 2 capability groups · 3 backed by code, an API document or a real run

Built from dockerscan's releases, docs, README and our own runs. “Seen” marks the month we first spotted a release the vendor didn't date. Group names and tags are our labels.

Compare with peers →

  • dockerscan covers 2 of the 8 vulnerability assessment methods capabilities we track.

What dockerscan offers you

  • Command-line interface3
Vulnerability database matching 2 features Vulnerability assessment methods since 2025
CVE database building and updates verified Downloads and builds a local CVE database from MITRE cvelistV5 daily snapshots, covering ~125,000 CVEs without requiring NVD API keys. 3 releases · 6 other sources · first seen Nov 2025

Shared capability: Vulnerability database matching

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Switches CVE database source to MITRE cvelistV5 daily snapshots, eliminating NVD API keys and rate limits while growing coverage from ~1,500 to ~125,000 CVEs. v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Switches the CVE database source to MITRE cvelistV5 daily snapshots — no NVD API key or rate limits — growing coverage from ~1,500 to ~125,000 CVEs. v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds runtime security analysis for Linux capabilities, Seccomp profiles, AppArmor, namespace analysis, and container escape detection v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history

docs

  • Scans Docker container images for CVEs, secrets, supply chain attacks, CIS benchmark compliance, and runtime security issues.

command line

example

  • Fetch the new 125,000-CVE MITRE database immediately after upgrading so scans use current data. dockerscan update-db v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source
  • Fetch the new ~125K-CVE database immediately after upgrading so scans reflect the MITRE cvelistV5 data. dockerscan update-db v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source
  • Download or update CVE database dockerscan update-db
Package-to-CVE matching shipped Matches scanned packages against CVEs using a dpkg-style version comparator with per-(vendor, product) version ranges, and distinguishes vendor-confirmed matches from heuristic name-only matches. 6 releases · 1 other source · first seen Nov 2025

Shared capability: Vulnerability database matching

release

  • Findings now carry vendor_verified metadata; name-only matches include an explicit remediation caveat. v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds vendor_verified metadata to findings, distinguishing vendor-confirmed matches from heuristic name-only matches (which now include explicit remediation caveats). v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Rewrites package-to-CVE matching with a dpkg-style version comparator (Debian Policy 5.6.12) and per-(vendor, product) version ranges for accurate results. v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Derives FixedVersion from matched version ranges, plus backport disclosure metadata (match_basis, distro_revision). v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Expands vendor-verified package alias coverage with 11 new entries (gnu/coreutils, gnu/tar, gnu/sed, gnu/grep, gnu/gzip, gnu/findutils, busybox, musl-libc/musl, and more). v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds CIS Docker Benchmark v1.7.0 compliance checks covering host config, daemon hardening, and image best practices v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Show only critical severity findings dockerscan --only-critical production-app:v1.0
Container image vulnerability scanning 1 feature Vulnerability assessment methods since 2025
Selective scanning shipped Allows users to restrict scans to specific modules like secrets, CIS, or vulnerabilities. 1 release · 2 other sources · first seen Nov 2025

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds --scanners CLI flag to select specific scanning modules (e.g., cis, secrets, vulnerabilities) v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Run only secrets and CIS checks on an image for faster CI feedback dockerscan --scanners cis,secrets myapp:v1.0 v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source
  • Scan with specific scanners only dockerscan --scanners cis,secrets ubuntu:22.04
Other / not yet classified 6 features Features we have not matched to a capability yet. A suggested match is marked.
NVD CVSS enrichment verified suggested Optionally enriches scan results with CVSS scores from the NVD API 2.0 after the main build; NVD downtime or rate limits never cause the build to fail. 2 releases · 3 other sources · first seen Jul 2026

Suggested capability: Vulnerability database matching. This is our guess, not confirmed.

release

  • Adds optional, non-blocking CVSS enrichment from the NVD API via --enrich-from-nvd, --enrich-only, and --enrich-timeout flags — NVD downtime never fails the build. v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --enrich-from-nvd, --enrich-only, and --enrich-timeout flags for optional best-effort CVSS enrichment from the NVD API — never blocks the build. v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source · release history

command line

  • --enrich-only — Skip download/build; enrich an existing --output database from the NVD API 2.0 v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · command-line history
  • --enrich-timeout — Hard time bound for the NVD enrichment phase v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · command-line history
  • --enrich-from-nvd — After building, enrich missing CVSS scores from the NVD API 2.0 (best effort, never fails the build) v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · command-line history
SARIF output shipped suggested Generates SARIF-formatted reports for integration with security platforms. 4 releases · 1 other source · first seen Nov 2025

Suggested capability: Container image vulnerability scanning. This is our guess, not confirmed.

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • --verbose / -v flag shows scan progress including scanner status, image pull details, and per-scanner findings count to stderr. v2.0.6 · Jun 2026 · source · release history
  • --debug flag enables verbose output plus internal errors from failed sub-checks in CIS, supply chain, and runtime scanners. v2.0.6 · Jun 2026 · source · release history
  • Docker credential helper support via credHelpers (per-registry) and credsStore (global) configs for helpers like docker-credential-osxkeychain, docker-credential-pass, and docker-credential-wincred. v2.0.6 · Jun 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds SARIF output format for integration with GitHub Security, Azure DevOps, and VS Code v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Scan image with all scanners dockerscan nginx:latest
Secrets detection shipped suggested Detects credentials, API keys, private keys, and database connections using pattern matching. 2 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Nov 2025

Suggested capability: Static application security testing. This is our guess, not confirmed.

