> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/security-testing-orchestration/use-sto/sto-scanner-configuration/cortex-cloud-scanner-reference.md).

# Cortex Cloud step configuration

You can scan container images and ingest results from [Cortex Cloud](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud-security) (Palo Alto Networks).

{% hint style="info" %}
This scanner is currently behind the feature flag `STO_STEP_PALETTE_CORTEX_CLOUD`. Contact [Harness Support](mailto:support@harness.io) to enable this feature.
{% endhint %}

### Important notes <a href="#important-notes" id="important-notes"></a>

* You can utilize custom STO scan images and pipelines to run scans as a non-root user. For more details, refer [Configure your pipeline to use STO images from private registry](/security-testing-orchestration/troubleshooting-and-resources/sto-use-cases/set-up-sto-pipelines/configure-pipeline-to-use-sto-images-from-private-registry.md).
* STO supports three different approaches for loading self-signed certificates. For more information, refer [Run STO scans with custom SSL certificates](/security-testing-orchestration/troubleshooting-and-resources/sto-use-cases/secure-sto-pipelines/ssl-setup-in-sto.md#supported-workflows-for-adding-custom-ssl-certificates).

The following topics contain useful information for setting up scanner integrations in STO:

* [What's supported in STO](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/sto-whats-supported/sto-deployments.md)
* [Security Testing Orchestration FAQs](/security-testing-orchestration/troubleshooting-and-resources/faqs.md)
* [Optimize STO pipelines](/security-testing-orchestration/troubleshooting-and-resources/sto-use-cases/set-up-sto-pipelines/optimize-sto-pipelines.md)

### Cortex Cloud step settings for STO <a href="#cortex-cloud-step-settings-for-sto" id="cortex-cloud-step-settings-for-sto"></a>

The recommended workflow is to add a **Cortex Cloud** step to a **Security** or **Build** stage and then configure it as described below.

#### Scan <a href="#scan" id="scan"></a>

**Scan Mode**

* **Orchestration** Configure the step to [run a scan](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/run-an-orchestrated-scan-in-sto.md) and then ingest, normalize, and deduplicate the results.
* **Extraction** Configure the step to [extract scan results from an external SaaS service](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/sto-workflows-overview.md#extraction-workflows-in-sto) and then ingest, normalize, and deduplicate the data.
* **Ingestion** Configure the step to [read scan results from a data file](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/ingest-scan-results-into-an-sto-pipeline.md) and then ingest, normalize, and deduplicate the data.

**Scan Configuration**

The predefined configuration to use for the scan. All scan steps have at least one configuration.

#### Target <a href="#target" id="target"></a>

**Type**

The target type to scan for vulnerabilities.

* **Container Image** Scan the layers, libraries, and packages in a container image.

**Target and variant detection**

When **Auto** is enabled for container images, the step detects the target and variant using the **Container Image Name** and **Tag/Digest** defined in the step or runtime input.

Note the following:

* **Auto** is not available when the **Scan Mode** is **Ingestion**.
* By default, **Auto** is selected when you add the step. You can change this setting if needed.

**Name**

The identifier for the [target](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/targets-and-baselines.md), such as `codebaseAlpha` or `jsmith/myalphaservice`. Descriptive target names make it much easier to navigate your scan data in the STO UI.

It is good practice to [specify a baseline](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/targets-and-baselines.md#every-target-needs-a-baseline) for every target.

**Variant**

The identifier for the specific variant to scan. This is usually the branch name, image tag, or product version. Harness maintains a historical trend for each variant.

#### Container image <a href="#container-image" id="container-image"></a>

**Registry Type**

Select where the container image is stored:

* **Harness**: The image is stored in the Harness Artifact Registry.
* **Third-Party**: The image is stored in a third-party registry such as Docker Hub, Amazon ECR, Google Container Registry, or Azure Container Registry.
* **Local**: The image is available locally in this stage (for example, built in a previous step).

