Skip to content

checkov

checkov documentation

checkov - GitHub

Configuration in Mega-Linter

Variable Description Default value
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_ARGUMENTS User custom arguments to add in linter CLI call
Ex: -s --foo "bar"
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_FILTER_REGEX_INCLUDE Custom regex including filter
Ex: (src\|lib)
Include every file
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_FILTER_REGEX_EXCLUDE Custom regex excluding filter
Ex: (test\|examples)
Exclude no file
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_CLI_LINT_MODE Override default CLI lint mode
- file: Calls the linter for each file
- list_of_files: Call the linter with the list of files as argument
- project: Call the linter from the root of the project
{linter.cli_lint_mode}
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_FILE_EXTENSIONS Allowed file extensions. "*" matches any extension, "" matches empty extension. Empty list excludes all files
Ex: [".py", ""]
[".tf"]
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_FILE_NAMES_REGEX File name regex filters. Regular expression list for filtering files by their base names using regex full match. Empty list includes all files
Ex: ["Dockerfile(-.+)?", "Jenkinsfile"]
Include every file
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_PRE_COMMANDS List of bash commands to run before the linter None
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_POST_COMMANDS List of bash commands to run after the linter None
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_DISABLE_ERRORS Run linter but consider errors as warnings false
TERRAFORM_CHECKOV_DISABLE_ERRORS_IF_LESS_THAN Maximum number of errors allowed 0

IDE Integration

Use checkov in your favorite IDE to catch errors before Mega-Linter !

IDE Extension Name Install
Visual Studio Code Checkov Install in VsCode

Mega-Linter Flavours

This linter is available in the following flavours

Flavor Description Embedded linters Info
all Default Mega-Linter Flavor 94 Docker Image Size (tag) Docker Pulls
terraform Optimized for TERRAFORM based projects 45 Docker Image Size (tag) Docker Pulls

Behind the scenes

How are identified applicable files

  • File extensions: .tf

How the linting is performed

  • checkov is called one time by identified file

Example calls

checkov --file myfile.tf

Help content

usage: checkov [-h] [-v] [-d DIRECTORY] [-f FILE] [--skip-path SKIP_PATH]
               [--external-checks-dir EXTERNAL_CHECKS_DIR]
               [--external-checks-git EXTERNAL_CHECKS_GIT] [-l]
               [-o {cli,cyclonedx,json,junitxml,github_failed_only,sarif}]
               [--output-bc-ids] [--no-guide] [--quiet] [--compact]
               [--framework {cloudformation,terraform,kubernetes,serverless,arm,terraform_plan,helm,dockerfile,secrets,json,all}]
               [--skip-framework {cloudformation,terraform,kubernetes,serverless,arm,terraform_plan,helm,dockerfile,secrets,json}]
               [-c CHECK] [--skip-check SKIP_CHECK]
               [--run-all-external-checks] [--bc-api-key BC_API_KEY]
               [--docker-image DOCKER_IMAGE]
               [--dockerfile-path DOCKERFILE_PATH] [--repo-id REPO_ID]
               [-b BRANCH] [--skip-fixes] [--skip-suppressions]
               [--skip-policy-download]
               [--download-external-modules DOWNLOAD_EXTERNAL_MODULES]
               [--var-file VAR_FILE]
               [--external-modules-download-path EXTERNAL_MODULES_DOWNLOAD_PATH]
               [--evaluate-variables EVALUATE_VARIABLES] [-ca CA_CERTIFICATE]
               [--repo-root-for-plan-enrichment REPO_ROOT_FOR_PLAN_ENRICHMENT]
               [--config-file CONFIG_FILE] [--create-config CREATE_CONFIG]
               [--show-config] [--create-baseline] [--baseline BASELINE]
               [-s | --soft-fail-on SOFT_FAIL_ON | --hard-fail-on HARD_FAIL_ON]

