prowler/docs/user-guide/providers/image/getting-started-image.mdx

---
title: "Getting Started with the Image Provider"
---

import { VersionBadge } from "/snippets/version-badge.mdx"

Prowler's Image provider enables comprehensive container image security scanning by integrating with [Trivy](https://trivy.dev/). This provider detects vulnerabilities, exposed secrets, and misconfigurations in container images, converting Trivy findings into Prowler's standard reporting format for unified security assessment.

## How It Works

* **Trivy integration:** Prowler leverages [Trivy](https://trivy.dev/) to scan container images for vulnerabilities, secrets, misconfigurations, and license issues.
* **Trivy required:** Trivy must be installed and available in the system PATH before running any scan.
* **Authentication:** No registry authentication is required for public images. For private registries, credentials can be provided via environment variables or manual `docker login`.
* **Output formats:** Results are output in the same formats as other Prowler providers (CSV, JSON, HTML, etc.).

## Prowler CLI

<VersionBadge version="5.19.0" />

<Note>
The Image provider is currently available in Prowler CLI only.
</Note>

### Install Trivy

Install Trivy using one of the following methods:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Homebrew">
    ```bash
    brew install trivy
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="apt (Debian/Ubuntu)">
    ```bash
    sudo apt-get install trivy
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Install Script">
    ```bash
    curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aquasecurity/trivy/main/contrib/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

For additional installation methods, see the [Trivy installation guide](https://trivy.dev/latest/getting-started/installation/).


### Supported Scanners

Prowler CLI supports the following scanners:

* [Vulnerability](https://trivy.dev/docs/latest/guide/scanner/vulnerability/)
* [Secret](https://trivy.dev/docs/latest/guide/scanner/secret/)
* [Misconfiguration](https://trivy.dev/docs/latest/guide/scanner/misconfiguration/)
* [License](https://trivy.dev/docs/latest/guide/scanner/license/)

By default, only vulnerability and secret scanners run during a scan. To specify which scanners to use, refer to the [Specify Scanners](#specify-scanners) section below.

### Scan Container Images

Use the `image` argument to run Prowler with the Image provider. Specify the images to scan using the `-I` flag or an image list file.

#### Scan a Single Image

To scan a single container image:

```bash
prowler image -I alpine:3.18
```

#### Scan Multiple Images

To scan multiple images, repeat the `-I` flag:

```bash
prowler image -I nginx:latest -I redis:7 -I python:3.12-slim
```

#### Scan From an Image List File

For large-scale scanning, provide a file containing one image per line:

```bash
prowler image --image-list images.txt
```

The file supports comments (lines starting with `#`) and blank lines:

```text
# Production images
nginx:1.25
redis:7-alpine

# Development images
python:3.12-slim
node:20-bookworm
```

<Note>
Image list files are limited to a maximum of 10,000 lines. Individual image names exceeding 500 characters are automatically skipped with a warning.
</Note>

<Warning>
Image names must follow the Open Container Initiative (OCI) reference format. Valid names start with an alphanumeric character and contain only letters, digits, periods, hyphens, underscores, slashes, colons, and `@` symbols. Names containing shell metacharacters (`;`, `|`, `&`, `$`, `` ` ``) are rejected to prevent command injection.
</Warning>

Valid examples:
* **Standard tag:** `alpine:3.18`
* **Custom registry:** `myregistry.io/myapp:v1.0`
* **SHA digest:** `ghcr.io/org/image@sha256:abc123...`

#### Specify Scanners

To select which scanners Trivy runs, use the `--scanners` option. By default, Prowler enables `vuln` and `secret` scanners:

```bash
# Vulnerability scanning only
prowler image -I alpine:3.18 --scanners vuln

# All available scanners
prowler image -I alpine:3.18 --scanners vuln secret misconfig license
```


#### Image Config Scanners

To scan Dockerfile-level metadata for misconfigurations or embedded secrets, use the `--image-config-scanners` option:

```bash
# Scan Dockerfile for misconfigurations
prowler image -I alpine:3.18 --image-config-scanners misconfig

# Scan Dockerfile for both misconfigurations and secrets
prowler image -I alpine:3.18 --image-config-scanners misconfig secret
```

Available image config scanners:

* **misconfig**: Detects Dockerfile misconfigurations (e.g., running as root, missing health checks)
* **secret**: Identifies secrets embedded in Dockerfile instructions

<Note>
Image config scanners are disabled by default. This option is independent from `--scanners` and specifically targets the image configuration (Dockerfile) rather than the image filesystem.
</Note>

#### Filter by Severity

To filter findings by severity level, use the `--trivy-severity` option:

```bash
# Only critical and high severity findings
prowler image -I alpine:3.18 --trivy-severity CRITICAL HIGH
```

Available severity levels: `CRITICAL`, `HIGH`, `MEDIUM`, `LOW`, `UNKNOWN`.

#### Ignore Unfixed Vulnerabilities

To exclude vulnerabilities without available fixes:

```bash
prowler image -I alpine:3.18 --ignore-unfixed
```

#### Configure Scan Timeout

To adjust the scan timeout for large images or slow network conditions, use the `--timeout` option:

```bash
prowler image -I large-image:latest --timeout 10m
```

The timeout accepts values in seconds (`s`), minutes (`m`), or hours (`h`). Default: `5m`.

