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kubescape

v4.0.17 open-source

Kubescape is an open-source Kubernetes security platform for your IDE, CI/CD pipelines, and clusters. It includes risk analysis, security, compliance, and misconfiguration scanning, saving Kubernetes users and administrators precious time, effort, and resources.

Summary

Kubescape is an open-source container-security tool, licensed and free to use, run from the command line to scan Kubernetes clusters, manifests, images, and IaCIaCInfrastructure as Code: the practice of defining and provisioning compute infrastructure through machine-readable config files rather than manual processes, giving cyber tools repeatable, version-controlled environment setup. files (including Terraform) for misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and compliance drift. It is aimed at platform engineers and Kubernetes admins who need to check workloads before and after deployment rather than at SOCSOCA security operations center, the team or function that monitors threats, investigates alerts and coordinates incident response. Its work can be internal, outsourced or shared. analysts doing incident response. It covers ground that spans several categories at once — image scanning, admission control via CELCELCommon Expression Language, an open-source expression language maintained by Google, used to embed lightweight, safe policy evaluation logic into tools without running a full scripting engine./VAP policies, RBACRBACRole-based access control, where permissions are assigned to roles such as reader or administrator and users receive those roles. It makes access easier to manage than individual permission lists. and network policy checks, runtime drift detection — so it sits in the broader Kubernetes security posture space rather than any single niche tool's territory. Output can feed existing pipelines directly, with formats including SARIFSARIFStatic Analysis Results Interchange Format, a standard for sharing code-analysis findings, including locations and rule details. It lets scanners report results to a common review interface., GitLab SAST, JSON, and CSV. As a CNCF incubating project with 11 releases in the window tracked here, it shows active, ongoing development.

Kubescape is an open-source Kubernetes security platform for your IDE, CI/CD pipelines, and clusters. It includes risk analysis, security, compliance, and misconfiguration scanning, saving Kubernetes users and administrators precious time, effort, and resources.

How kubescape helps

Which of my running workloads have misconfigurations or CVEs that need attention right now?

the operator's misconfiguration and vulnerability microservices continually rescan the live cluster and expose the findings as Kubernetes API objects you can query with standard tooling

Which container images in my registry carry known vulnerabilities before they ever reach a cluster?

scans images directly — including offline tarballs and images pulled from AWS ECR, Azure Container Registry, or GCP Artifact Registry — and reports CVEs per image

Would a pull request's Terraform or Kubernetes manifests pass our policies if merged?

evaluates the CEL/VAP admission-control policy suite and RBAC and network-policy rules against the files locally, without a network call, and lists violations before deployment

Has a workload's runtime behavior drifted from what it was profiled to do?

compares live application activity against a stored application profile and flags drift for remediation

Can my findings feed into the dashboards and pipelines my team already uses?

emits results as SARIF, GitLab SAST, JSON, CSV, YAML, HTML, or markdown so a scan slots into existing review tooling

Which workloads should be isolated until someone fixes them?

the remediation workflow can quarantine a non-compliant workload directly, rather than just reporting the finding

all 38 features, with the evidence for each →

Languages

Not documented

Features

38 capabilities across 3 capability groups · 1 backed by code, an API document or a real run

Built from kubescape'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 →

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

What kubescape offers you

  • Command-line interface15
  • CI/CD pipeline integration3
  • Offline mode3
  • Air-gapped deployment2
  • JSON data export2
  • MCP server2
  • CSV data export1
  • Kubernetes-native deployment1
  • Outbound webhooks (the product notifies you)1
  • Role-based access control1
Container image vulnerability scanning 6 features Vulnerability assessment methods since 2022
Container image vulnerability scanning shipped Evaluates CEL-based Validating Admission Policy rules during cluster scans without requiring an external download. 12 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Aug 2026