release

  • Adds advanced secrets detection with 40+ patterns including AWS, GCP, Azure credentials, API keys, private keys, JWT tokens, and DB connections v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history
  • Adds supply chain attack detection for imageless containers, crypto miners, backdoored libraries, and signature verification v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Fetch the new 125,000-CVE MITRE database immediately after upgrading so scans use current data. dockerscan update-db v2.1.0 · Jul 2026 · source
  • Scan for secrets and supply chain issues dockerscan --scanners secrets,supplychain redis:7
Database directory initialisation verified Creates a local directory to store the CVE database at startup; the tool exits without producing results if this directory cannot be created. 1 other source · first seen Aug 2026

we ran it

  • Without performing any analysis. It failed because it could not create its database directory at «home»/.dockerscan due to a read-only file system, and no CVE database was available. Aug 2026 · the full run
CIS Docker Benchmark compliance scanning shipped Validates container configurations against CIS Docker Benchmark standards. 1 release · first seen Nov 2025

release

  • Adds CIS Docker Benchmark v1.7.0 compliance checks covering host config, daemon hardening, and image best practices v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history
Runtime security analysis shipped Analyzes runtime properties such as Linux capabilities, Seccomp profiles, AppArmor, and namespaces to detect container escapes. 1 release · first seen Nov 2025

release

  • Adds runtime security analysis for Linux capabilities, Seccomp profiles, AppArmor, namespace analysis, and container escape detection v2.0.0 · Nov 2025 · source · release history

Lines in monospace are the tool's own words: help text parsed from its source, or an endpoint from its API document. Under release, a line is our summary of a dated release. Under docs, it is quoted from the tool's own documentation or website. Each links back to the source it came from.

Score card

  1. Shipping velocity releases a month, last 12 months
  2. Documentation quality release-notes rubric, 0–100
  3. Breaking-change discipline how rarely a release breaks users, and notice given
  4. Maintenance risk quiet time against its own cadence, maintainers
  5. Innovation & surface new capabilities, API and MCP surface
  6. Community health
  7. Contributor trend distinct committers, this year against last
  8. Maintainer concentration bus factor now against a year ago
  9. Issue backlog trend issues closed per issue opened, 12 months
  10. Responsiveness median time to a maintainer’s first reply

Nine scores for dockerscan, each built from the releases, notes and API history this site tracks — and, on Researcher and Business, where it stands among every measured tool in its category and how that has moved.

Score cards are part of every paid plan.

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Each score is 0–100 on a published rubric, derived from data this site already shows. A dimension we cannot measure says so — it is never scored 0 and never enters a rank.

How this is scored
  • Shipping velocity — releases a month over the last 12 months, on a log scale where 16 a month scores 100. Needs 3 releases in the window.
  • Documentation quality — the release-notes rubric published on the analytics page, unchanged.
  • Breaking-change discipline — the share of releases carrying a breaking change (none scores 100, half or more scores 0). Only projects that label breaking changes are measured: a clean record cannot be told from an unlabelled one.
  • Maintenance risk — quiet time measured against the tool's own release cadence (quiet longer than 90 days and three typical gaps scores 0), plus the number of active maintainers and whether contributors are growing, where known. Higher is lower risk.
  • Innovation & surface — new capabilities in the feature ledger this year, API and MCP operations added, and the share of commits that are features: the mean of whichever we hold.
  • Community health (open-source tools only) — each is a direction, not a size: contributors this year against last, the bus factor now against a year ago, and issues closed per issue opened, where steady scores 50, doubled 100 and halved 0; plus the median time to a maintainer's first reply (an hour scores about 100, a month or more 0). A commercial card has no repository and carries none of the four.
  • Documented delivery (commercial tools) — when a vendor's documented new capabilities have slowed against its own baseline, that counts against the overall standing as heavily as two low dimensions. Steady delivery, or too little history to judge, leaves the standing alone; it is never a sixth score.
  • Open-source tools are scored on repository signals; commercial tools on their published changelog. Ranks compare tools within one category and one profile and need at least five measured peers; the overall standing needs three ranked dimensions. Best-in-breed or consolidator is a shape, not a quality, and is never scored.

Release-note detail over time

See how much detail dockerscan puts in its release notes, quarter by quarter, and compare it with tracked tools in the same category. This history uses up to ten retained, reviewed notes per tool; sparse or blank older quarters may reflect that limit.

Checking release-note history…

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Releases

3 entries

  1. July 20261
  2. June 20261
  3. November 20251

    3 entries

    Project health

    Issue, contributor and maintainer activity in cr0hn/dockerscan, 2023-10 – 2026-09, as of 2026-09-25. Twelve-month figures first; the trend lines run the whole window.

    1. Contributors 2 +2 vs prior 12 months
    2. Maintainers 1 +2 joined · −1 left, last 12 months
    3. Bus factor 1 committers behind half the commits
    4. Community-filed 100% of issues opened, last 12 months
    5. Median time to close 12 days first maintainer reply 1.1 hours
    6. Open backlog 1 of 23 issues ever filed
    1. Issues opened / month 0 · 0 communitymaintainers
    2. Open backlog 1
    3. Contributors / month 1
    4. Commits / month 2
    5. Stars 1,720
    Issue themes, last 12 months
    • other 100%

    Counts from the project's public repository and git history; no individuals are identified. Maintainers are the committers covering 80% of the last year's commits. how we measure this

    Libraries its release ships

    What its latest release locks, checked against known advisories.

    None of its release's images build from a lockfile we can read.

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