**Registry**

When **Registry Type** is **Harness**, select the Harness Artifact Registry connector where the image is stored. You must also specify the [Image Path](#image-path) for the image you want to scan.

**Image Path**

When **Registry Type** is **Harness**, enter the path to the image in Harness Artifact Registry, including the tag or digest. For example: `my-org/my-service:latest` or `my-org/my-service@sha256:abc123...`

**Type**

When **Registry Type** is **Third-Party** or **Local**, select the registry or image source type.

The registry type where the image is stored:

* **Docker v2** A registry that uses the Docker Registry v2 API such as [Docker Hub](https://docs.docker.com/registry/spec/api/), [Google Container Registry](https://cloud.google.com/container-registry), or [Google Artifact Registry](https://cloud.google.com/artifact-registry). STO will automatically pull and scan the container image or OCI/Docker archive.
* [**AWS ECR**](https://aws.amazon.com/ecr/) Set your AWS ECR connector with image details. STO will automatically pull and scan the container image or OCI/Docker archive.
* [**Jfrog Artifactory**](https://jfrog.com/artifactory/) Set your Jfrog Artifactory connector with image details. STO will automatically pull and scan the container image or OCI/Docker archive.
* **Local Image in this Stage** Scan a local image built and stored within the context of the current stage (via `/var/run/docker.sock` registered as a stage level volume mount). For this, you will need to [configure Docker-in-Docker](/security-testing-orchestration/use-sto/sto-scanner-configuration/security-step-settings-reference.md#configuring-docker-in-docker-dind-for-your-pipeline) as a background step. STO will identify and scan the container image matching the step configuration inside the Docker-in-Docker background within that stage.
* **Local OCI/Docker archive in this Stage** Scan an OCI or Docker archive created and stored within the current stage. STO will scan the archive based on the path configured in the workspace field during the step. Ensure that the path to which the archive is saved is a shared volume mount.

**Domain**

When **Registry Type** is **Third-Party**, enter the URL of the registry that contains the image to scan. Examples include:

* `docker.io`
* `app.harness.io/registry`
* `us-east1-docker.pkg.dev`

**Name**

When **Registry Type** is **Third-Party**, specify the image name. For non-local images, you also need to specify the image repository. Example: `jsmith/myalphaservice` Example: `jsmith/myalphaservice`

**Tag/Digest**

The image tag or digest. Examples: `latest`, `1.2.3`, `@sha256:abc123...`

**Access Id**

The username to log in to the image registry.

**Access Token**

The access token used to log in to the image registry. This is usually a password or an API key.

You should create a Harness text secret with your encrypted token and reference the secret using the format `<+secrets.getValue("container-access-id")>`. For more information, go to [Add and Reference Text Secrets](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/secrets/add-use-text-secrets.md).

#### Authentication <a href="#authentication" id="authentication"></a>

To authenticate with Cortex Cloud, you need an API key from your Cortex XDR console.

<details>

<summary>Generate an API key in Cortex XDR</summary>

1. In Cortex XDR, go to **Settings** > **Configurations** > **Integrations** > **API Keys**.
2. Select **+ New Key** and choose **API Key Type**: **Advanced**.
3. (Optional) Set an expiration date for the key.
4. Select the desired access level and click **Generate**.
5. Copy the API key immediately — you cannot view it again after closing.
6. Note the **ID** number from the API Keys table — this is your Access ID.
7. Right-click your API key and select **View Examples** to find your FQDN for the Domain field.

</details>

**Domain**

The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for your Cortex Cloud API endpoint. This is a unique host and domain name associated with your tenant.

The Domain uses the following format:

```
https://api-<tenant>.xdr.<region>.paloaltonetworks.com
```

For example: `https://api-hsto.xdr.in.paloaltonetworks.com`

To find your Domain:

1. In Cortex XDR, go to **Settings** > **Configurations** > **Integrations** > **API Keys**.
2. Right-click your API key and select **View Examples**.
3. Copy the base URL from the CURL example (e.g., `https://api-{fqdn}/public_api/v1/...`).