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

Also counts toward: Command-line interface, Offline mode

release 12 total

  • Show CISA KEV and EPSS scores in image scan output v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds kubescape diff subcommand to compare image scan reports and surface newly introduced and resolved vulnerabilities. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Accounts for external exposure when analysing vulnerability risk in image scans. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds support for key-signed images without a transparency log entry in control C-0236. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds Quay vulnerability scanning support for image scans. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Updates control C-0236 to accept key-signed images that have no transparency log entry. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Compare two image scan reports to quickly identify vulnerabilities introduced between a baseline and a new build. kubescape diff baseline-report.json new-report.json v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source
  • Scan container image for vulnerabilities kubescape scan image nginx:1.21
Cloud registry vulnerability adaptors shipped Pulls native vulnerability data directly from AWS ECR, Azure Container Registry, and GCP Artifact Registry. 6 releases · first seen Jul 2026

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

release

  • Add native Harbor vulnerability adaptor for image scanning v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Add native GitLab vulnerability adaptor for image scanning v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds native Harbor vulnerability adaptor for image scanning output. v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Introduces a native GCP Artifact Registry vulnerability adaptor (Container Image Vulnerability, Phase 2). v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Introduces a Container Image Vulnerability (CIV) adaptor for Azure Container Registry. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Implements an AWS ECR vulnerability adaptor via the new Container Image Vulnerability (CIV) Adaptor interface, enabling ECR-native image vulnerability data ingestion. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
Airgap / offline scanning shipped Supports scanning in air-gapped or offline environments without external network dependencies. 2 releases · 1 other source · first seen Jan 2025

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

Also counts toward: Air-gapped deployment, Command-line interface, Offline mode

release

  • Add --skip-db-update flag to imagescan for offline scanning environments v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Introduces airgap support for offline scanning scenarios v3.0.23 · Jan 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Scan a container image for vulnerabilities in an air-gapped environment without updating the vulnerability DB. kubescape scan image myregistry.local/myapp:v1.2.3 --skip-db-update v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source
Scan webhook notifications shipped Sends scan results to a downstream system via a webhook after an image scan completes. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Oct 2026

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

Also counts toward: Command-line interface, Outbound webhooks (the product notifies you)

release

  • Add --notify webhook support for image scans with --notify v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Trigger a webhook after scanning an image so a downstream system receives the vulnerability results automatically. kubescape scan image nginx:latest --notify https://hooks.example.com/kubescape v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source
Container image patching shipped Patches container images to remediate known vulnerabilities and exports the patched image to a registry or local target. 2 releases · first seen Sep 2022

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

release

  • Adds OCI and local export targets to kubescape patch, expanding patched image delivery options beyond remote registries. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --cluster-name=<name> flag to the Kubescape CLI to manually specify the cluster name for scanning reports v2.0.171 · Sep 2022 · source · release history
Image scanning default matchers shipped Allows applying default matcher configurations to image scanning commands to standardize exception handling. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Sep 2025

Shared capability: Container image vulnerability scanning

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds --default-matchers flag to image scanning commands to apply matcher defaults v3.0.40 · Sep 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Scan an image using default matchers for exceptions. kubescape scan image <image-name> --default-matchers v3.0.40 · Sep 2025 · source
Infrastructure-as-code security scanning 2 features Vulnerability assessment methods since 2024
Stdin scan input shipped Accepts Kubernetes resource definitions piped via stdin as a scan input source. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Aug 2026

Shared capability: Infrastructure-as-code security scanning

Also counts toward: CI/CD pipeline integration, Command-line interface

release

  • Unifies scan stdin input handling for consistent behavior across scan commands. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Pipe a local manifest into the predict subcommand from stdin instead of passing a file path — useful in CI pipelines where the manifest is generated on the fly. helm template my-release ./chart | kubescape predict - v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source
IaC / Terraform scanning shipped Scans Terraform files that define Kubernetes resources for configuration issues. 2 releases · first seen Mar 2024

