> 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/grype/grype-scanner-reference.md).

# Grype step configuration

You can scan your container images and ingest results from [Grype](https://github.com/anchore/grype).

For information about setting up Grype in an air-gapped environment, go to [Set up Grype in air-gapped environments](/security-testing-orchestration/use-sto/sto-scanner-configuration/grype/grype-setup-in-airgapped.md).

### Important notes for running Grype scans in STO <a href="#important-notes-for-running-grype-scans-in-sto" id="important-notes-for-running-grype-scans-in-sto"></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)

### Grype step settings for STO <a href="#grype-step-settings-for-sto" id="grype-step-settings-for-sto"></a>

The recommended workflow is to add a Grype 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.
* **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**

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

  In most cases, you specify the codebase using a code repo connector that connects to the Git account or repository where your code is stored. For information, go to [Configure codebase](/continuous-integration/use-harness-ci/use-harness-ci/codebase-configuration/create-and-configure-a-codebase.md).

**Target and Variant Detection**

When **Auto** is enabled for code repositories, the step detects these values using `git`:

* To detect the target, the step runs `git config --get remote.origin.url`.
* To detect the variant, the step runs `git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`. The default assumption is that the `HEAD` branch is the one you want to scan.

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.

#### 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
  ```

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

**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**

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**

The image name. For non-local images, you also need to specify the image repository. 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).

#### 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 [`grype`](https://github.com/anchore/grype?tab=readme-ov-file) binary with CLI arguments such as:

`--only-fixed`

With this flag, `grype` reports only vulnerabilities that have known fixes.

{% 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.

#### 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)

### Configure Anchore Grype as a Built-in Scanner <a href="#configure-anchore-grype-as-a-built-in-scanner" id="configure-anchore-grype-as-a-built-in-scanner"></a>

The Anchore Grype scanner is available as a [built-in scanner](/security-testing-orchestration/use-sto/set-up-sto-scans/built-in-scanners.md) in STO. Configuring it as a built-in scanner enables the step to automatically perform scans using the free version without requiring any licenses. Follow these steps to set it up:

1. Search for **Container** in the step palette or navigate to the **Built-in Scanners** section and select the **Container** step.
2. Select **Anchore Grype** from the list of scanners.
3. Expand the **Additional CLI Flags** section if you want to configure optional CLI flags.
4. Configure the **Container Information** by setting the [Type](#type-1) and [Image](#container-image).
5. Click **Add Scanner** to save the configuration.

The scanner will automatically use the free version, detect scan targets, and can be further configured by clicking on the step whenever needed.

### 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.

### Troubleshoot "vulnerability database build date exceeds max allowed age" exception <a href="#troubleshoot-vulnerability-database-build-date-exceeds-max-allowed-age-exception" id="troubleshoot-vulnerability-database-build-date-exceeds-max-allowed-age-exception"></a>

The full exception is: `db could not be loaded: the vulnerability database was built n weeks ago (max allowed age is 5 days)`

This exception indicates that the Grype step in the STO process is unable to load the vulnerability database due to its age exceeding the maximum allowed age of 5 days. If the environment where you're running these scans has restricted internet connectivity (firewalled), you must set up a local database for Grype to update itself. For comprehensive documentation for the initial setup, configuring the local database, and final configuration, go to [Set up Grype in air-gapped environments](/security-testing-orchestration/use-sto/sto-scanner-configuration/grype/grype-setup-in-airgapped.md).

While Harness updates the database every time it rebuilds the Grype image, this is primarily done for performance reasons. A fresher database requires less time and effort to update at runtime. However, this update is not sufficient to bypass the database access requirement, as the maximum allowed age is 5 days. You can temporarily disable the age check and run Grype with the database it ships with, but this is not recommended from a security standpoint. It's advisable to follow the provided instructions to resolve the database access issue in a more secure manner.