Infrastructure as code static analysis

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v, --version         version
  -d DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY
                        IaC root directory (can not be used together with
                        --file).
  -f FILE, --file FILE  IaC file(can not be used together with --directory)
  --skip-path SKIP_PATH
                        Path (file or directory) to skip, using regular
                        expression logic, relative to current working
                        directory. Word boundaries are not implicit; i.e.,
                        specifying "dir1" will skip any directory or
                        subdirectory named "dir1". Ignored with -f. Can be
                        specified multiple times.
  --external-checks-dir EXTERNAL_CHECKS_DIR
                        Directory for custom checks to be loaded. Can be
                        repeated
  --external-checks-git EXTERNAL_CHECKS_GIT
                        Github url of external checks to be added. you can
                        specify a subdirectory after a double-slash //. cannot
                        be used together with --external-checks-dir
  -l, --list            List checks
  -o {cli,cyclonedx,json,junitxml,github_failed_only,sarif}, --output {cli,cyclonedx,json,junitxml,github_failed_only,sarif}
                        Report output format. Can be repeated
  --output-bc-ids       Print Bridgecrew platform IDs (BC...) instead of
                        Checkov IDs (CKV...), if the check exists in the
                        platform
  --no-guide            Do not fetch Bridgecrew platform IDs and guidelines
                        for the checkov output report. Note: this prevents
                        Bridgecrew platform check IDs from being used anywhere
                        in the CLI.
  --quiet               in case of CLI output, display only failed checks
  --compact             in case of CLI output, do not display code blocks
  --framework {cloudformation,terraform,kubernetes,serverless,arm,terraform_plan,helm,dockerfile,secrets,json,all}
                        filter scan to run only on a specific infrastructure
                        code frameworks
  --skip-framework {cloudformation,terraform,kubernetes,serverless,arm,terraform_plan,helm,dockerfile,secrets,json}
                        filter scan to skip specific infrastructure code
                        frameworks. will be included automatically for some
                        frameworks if system dependencies are missing.
  -c CHECK, --check CHECK
                        filter scan to run only on a specific check
                        identifier(allowlist), You can specify multiple checks
                        separated by comma delimiter
  --skip-check SKIP_CHECK
                        filter scan to run on all check but a specific check
                        identifier(denylist), You can specify multiple checks
                        separated by comma delimiter
  --run-all-external-checks
                        Run all external checks (loaded via --external-checks
                        options) even if the checks are not present in the
                        --check list. This allows you to always ensure that
                        new checks present in the external source are used. If
                        an external check is included in --skip-check, it will
                        still be skipped.
  --bc-api-key BC_API_KEY
                        Bridgecrew API key [env var: BC_API_KEY]
  --docker-image DOCKER_IMAGE
                        Scan docker images by name or ID. Only works with
                        --bc-api-key flag
  --dockerfile-path DOCKERFILE_PATH
                        Path to the Dockerfile of the scanned docker image
  --repo-id REPO_ID     Identity string of the repository, with form
                        <repo_owner>/<repo_name>
  -b BRANCH, --branch BRANCH
                        Selected branch of the persisted repository. Only has
                        effect when using the --bc-api-key flag
  --skip-fixes          Do not download fixed resource templates from
                        Bridgecrew. Only has effect when using the --bc-api-
                        key flag
  --skip-suppressions   Do not download preconfigured suppressions from the
                        Bridgecrew platform. Code comment suppressions will
                        still be honored. Only has effect when using the --bc-
                        api-key flag
  --skip-policy-download
                        Do not download custom policies configured in the
                        Bridgecrew platform. Only has effect when using the
                        --bc-api-key flag
  --download-external-modules DOWNLOAD_EXTERNAL_MODULES
                        download external terraform modules from public git
                        repositories and terraform registry [env var:
                        DOWNLOAD_EXTERNAL_MODULES]
  --var-file VAR_FILE   Variable files to load in addition to the default
                        files (see https://www.terraform.io/docs/language/valu
                        es/variables.html#variable-definitions-tfvars-
                        files).Currently only supported for source Terraform
                        (.tf file) scans. Requires using --directory, not
                        --file.
  --external-modules-download-path EXTERNAL_MODULES_DOWNLOAD_PATH
                        set the path for the download external terraform
                        modules [env var: EXTERNAL_MODULES_DIR]
  --evaluate-variables EVALUATE_VARIABLES
                        evaluate the values of variables and locals
  -ca CA_CERTIFICATE, --ca-certificate CA_CERTIFICATE
                        custom CA (bundle) file [env var: CA_CERTIFICATE]
  --repo-root-for-plan-enrichment REPO_ROOT_FOR_PLAN_ENRICHMENT
                        Directory containing the hcl code used to generate a
                        given plan file. Use with -f.
  --config-file CONFIG_FILE
                        path to the Checkov configuration YAML file
  --create-config CREATE_CONFIG
                        takes the current command line args and writes them
                        out to a config file at the given path
  --show-config         prints all args and config settings and where they
                        came from (eg. commandline, config file, environment
                        variable or default)
  --create-baseline     Alongside outputting the findings, save all results to
                        .checkov.baseline file so future runs will not re-flag
                        the same noise. Works only with `--directory` flag
  --baseline BASELINE   Use a .checkov.baseline file to compare current
                        results with a known baseline. Report will include
                        only failed checks that are newwith respect to the
                        provided baseline
  -s, --soft-fail       Runs checks but suppresses error code
  --soft-fail-on SOFT_FAIL_ON
                        Exits with a 0 exit code for specified checks. You can
                        specify multiple checks separated by comma delimiter
  --hard-fail-on HARD_FAIL_ON
                        Exits with a non-zero exit code for specified checks.
                        You can specify multiple checks separated by comma
                        delimiter

Args that start with '--' (eg. -v) can also be set in a config file
(/.checkov.yaml or /.checkov.yml or /root/.checkov.yaml or /root/.checkov.yml
or specified via --config-file). The config file uses YAML syntax and must
represent a YAML 'mapping' (for details, see
http://learn.getgrav.org/advanced/yaml). If an arg is specified in more than
one place, then commandline values override environment variables which
override config file values which override defaults.

Installation on mega-linter Docker image