Shared capability: Infrastructure-as-code security scanning

release

  • Adds scanning of kubernetes_manifest and typed kubernetes_* resources in Terraform files. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds debugging ability for scanning Helm charts v3.0.4 · Mar 2024 · source · release history
Role-based access control 1 feature Identity and access since 2022
Kubernetes cluster scanning shipped Scans a live Kubernetes cluster for misconfigurations, RBAC issues, and network policy violations using built-in policy controls. 21 releases · 6 other sources · first seen Apr 2022

Shared capability: Role-based access control

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release 21 total

  • Evaluate Gateway API ReferenceGrant objects for cross-namespace backends in exposure analysis v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --kube-version and --api-versions flags to kubescape scan for accurate Helm chart rendering against a specific Kubernetes API surface.⁠︀︄︇︀︅︉︀︅︀︀︃︀︀︅︅︀︅︊︀︄︆︀︃︄⁠ v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Retries clusters whose API server never answered during fleet scans. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --fleet-report flag to kubescape scan to write one combined report across multiple --kube-contexts targets. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --fleet-report flag to kubescape scan to write one combined report across multiple clusters specified with --kube-contexts.⁠︀︄︇︀︅︉︀︅︀︀︃︀︀︅︅︀︅︊︀︄︆︀︃︄⁠ v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds a fleet summary printout after a multi-context scan, including a compliance rollup and a report of controls clusters disagree on. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Render and scan a Helm chart against a specific Kubernetes version to catch API compatibility issues before deploying. kubescape scan /path/to/helm/chart/ --kube-version 1.29 --api-versions apps/v1,networking.k8s.io/v1 v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source
  • Scan multiple clusters in one shot and write a single combined fleet report — useful in CI to get a cross-cluster compliance snapshot. kubescape scan --kube-contexts prod-east,prod-west,staging --fleet-report fleet-report.json v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source
  • Scan multiple Kubernetes clusters in one pass and write a unified fleet report — useful in multi-tenant or multi-region environments. kubescape scan --kube-contexts prod-us,prod-eu,staging --fleet-report fleet-results.json v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source
  • Scan current cluster with all frameworks kubescape scan
  • List all available security frameworks kubescape list frameworks
  • Scan cluster against NSA framework kubescape scan framework nsa
Other / not yet classified 29 features Features we have not matched to a capability yet. A suggested match is marked.
Scan output formats shipped Exports scan results in formats including JSON, SARIF, HTML, CSV, Markdown, GitLab SAST, and YAML. 24 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Dec 2021

Also counts toward: CI/CD pipeline integration, Command-line interface, CSV data export, JSON data export

release 24 total

  • Adds scan coverage metrics to Markdown, HTML, and CSV output formats, and reports degraded scan coverage and skipped controls. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --output-dir support for file-based reports so output files land in the specified directory. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --output-dir support honoured for file-based reports. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds scan coverage metrics to Markdown, HTML, and CSV report outputs. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Add aggregate summary outputs to the diff command v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds aggregate summary outputs to kubescape diff. v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Verify a container image's signature using cosign before scanning it with kubescape kubescape scan container --image <image_name> --cosign-enabled=true v2.1.2 · Feb 2023 · source
  • Enable verbose logging to see detailed scanning progress and diagnostics. kubescape scan --verbose v1.0.133 · Dec 2021 · source
CLI configuration management shipped Allows users to view, filter, and delete individual Kubescape configuration keys from the CLI without dumping the entire configuration. 10 releases · 4 other sources · first seen Feb 2022

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release 10 total

  • Adds kubescape config view support for filtering configurations by key. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds key-filtering to kubescape config view so configurations can be queried by specific key. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds support for deleting specific configuration keys via kubescape config. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --framework and --search filters to kubescape list controls to narrow the control listing by framework or keyword. v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • --framework and --search filters added to kubescape list controls for targeted control retrieval v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds filter support to kubescape list controls — filter by framework and search term. v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Inspect a single configuration key rather than dumping the entire config — handy for verifying one setting in scripts. kubescape config view --key <key-name> v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source
  • Filter the control list to a specific framework to quickly find controls relevant to a compliance standard. kubescape list controls --framework nsa v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source
  • Store and read kubescape's cache in a custom directory to avoid defaults. export KS_CACHE_DIR=/tmp/kubescape-cache kubescape scan v2.0.148 · Feb 2022 · source
  • Configure kubescape to use the zap logging backend for structured log output. export KS_LOGGER_NAME=zap kubescape scan v2.0.148 · Feb 2022 · source
Scan result detail and evidence shipped Includes the current field values and remediation path evidence in scan output so the user can see exactly what failed and why. 10 releases · 4 other sources · first seen Dec 2021

