Sonatype Container Security

Sonatype Container Security is a comprehensive security solution for the entire container build time pipeline; safeguarding your containerized applications by protecting them with unmatched vulnerability detection and automatic policy enforcement during build time.

Integrates within CI/CD pipelines to scan and report CVE vulnerabilities within container images.
Scan early in the development process to prevent vulnerable images from deploying.

Prerequisites for Sonatype Container Security

Sonatype Container Security is a feature available to the Lifecycle and SBOM Manager solutions. It utilizes the Neuvector scanner (a third-party component) embedded into the Sonatype CLI to provide container security analysis.

A license for Sonatype Container Security is required to receive support from the Sonatype Technical Support team.

macOS or Linux.
A running instance of Docker or Podman client.
Set the environment variables as needed.

Container scanning using Windows OS is not supported. The Azure DevOps plugin supports container security build time container: scanning, provided the agent uses macOS or Linux and the other prerequisites are met.

Windows users should refer to Docker Container Analysis.

Scanning with Sonatype Container Security

Sonatype Container Security uses the Docker client to analyze the container as a scan target when using the CLI scanner. Environment variables are configured depending on where the image is located.

When using IQ CLI version 1.183.0 or earlier, use unique mount paths for each scan target when performing container scans in parallel.

Scanning a local image

This will look for an image in your local Docker instance and scan it when found. This is useful for scanning images built locally and before pushing them to a registry.

Scanning a local image using the default configuration does not require setting environment variables. Use the container:<image>:<version> format as the scan target.

container:alpine:3.4

Example with the Sonatype CLI

java -jar nexus-iq-cli*.jar \
  -a admin:admin123 \
  -i test-app \
  -t build \
  -s http://localhost:8070 \
  container:alpine:3.4

Refer to the Sonatype CLI documentation for parameter details.

Scanning an application along with the container

Analyze an application and container simultaneously by specifying both as targets in the CLI command. Use a space between the path to the application and the container.

/app_path container:alpine:3.4

Example with application binary and base container

java -jar nexus-iq-cli*.jar \
  -a admin:admin123 \
  -i test-app \
  -t build \
  -s http://localhost:8070 \
  ./my_application.war container:alpine:3.4

Scanning a remote image

Include the container's url to scan an image stored on a remote server. We recommend you set the registry's username and password environment variables to authenticate on the remote registry. Credentials are required for private images.

export NEXUS_CONTAINER_IMAGE_REGISTRY_USER=anyuser
export NEXUS_CONTAINER_IMAGE_REGISTRY_PASSWORD=xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

java -jar nexus-iq-cli*.jar \
  -a admin:admin123 \
  -i test-app \
  -t build \
  -s http://localhost:8070 \
  container:http://registry.hub.docker.com/library/alpine:3.4

Running a scan from Jenkins

Requirements are a running instance of Jenkins with the Sonatype Platform plugin installed and configured to run policy evaluations in Jenkins.

Consult the Jenkins documentation for examples of setting environment variables.

For this example, the scanPattern of container: is used to target the container.

Create a new pipeline project in Jenkins
Enter and update the example script from below into the Pipeline section
Save the pipeline script and run the build in Jenkins
Once complete, follow the link to the results report

pipeline {
  agent any

  environment {
    NEXUS_CONTAINER_IMAGE_REGISTRY_USER = {anyuser}
    NEXUS_CONTAINER_IMAGE_REGISTRY_PASSWORD = {password}
  }

  stages {
    stage('Policy') {
      steps {
        nexusPolicyEvaluation (
          advancedProperties: '', 
          enableDebugLogging: false,
          failBuildOnNetworkError: false,
          iqApplication: selectedApplication('test-app'),
          iqScanPatterns: [
            [scanPattern: 'container:http://registry.hub.docker.com/library/alpine:3.4'],
            [scanPattern: '**/my_application.war']
          ], 
          iqStage: 'build',
          jobCredentialsId: ''
        )
      }
    }
  }
}

Running a scan on Podman

If you don't have Docker, you may use Podman as an alternative container runtime. Podman is a daemonless container engine for developing, managing, and running OCI (Open Containers Initiative) Containers and Container Images.

Using the Runtime‐Override Environment Variable

Set the runtime to Podman:

export NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_RUNTIME=podman

Run the container scan:

java -jar nexus-iq-cli*.jar \
  -i ContainerScan \
  -t stage-release \
  -s http://localhost:8070 \
  -a [username]:[password] \
  container:nodered/node-red:2.0.3

In the logs you’ll see:

[INFO] Using runtime: Podman
[INFO] Running container scan via: podman run --rm --name VYHNPZ \
  -v /Users/sonatype/tmp:/var/neuvector \
  -e SCANNER_REPOSITORY=alpine \
  -e SCANNER_TAG=latest \
  -e SCANNER_LICENSE=registry.hub.docker.com/neuvector/scanner:latest

confirming that Podman, not Docker, is being used.