**Access ID**

The API Key ID from your Cortex XDR console. This is the numeric ID shown in the **ID** column of the API Keys table.

This value is used as the `x-xdr-auth-id` header for API authentication.

Create a Harness text secret and reference it using an expression such as `<+secrets.getValue("project.access_id")>`. Go to [Add and reference text secrets](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/secrets/add-use-text-secrets.md) to create the secret.

**Access Token**

The API Key generated from your Cortex XDR console. This is the key you copied when creating the API key.

This value is used as the `Authorization` header for API authentication.

Create a Harness text secret and reference it using an expression such as `<+secrets.getValue("project.access_token")>`. Go to [Add and reference text secrets](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/secrets/add-use-text-secrets.md) to create the secret.

#### Scan Tool <a href="#scan-tool" id="scan-tool"></a>

**Use Raw Scanner Severity**

This option allows you to configure the step to use the severity reported directly by the scanner. By default, STO assigns severity based on numeric scores (such as CVSS). When this option is enabled, STO bypasses its internal severity mapping and uses the severity levels reported by the scanner (e.g., Critical, High, Medium, Low).

To enable this behavior, check the **Use Raw Scanner Severity** field (recommended), or add `ingest_tool_severity: true` setting in the **Settings** section.

#### Ingestion File <a href="#ingestion-file" id="ingestion-file"></a>

The path to your scan results when running an [Ingestion scan](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/ingest-scan-results-into-an-sto-pipeline.md), for example `/shared/scan_results/myscan.latest.sarif`.

* The data file must be in a [supported format](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/sto-whats-supported/scanners.md#supported-ingestion-formats) for the scanner.
* The data file must be accessible to the scan step. It's good practice to save your results files to a [shared path](/continuous-integration/new-to-harness-ci/key-concepts.md#stages) in your stage. In the visual editor, go to the stage where you're running the scan. Then go to **Overview** > **Shared Paths**. You can also add the path to the YAML stage definition like this:

  ```yaml
      - stage:
        spec:
          sharedPaths:
            - /shared/scan_results
  ```

#### Log Level <a href="#log-level" id="log-level"></a>

The minimum severity of the messages you want to include in your scan logs. You can specify one of the following:

* **DEBUG**
* **INFO**
* **WARNING**
* **ERROR**

#### Additional CLI flags <a href="#additional-cli-flags" id="additional-cli-flags"></a>

Use this field to run the scanner binary with additional flags supported by the external scanner.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Passing additional CLI flags is an advanced feature. Harness recommends the following best practices:

* Test your flags and arguments thoroughly before you use them in your Harness pipelines. Some flags might not work in the context of STO.
* Don't add flags that are already used in the default configuration of the scan step.

  To check the default configuration, go to a pipeline execution where the scan step ran with no additional flags. Check the log output for the scan step. You should see a line like this:

  `Command [ scancmd -f json -o /tmp/output.json ]`

  In this case, don't add `-f` or `-o` to **Additional CLI flags**.
  {% endhint %}

#### Fail on Severity <a href="#fail-on-severity" id="fail-on-severity"></a>

Every STO scan step has a **Fail on Severity** setting. If the scan finds any vulnerability with the specified [severity level](/security-testing-orchestration/new-to-sto/key-concepts/severities.md) or higher, the pipeline fails automatically. You can specify one of the following:

* **`CRITICAL`**
* **`HIGH`**
* **`MEDIUM`**
* **`LOW`**
* **`INFO`**
* **`NONE`** — Do not fail on severity

The YAML definition looks like this: `fail_on_severity : critical # | high | medium | low | info | none`

#### Settings <a href="#settings" id="settings"></a>

You can use this field to specify environment variables for your scanner.