release 10 total

  • Adds reporting of degraded scan coverage and skipped controls in printer output. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --show-evidence output that now resolves fix-path line numbers for delete and review paths. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Surfaces current field values alongside failed paths in scan output (HTML and printer). v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds CSV output format with remediation path evidence columns to scan results. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • CEL findings now carry the same remediation paths as their Rego equivalents. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • --labels-to-copy flag to copy workload labels into scan reports v3.0.48 · Jan 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Run a vulnerability scan on container images with detailed logging enabled via the new verbose flag. kubescape scan-images --verbose --images my-app:v1 v4.0.0 · Feb 2026 · source
  • Include specific Kubernetes resource labels in the scan output for traceability. kubescape scan --labels-to-copy app,version v3.0.48 · Jan 2026 · source
  • Inject self-hosted gitlab identity into kubescape reports via environment variables. export BuildNumber="abc123" && export Client="my-gitlab-instance" && ./kubescape scan cluster v3.0.5 · Mar 2024 · source
  • Run a scan and output the attack tree to visualize risk prioritization of failed checks kubescape scan --print-attack-tree v2.0.180 · Jan 2023 · source
MCP server integration shipped suggested Exposes Kubescape scanning capabilities as tools via an MCP server so AI agents can invoke them programmatically. 13 releases · first seen Jul 2026

Suggested capability: Infrastructure-as-code security scanning. This is our guess, not confirmed.

Also counts toward: MCP server, Role-based access control

release 13 total

  • Adds create_admission_policy_binding, list_configuration_security_scan_summaries, list_sboms, list_sbom_packages, and validate_scan_selection (with shared control resolution) tools to the MCP server. v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Apply remediation for report items from posture reports via MCP v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Improves MCP server tools: adds an include_identity parameter to analyze_vulnerability_exposure, adds filtering and pagination to list_vulnerabilities_in_manifest, adds control filtering to get_configuration_security_scan_manifest, filters list_controls by framework, paginates list_controls responses, and… v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds list_admission_policies and diff_reports tools, a PSS compliance prediction tool, and a secret exposure detection tool to the MCP server, exposing admission policy enumeration, scan report comparison, PSS compliance prediction, and secret exposure detection to AI assistants. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Introduces structured, machine-readable error responses in the kubescape mcpserver MCP server. v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Structured machine-readable error responses introduced in the MCP server (feat(mcpserver)) v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
CEL / VAP policy evaluation shipped Evaluates CEL-based Validating Admission Policy rules as part of cluster scans and deploys the embedded VAP bundle in-cluster without requiring a network download. 9 releases · 1 other source · first seen Jul 2024

Also counts toward: Air-gapped deployment, Command-line interface, Offline mode

release 9 total

  • Adds Agent Runtime complete policy set to VAP (Validating Admission Policy) controls. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds complete Agent Runtime policy set to VAP (kubescape vap). v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds MutatingAdmissionPolicy discovery and impact matching to the admission-policy map reconciler. v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Evaluates VAP matchConditions offline instead of refusing the control, and honors spec.failurePolicy for validation expression errors. v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • CEL findings now carry the same remediation paths as their Rego equivalents. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Runs CEL-based admission controls as part of kubescape scan, bundling and evaluating the VAP CEL policy suite without a network call. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Deploy CEL admission policy library kubescape vap deploy-library | kubectl apply -f -
Image registry authentication verified suggested Authenticates to image registries using a range of credential types, including in-cluster secrets and registry host remapping. 5 releases · 5 other sources · first seen Aug 2026