Verify Podman:
```
podman ps
```
You should see your Podman containers running (including NeuVector’s scanner image).

Symlinking Docker to Podman

For environments where you cannot change the runtime via env var, Podman can provide Docker-compatible commands via a symlink:

Verify that the docker command isn’t found on your system:
```
% docker
zsh: command not found: docker
```
Confirm that Podman is installed by running the podman command without any arguments. This should display usage information and available options.
```
% podman
```
Alias Docker to Podman or create a symlink that points Docker’s path (/usr/bin/docker ) to Podman (/usr/bin/podman). Keep in mind that paths might change depending on your specific environment:
```
% sudo ln -s /usr/bin/podman /usr/bin/docker
```
Verify the symlink was created correctly:
```
% ls -al /usr/bin/docker
```
This should return output showing that /usr/bin/docker points to /usr/bin/podman. Ensure the path and target are as expected.
The symbolic link allows you to use the docker command, which will execute the podman binary.

Enable the Podman socket:

% sudo systemctl enable --now podman.socket

This creates a socket at:

/run/podman/podman.sock

Export the environment variable when running the scan:

% export NEXUS_CONTAINER_SOCKET_MAPPING=/run/podman/podman.sock:/run/podman/podman.sock

Log in to the container registry:
```
% podman login
```
Enter your username and password. If successful, you'll see the message "Login Succeeded!"

Run your container scan:

% java -jar /Users/[your username]/Applications/nexus-iq-server-1.176.0-01-bundle/nexus-iq-cli.1.76.0-01.jar -i ContainerScan -t stage-release -s http://localhost:8070 -a [username]:[password] container:nodered/node-red:2.0.3

The report will be generated without requiring a running Docker daemon, using Podman instead.

Sonatype Container Security environment variables

These environment variables are to set the authentication to remote servers.

Environment Variable	Example Value
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_IMAGE_REGISTRY_USER`	<registry_username>
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_IMAGE_REGISTRY_PASSWORD`	<registry_password>

These environment variables may be set to override the default configuration.

Environment Variable	Default Value
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_RUNTIME` Since IQ 1.182.0 Set to `podman` if you want to run scans with Podman instead of Docker.	docker
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SOCKET_MAPPING` Since IQ 1.182.0 When performing container scans, Docker-in-Docker (DinD) is required only if you are scanning local images or using the Docker CLI or GitLab plugin (regardless of whether the target image is local or remote). If you’re scanning a remote image directly, Docker-in-Docker isn’t needed since NeuVector pulls image layers straight from the registry and doesn’t rely on the host OS socket.	/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_LICENSE`	""
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_SCANNER_IMAGE`	scanner
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_REGISTRY_URL`	https://registry.hub.docker.com/neuvector
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_REGISTRY_USER`	<dockerhub username>
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_REGISTRY_PASSWORD`	<dockerhub password>
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_INCLUDE_ONLY_OS_COMPONENTS` Since IQ 1.185.0 If set to `true`, container scans will only include OS components. This excludes application dependencies like Java JARs, npm packages, etc., focusing the scan on the OS layer.
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_MOUNT_PATH` Deprecated in IQ 1.184.0 When using the mount path for Sonatype Container, the user requires write permissions to the location specified at the mount path. Write permission to `/tmp` is required when the default value is used.	/tmp
`NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_BIND_MOUNT_SHARED` Only for IQ CLI version 1.183.0 or earlier	false

FAQs

How does Sonatype evaluate containers?

Sonatype leverages Container Security to directly provide information about your images and registries back in the same report, alongside other application vulnerabilities and evaluation results.

Where can I integrate Sonatype Container Security scanning into my SDLC?

Sonatype Container Security scanning in Lifecycle and SBOM Manager is available in the CLI and the Jenkins, Bamboo CI, and Gitlab CI plugins.

How do I configure the shared folder between the Sonatype scanner and NeuVector?

If you're using IQ CLI version 1.183.0 or earlier, the environmental variable NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_MOUNT_PATH is used to override the shared folder for communication between the Sonatype scanner and the NeuVector container. This is not needed if you're using IQ CLI version 1.184.0 or later.

How can I scan with an SELinux image?

If you're using IQ CLI version 1.183.0 or earlier, there is support for the environmental variable NEXUS_CONTAINER_SCANNING_BIND_MOUNT_SHARED. Setting the property to true will include the ':z' option in the request allowing the bind mount content to be shared among multiple containers. This is not needed if you're using IQ CLI version 1.184.0 or later.

Details are found in the Docker documentation.

Why are components discovered by Sonatype Container Security showing the component's license name as "Not Provided"?

The Sonatype Container Security scan does not show the license information for all the detected components. These are OS-level components where the identity information is provided by a third-party source that only provides vulnerability information. There is no way to get the license information at this time. This feature has been raised as an enhancement request. Submit your interest on ideas.sonatype.com

Why does the component overview page only show one version?

The component overview page only shows one version because NeuVector's provided component identity information does not include other versions of the component data.