Add key value pairs under **Settings (optional)** to override Cortex Cloud timeout defaults. Harness configures default values in the backend as 600s. Add settings only when you need to override those defaults. Use the setting that matches your scan mode.

| Key                               | Example value(in seconds) | Scan mode     |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------- |
| `PRODUCT_CORTEX_XQL_POLL_TIMEOUT` | `340`                     | Extraction    |
| `PRODUCT_CORTEX_CLI_TIMEOUT`      | `320`                     | Orchestration |

**`PRODUCT_CORTEX_XQL_POLL_TIMEOUT`:** How long (in seconds) STO will keep polling Cortex Cloud for XQL query results before timing out. You can set this lower than the default to fail faster, or higher if your scans typically take longer.

**`PRODUCT_CORTEX_CLI_TIMEOUT`:** How long (in seconds) the Cortex CLI process can run in **Orchestration** mode before STO terminates it. Set this in **Settings** as an environment variable.

{% hint style="info" %}
The Cortex CLI is pinned to version **`0.33`** in the STO scan image. Using any other version may cause unexpected behavior or break the integration.
{% endhint %}

#### Additional Configuration <a href="#additional-configuration" id="additional-configuration"></a>

The fields under **Additional Configuration** vary based on the type of infrastructure. Depending on the infrastructure type selected, some fields may or may not appear in your settings. Below are the details for each field

* Override Security Test Image
  * [Container Registry](/security-testing-orchestration/troubleshooting-and-resources/sto-use-cases/set-up-sto-pipelines/configure-pipeline-to-use-sto-images-from-private-registry.md#step-level-override)
  * [Image Tag](/security-testing-orchestration/troubleshooting-and-resources/sto-use-cases/set-up-sto-pipelines/configure-pipeline-to-use-sto-images-from-private-registry.md#step-level-override)
* [Privileged](/continuous-integration/use-harness-ci/use-harness-ci/manage-dependencies/background-step-settings.md#privileged)
* [Image Pull Policy](/continuous-integration/use-harness-ci/use-harness-ci/manage-dependencies/background-step-settings.md#image-pull-policy)
* [Run as User](/continuous-integration/use-harness-ci/use-harness-ci/manage-dependencies/background-step-settings.md#run-as-user)
* [Set Container Resources](/continuous-integration/use-harness-ci/use-harness-ci/manage-dependencies/background-step-settings.md#set-container-resources)
* [Timeout](/continuous-integration/use-harness-ci/use-harness-ci/run-step-settings.md#timeout)

#### Advanced settings <a href="#advanced-settings" id="advanced-settings"></a>

In the **Advanced** settings, you can use the following options:

* [Conditional Execution](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/pipelines/step-skip-condition-settings.md)
* [Failure Strategy](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/pipelines/failure-handling/define-a-failure-strategy-on-stages-and-steps.md)
* [Looping Strategy](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/pipelines/looping-strategies/looping-strategies-matrix-repeat-and-parallelism.md)
* [Policy Enforcement](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/governance/policy-as-code/harness-governance-overview.md)

### Proxy settings <a href="#proxy-settings" id="proxy-settings"></a>

This step supports private network connectivity if you're using Harness Cloud infrastructure. For information on connectivity options, see [Private network connectivity options](/harness-ai/use-harness-platform/references/private-network-connectivity/private-network-connectivity.md). When using proxy configurations, the `HTTPS_PROXY` and `HTTP_PROXY` variables are automatically set to route traffic through the secure tunnel. If there are specific addresses that you want to bypass the proxy, you can define those in the `NO_PROXY` variable. This can be configured in the **Settings** of your step.

If you need to configure a different proxy, you can manually set the `HTTPS_PROXY`, `HTTP_PROXY`, and `NO_PROXY` variables in the **Settings** of your step.

**Definitions of Proxy variables:**

* `HTTPS_PROXY`: Specify the proxy server for HTTPS requests, example `https://sc.internal.harness.io:30000`
* `HTTP_PROXY`: Specify the proxy server for HTTP requests, example `http://sc.internal.harness.io:30000`
* `NO_PROXY`: Specify the domains as comma-separated values that should bypass the proxy. This allows you to exclude certain traffic from being routed through the proxy.