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

release

  • Adds support for the full Azure credential chain for ACR image pulls during image scanning. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds full Azure credential chain support for ACR image pulls in image scanning. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds fallback support for OpenShift external registry routes. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds support for scoped registry auth for image scans. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds automated in-cluster private registry credential resolver for image scans. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history

command line

  • --registry-username — Username for image registry login when no docker config or credential helper is available; can also be set with KUBESCAPE_REGISTRY_USERNAME v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · command-line history
  • --registry-authority — Registry host[:port] the --scan-images credentials apply to v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · command-line history
  • --registry-mapping — Map internal registry hosts to reachable ones, e.g. --registry-mapping image-registry.openshift-image-registry.svc:5000=registry.company.com (host[:port], no scheme) v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · command-line history
  • --registry-token — Bearer token for image registry login when no docker config or credential helper is available; can also be set with KUBESCAPE_REGISTRY_TOKEN v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · command-line history
  • --registry-password — Password for image registry login when no docker config or credential helper is available; can also be set with KUBESCAPE_REGISTRY_PASSWORD v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · command-line history
Fleet multi-cluster scanning shipped Scans multiple cluster contexts in a single run and produces a fleet-level report that includes a summary, compliance rollup, and controls on which clusters disagree. 8 releases · 1 other source · first seen Sep 2022

release 8 total

  • Emit graded exit codes for fleet runs v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Read fleet settings from a config file with feat(fleet): read fleet settings from a config file⁠︀︄︇︀︅︉︀︅︀︀︃︀︀︅︅︀︅︊︀︄︆︀︃︄⁠ v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds a fleet summary printed after a multi-context scan. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds reporting of controls that clusters disagree on in fleet scans. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds compliance rollup to the fleet report. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Extends --kube-contexts fleet mode in kubescape scan to support framework, control, and workload scan targets across multiple clusters. v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history

example

  • Use this when running Kubescape in CI to assign a custom identifier to the scan results for traceability across multiple clusters. kubescape scan --cluster-name=my-production-cluster v2.0.171 · Sep 2022 · source
Workload remediation shipped Remediates non-compliant workloads from the CLI, with a quarantine action that isolates them within the cluster. 6 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Mar 2025

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds an --output-post-renderer flag to the fix command for Helm, hardens overlay staging and boundaries, and renders Helm charts for the newest Kubernetes version their kubeVersion allows. v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --interactive mode to kubescape fix for granular, step-by-step remediation of misconfigurations. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --include-controls and --skip-controls flags to kubescape fix to select which controls get remediated. v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds quarantine action to the kubescape operator remediate CLI subcommand for isolating non-compliant workloads. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Improves Assisted Remediation output to include the container name in the results v3.0.40 · Sep 2025 · source · release history
  • Enhances the prerequisites UI with new review-values functionality and improved PR handling v3.0.33 · Mar 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Interactively walk through misconfigurations one by one and apply targeted fixes to your manifest files. kubescape fix --interactive /path/to/manifests/ v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source
  • Auto-remediate only specific controls to limit the blast radius of a fix run. kubescape fix --include-controls C-0016,C-0044 /path/to/manifests/ v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source
Large-cluster scan optimizations shipped Reduces memory consumption and improves throughput on large clusters through resource streaming, paged queries, rate limiting, and caching. 7 releases · first seen Dec 2021

release 7 total

  • Uses mmap and fastjson for manifest parsing, improving performance on large manifest sets. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Introduces partition and spill store engine for large-cluster resource handling. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Introduces a partition and spill store engine for the resource handler, wired into the streaming collector. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Uses mmap and fastjson for manifest parsing, delivering a significant performance improvement for large manifests. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Optimizes host-sensor queries with paging, rate limits, and caching. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds resource streaming for large clusters (feat(streaming)) to reduce memory usage during scans. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
Rego policy engine shipped Evaluates OPA Rego policies against Kubernetes resources to determine compliance. 6 releases · first seen Dec 2024