### Registry Scan Mode

Registry Scan Mode enumerates and scans all images from an OCI-compatible registry, Docker Hub namespace, or Amazon ECR registry. To activate it, use the `--registry` flag with the registry URL:

```bash
prowler image --registry myregistry.io
```

#### Discover Available Images

To list all repositories and tags available in the registry without running a scan, use the `--registry-list` flag. This is useful for discovering image names and tags before building filter regexes:

```bash
prowler image --registry myregistry.io --registry-list
```

Example output:

```text
Registry: myregistry.io (3 repositories, 8 images)

  api-service (2 tags)
    latest, v3.1
  hub-scanner (3 tags)
    latest, v1.0, v2.0
  web-frontend (3 tags)
    latest, v1.0, v2.0
```

Filters can be combined with `--registry-list` to preview the results before scanning:

```bash
prowler image --registry myregistry.io --registry-list --image-filter "api.*"
```

#### Filter Repositories

To filter repositories by name during enumeration, use the `--image-filter` flag with a Python regex pattern (matched via `re.search`):

```bash
# Scan only repositories starting with "prod/"
prowler image --registry myregistry.io --image-filter "^prod/"
```

#### Filter Tags

To filter tags during enumeration, use the `--tag-filter` flag with a Python regex pattern:

```bash
# Scan only semantic version tags
prowler image --registry myregistry.io --tag-filter "^v\d+\.\d+\.\d+$"
```

Both filters can be combined:

```bash
prowler image --registry myregistry.io --image-filter "^prod/" --tag-filter "^(latest|v\d+)"
```

#### Limit the Number of Images

To prevent accidentally scanning a large number of images, use the `--max-images` flag. The scan aborts if the discovered image count exceeds the limit:

```bash
prowler image --registry myregistry.io --max-images 10
```

Setting `--max-images` to `0` (default) disables the limit.

<Note>
When `--registry-list` is active, the `--max-images` limit is not enforced because no scan is performed.
</Note>

#### Skip TLS Verification

To connect to registries with self-signed certificates, use the `--registry-insecure` flag:

```bash
prowler image --registry internal-registry.local --registry-insecure
```

<Warning>
Skipping TLS verification disables certificate validation for registry connections. Use this flag only for trusted internal registries with self-signed certificates.
</Warning>

#### Supported Registries

Registry Scan Mode supports the following registry types:

* **OCI-compatible registries:** Any registry implementing the OCI Distribution Specification (e.g., Harbor, GitLab Container Registry, GitHub Container Registry).
* **Docker Hub:** Specify a namespace with `--registry docker.io/{org_or_user}`. Public namespaces can be scanned without credentials; authenticated access is used automatically when `REGISTRY_USERNAME` and `REGISTRY_PASSWORD` are set.
* **Amazon ECR:** Use the full ECR endpoint URL (e.g., `123456789.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com`). Authentication is handled via AWS credentials.

### Authentication for Private Registries

To scan images from private registries, the Image provider supports three authentication methods. Prowler uses the first available method in this priority order:

#### 1. Basic Authentication (Environment Variables)

To authenticate with a username and password, set the `REGISTRY_USERNAME` and `REGISTRY_PASSWORD` environment variables. Prowler automatically runs `docker login`, pulls the image, and performs a `docker logout` after the scan completes:

```bash
export REGISTRY_USERNAME="myuser"
export REGISTRY_PASSWORD="mypassword"

prowler image -I myregistry.io/myapp:v1.0
```

Both variables must be set for this method to activate. Prowler handles the full lifecycle — login, pull, scan, and cleanup — without any manual Docker commands.

#### 2. Token-Based Authentication

To authenticate using a registry token (such as a bearer or OAuth2 token), set the `REGISTRY_TOKEN` environment variable. Prowler passes the token directly to Trivy:

```bash
export REGISTRY_TOKEN="my-registry-token"

prowler image -I myregistry.io/myapp:v1.0
```

This method is useful for registries that support token-based access without requiring a username and password.

#### 3. Manual Docker Login (Fallback)

If no environment variables are set, Prowler relies on existing credentials in Docker's credential store (`~/.docker/config.json`). To configure credentials manually before scanning:

```bash
docker login myregistry.io

prowler image -I myregistry.io/myapp:v1.0
```

<Note>
When basic authentication is active (method 1), Prowler automatically logs out from all authenticated registries after the scan completes. Manual `docker login` sessions (method 3) are not affected by this cleanup.
</Note>

### Troubleshooting Common Scan Errors

The Image provider categorizes common Trivy errors with actionable guidance:

* **Authentication failure (401/403):** Registry credentials are missing or invalid. Verify the `REGISTRY_USERNAME`/`REGISTRY_PASSWORD` or `REGISTRY_TOKEN` environment variables, or run `docker login` for the target registry and retry the scan.
* **Image not found (404):** The specified image name, tag, or registry is incorrect. Verify the image reference exists and is accessible.
* **Rate limited (429):** The container registry is throttling requests. Wait before retrying, or authenticate to increase rate limits.
* **Network issue:** Trivy cannot reach the registry due to connectivity problems. Check network access, DNS resolution, and firewall rules.