release

  • Defines execution policies for whole-cluster controls in the OPA processor. v4.0.15 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Add --custom-rules flag to scan commands for loading user-authored Rego rules v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Add explicit-context scan entry points ScanContext and ScanImageContext to the core API v4.0.13 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Switches Rego evaluation to RegoV1, dropping the v0 compatibility shim. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Rego policies are now evaluated with RegoV1 only — the v0 compatibility shim has been removed. Policies relying on v0 Rego syntax will break. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds support for printing rego policy print statements v3.0.22 · Dec 2024 · source · release history
Version management and installation control shipped Provides CLI commands and installation script flags to install specific release versions or update the binary directly. 4 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Jun 2022

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds a riscv build target to the release assets, enabling installation on RISC-V architectures. v3.0.5 · Mar 2024 · source · release history
  • Adds kubescape update command for updating the Kubescape binary (beta) v2.0.175 · Nov 2022 · source · release history
  • Adds -v flag to install.sh to specify a release version v2.0.160 · Jun 2022 · source · release history
  • ./install.sh -v <version> now accepts a specific version argument to install that exact release instead of the latest v2.0.159 · Jun 2022 · source · release history

example

  • Update the kubescape binary to the latest version directly from the CLI. kubescape update v2.0.175 · Nov 2022 · source
  • Install exactly version v2.0.158 of the cyber tool to match a specific dependency or policy requirement. ./install.sh -v v2.0.158 v2.0.159 · Jun 2022 · source
Posture exception policies shipped Defines exceptions to scan findings by object selector so that known-accepted risks are excluded from reported results. 5 releases · first seen Feb 2025

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Keep exception audit trail in SARIF results v4.0.17 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Cloud exceptions are now preferred over CRD exceptions (feat(exceptions)). v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Honors objectSelector.matchExpressions in PostureExceptionPolicy.ObjectSelector, enabling expression-based exception scoping. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds --exceptions flag to the scan image subcommand to exclude specific findings during container image scanning v3.0.27 · Feb 2025 · source · release history
  • Extends the Scan API to accept exception rules via HTTP request body, allowing programmatic exclusion of findings v3.0.27 · Feb 2025 · source · release history
Cloud provider resource mapping shipped Maps cloud-provider-managed resources, such as Azure AKS nodes, to the policies relevant to assessing their posture. 4 releases · first seen Dec 2021

release

  • Extends the provider-iam-assumption-v1 rule to detect Azure AKS Workload Identity. v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Added Azure AKS Workload Identity detection to the provider-iam-assumption-v1 rule v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds Azure AKS support to ListEntitiesForPolicies resource mapping. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Supports cloud configurations controls in scan operations v1.0.136 · Dec 2021 · source · release history
Observability and metrics export shipped Exposes Prometheus metrics via the HTTP handler for monitoring and operational insights. 2 releases · 2 other sources · first seen Apr 2022

release

  • Adds OpenTelemetry (OTEL) tracing via the Uptrace client for observability v2.1.2 · Feb 2023 · source · release history
  • Adds prometheus (beta support) via the HTTP handler example at httphandler/examples/prometheus v2.0.152 · Apr 2022 · source · release history

example

  • Enable OTEL tracing to send metrics to an Uptrace collector for debugging scan performance kubescape scan cluster --otel-endpoint http://localhost:4317 --otel-service-name kubescape-scan v2.1.2 · Feb 2023 · source
  • Enable Prometheus metrics scraping for kubescape's HTTP handler service. Refer to httphandler/examples/prometheus for configuration details. v2.0.152 · Apr 2022 · source
Scan output severity levels shipped Exposes severity information within scan results to support granular analysis and automated reporting. 2 releases · 1 other source · first seen Dec 2025

Also counts toward: JSON data export

release

  • Surfaces richer diagnostics across report formats: attack-path priority score and severity in SARIF result properties, skipped and unevaluated controls in JUnit XML output, and scan coverage plus skipped-control diagnostics in PDF output. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds the severity field to controls in JSON output for granular result inspection v3.0.46 · Dec 2025 · source · release history

example

  • Extract severity levels from scan results for automated reporting. kubescape scan api --format json | jq '.controls[] | select(.severity != null) | .id + ": " + .severity' v3.0.46 · Dec 2025 · source
Resource metadata anonymization shipped suggested Anonymises container metadata in scan reports to prevent sensitive identifiers from appearing in exported results. 3 releases · first seen Feb 2023

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

release

  • Supports reversible container metadata transformation in the anonymizer (feat(anonymizer): support reversible container metadata transformation). v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds decryption support for encrypted resource metadata (report crypto), complementing the existing encryption path. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds cosign functions for container image signature verification during scanning v2.1.2 · Feb 2023 · source · release history
Configurable scan output formats shipped Supports a wide variety of output formats for different scan types, including YAML and additional printers for images. 2 releases · first seen Aug 2026

release

Image signature verification shipped suggested Verifies container image signatures using cosign before scanning to ensure integrity. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Feb 2023

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

release

example

  • Verify a container image's signature using cosign before scanning it with kubescape kubescape scan container --image <image_name> --cosign-enabled=true v2.1.2 · Feb 2023 · source
Runtime profile drift detection shipped Detects when a running container deviates from its established runtime profile and can take remediation action. 2 releases · first seen Jul 2026

Also counts toward: MCP server

release

  • Implements Runtime Profile Drift Detection and Remediation (KS-ADV-01). v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
  • Adds container profile tools and resources to the MCP server. v4.0.11 · Jul 2026 · source · release history
Private Git repository authentication shipped suggested Supports authentication to private Git repositories using environment variables for source code or configuration scanning. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Dec 2022

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

release

  • Allows specifying the GITLAB_TOKEN environment variable to authenticate scanning of private gitlab repositories v2.0.179 · Dec 2022 · source · release history

example

  • Authenticate to a private gitlab repository by setting the required environment variable before scanning. export GITLAB_TOKEN='your_private_token'; kubescape scan https://gitlab.com/private/repo.git v2.0.179 · Dec 2022 · source
Host configuration customization shipped Allows users to deploy and customize the host scanner DaemonSet via command-line flags to tailor the scanning environment. 1 release · 1 other source · first seen Mar 2022

Also counts toward: Command-line interface, Kubernetes-native deployment

release

  • Adds --host-scan-yaml flag to customize the host scanner DaemonSet v2.0.149 · Mar 2022 · source · release history

example

  • Deploy a custom host scanner DaemonSet by providing a modified YAML spec. kubescape scan cluster --host-scan-yaml ./custom-daemonset.yaml v2.0.149 · Mar 2022 · source
Pod Security Standards compliance prediction shipped suggested Predicts compliance with Pod Security Standards before deployment via a dedicated CLI subcommand. 1 release · first seen Oct 2026

Suggested capability: Infrastructure-as-code security scanning. This is our guess, not confirmed.

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

  • Adds predict subcommand with a Pod Security Standards (PSS) compliance predictor CLI. v4.0.16 · Oct 2026 · source · release history
Host privilege detection shipped Detects workloads running as host root users. 1 release · first seen Sep 2026

release

  • Adds host-users-root-workload-v1 detection rule to identify workloads running as host root users. v4.0.14 · Sep 2026 · source · release history
Resource prioritization and workload classification shipped Controls which workload kinds are prioritised during scans and automatically detects pod template specs in custom resource types. 1 release · first seen Aug 2026

release

  • Supports configurable workload kinds and dynamic pod template spec detection in resource prioritization. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
Scan cancellation API shipped Provides an API endpoint that cancels a scan that is currently in progress. 1 release · first seen Aug 2026

release

  • Adds DELETE /v1/scan API endpoint to cancel an in-flight scan. v4.0.12 · Aug 2026 · source · release history
SARIF security severity support shipped Exposes the security-severity field within SARIF rule outputs to provide standardized vulnerability severity metrics. 1 release · first seen Jun 2026

release

  • Emit the security-severity field in SARIF rule outputs. v4.0.10 · Jun 2026 · source · release history
Control ID enforcement shipped Requires the use of control IDs rather than control names for scanning, enforcing a stricter and more stable identifier system. 1 release · first seen Dec 2022

release

  • kubescape scan control now requires control IDs instead of control names; scanning by name is deprecated and will stop working. v2.0.179 · Dec 2022 · source · release history
CI gate enforcement shipped Allows the scan process to exit with a failure status based on the number of findings, enabling strict CI/CD pipeline gating. 1 release · first seen Sep 2022

Also counts toward: CI/CD pipeline integration

release

  • Adds option to fail the Kubescape process based on the number of severities found, enabling stricter CI gate criteria v2.0.171 · Sep 2022 · source · release history
CLI shell integration shipped Provides auto-completion support for shells to improve command-line usability. 1 release · first seen Mar 2022

Also counts toward: Command-line interface

release

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 kubescape, 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 kubescape 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.

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Coverage

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What kubescape connects to, runs on and detects, read from its release notes and docs. So far: 1 new integration.

Show

1 change, tracked since Oct 14, 2026.

  • Oct 142026

    new Red Hat Quay vulnerability adaptor

    feat(imagescan): add Red Hat Quay vulnerability adaptor (#4081)

    v4.0.16 Source ↗

How we count

Read from 1 of 43 release notes and docs updates we hold for kubescape. "First seen" is the earliest note that names something; "last" is the latest. Our history may start partway through kubescape's life, so an old integration can show a recent first-seen date.

Each change counts once: "added 40 checks" is one line, so the numbers measure how often coverage moves, not how big the catalogue is or how well it detects.

Releases

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Coverage in all entries

43 entries

  1. October 20262
  2. September 20263
  3. August 20262
  4. July 20261
  5. June 20261
  6. May 20264
  7. March 20261
  8. February 20261
  9. January 20261
  10. December 20252
  11. September 20251
  12. July 20251
  13. March 20251
  14. February 20251
  15. January 20251
  16. December 20241
  17. July 20241
  18. May 20241
  19. March 20242
  20. November 20231
  21. October 20231
  22. February 20231
  23. January 20232
  24. December 20221
  25. November 20221
  26. September 20221
  27. June 20222
  28. April 20221
  29. March 20221
  30. February 20221
  31. December 20212
    Show
    Coverage in all entries

    43 entries

    Project health

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

    1. Contributors 102 +80 vs prior 12 months
    2. Maintainers 25 +26 joined · −6 left, last 12 months
    3. Bus factor 11 committers behind half the commits
    4. Community-filed 100% of issues opened, last 12 months
    5. Median time to close < 1 day first maintainer reply 18 hours
    6. Open backlog 25 of 1,161 issues ever filed
    1. Issues opened / month 36 · 0 communitymaintainers
    2. Open backlog 25
    3. Contributors / month 35
    4. Commits / month 131
    5. Stars 11,739
    Issue themes, last 12 months
    • bugs 29%
    • features 10%
    • other 61%

    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

    Articles

    1 article · updated Nov 4, 2026

    Where kubescape turns up in what others publish: how-tos, attack reports that name it, and incident write-ups. A row says why it is here and quotes where the article names it; the link goes to the publisher.

    Tutorials & guides 1

    • Kubescape: Kubernetes Security Scanning for Manifests, Images, and Clusters Tecmint
      Kubescape is a CNCF security scanner that checks your Kubernetes manifests, container images, and live cluster.
      2 more quotes
      Kubescape goes further, and it reads the same file, showing which security controls failed, and points out the lines that could give an attacker an advantage, even before the resource reaches the cluster.
      Below, you’ll install Kubescape on Ubuntu and Rocky Linux, scan a manifest and the image it uses, understand the compliance score, let Kubescape write fixes back to your YAML, and set a threshold that fails a CI build…

    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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