Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the process of configuring infrastructure using versioned code files. Your IaC tool then automatically updates your infrastructure so it matches the state defined in your files. This improves provisioning speed and repeatability while making it easier to detect configuration drift.
IaC config files can contain misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. These can range from minor errors, such as mistyping a resource name, to more serious omissions, like accidentally configuring a private resource to be made public.
IaC scanning tools check your files for these problems. They allow you to find and fix misconfigurations before you apply changes to your infrastructure. This improves reliability and helps prevent security breaches. In this article, we’re going to explore 10 of the best IaC scanners you can try.
An Infrastructure as Code (IaC) scanning tool is a type of software designed to analyze IaC templates, configurations, and scripts to detect misconfigurations, security vulnerabilities, compliance violations, and best practice deviations before infrastructure is deployed. Using a scan tool before you apply new IaC configs lets you be confident that your change works as intended.
IaC scanners can be grouped into a few main categories:
- Linters provide basic checks for syntax errors, formatting problems, and obvious bugs.
- Static Code Analysis (SCA) tools perform a detailed analysis of the code without running it, enabling more bugs and misconfigurations to be found.
- Vulnerability scanners specifically search for known vulnerabilities, such as using an outdated dependency that contains a CVE.
- Static Application Security Testers (SAST) combine SCA and Vulnerability Scanning to produce a detailed assessment of security risks, including threats from insecure coding practices.
These techniques are often used by developers writing app source code, but they’re just as relevant to operations teams working with IaC tools. Scanning your config files during development enables early detection of problems before they can affect live environments.
Many teams choose scanners that combine SAST, SCA, and linting functions, giving complete coverage in one tool. In other cases, it can be preferable to select a specialist solution for each role, as this sometimes provides greater depth. You should also check that your scanners support all the IaC tools you use. If some tools aren’t compatible, then you could end up with infrastructure coverage black spots.
IaC scan tools analyze your infrastructure code and config files to detect potential issues. Here’s our guide to the leading IaC scanners.
The best IaC tool list include:
This isn’t an exhaustive index, but we hope it’s a useful starting point for SCA and vulnerability scanning with the most popular IaC tools.
Checkov is an open-source IaC static analysis tool. It scans your IaC templates for misconfigurations and security vulnerabilities. A set of best practice built-in policies is included, but you can also write your own rules as Python code or declarative YAML files. This lets you easily enforce advanced resource-, team-, or project-specific policies.
Checkov has extensive support for different IaC tools and cloud providers. It works with Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifest files, Helm charts and more, letting you check all your infrastructure configs in one place. You can also integrate Checkov with major CI/CD systems including GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Bitbucket, allowing you to perform scans and access the results within your pipelines.
Key features
- Policy-as-Code: Defines security and compliance policies in a codified, version-controlled format. (Read more: What is Policy as Code (PaC) & How Do You Implement It?)
- CI/CD integration: Scans IaC during continuous integration and deployment pipelines.
- Multi-IaC support: Supports multiple IaC frameworks like Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, and Helm.
- Static code analysis: Detects misconfigurations before deployment by analyzing code locally.
- Custom policies: Enables creating and enforcing custom rules tailored to specific security and compliance needs.
Price/license: Free (Open-source)
Website: https://www.checkov.io/
Use case example: Checkov Features, Use Cases & Examples
KICS (Keeping Infrastructure as Code Secure) provides static analysis and security tests for IaC tools including Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, Ansible, Knative, Kubernetes and more. It’s designed to be an all-in-one solution that provides a complete report of all the problems found in your files.
KICS ships with over 2,000 heuristics that detect possible issues. Each rule can be customized to suit your compliance requirements. You can also extend KICS with your own rules, or implement support for additional IaC providers. The tool is easy to get started with using its official Docker image.
Key features
- IaC scanning: Detects security vulnerabilities in IaC files like Terraform, Ansible, and Kubernetes manifests.
- Extensive query library: Provides a wide range of built-in queries to identify misconfigurations and security issues.
- Multi-platform support: Works seamlessly with various IaC tools, cloud environments, and container orchestrators.
- Shift-left security: Integrates into CI/CD pipelines for early detection and remediation of security issues.
- Detailed reporting: Offers comprehensive reports to help visualize issues, providing remediation guidance and risk insights.
Price/license: Free (Open source)
Website: https://kics.io/index.html
Tenable’s Terrascan is a popular IaC static analysis tool that supports tools including Terraform, CloudFormation, cloud provider APIs, Kubernetes, and more. You can try it in your browser, run it locally, or easily integrate it with your chosen CI/CD service.
In addition to static scans of your config files, Terrascan also supports continuous monitoring of your live infrastructure resources. It can detect config drift in your environments and help you restore the correct state.
Terrascan is fully extensible using custom OPA policies written in Rego. More than 500 policies, including common industry-standard frameworks such as the CIS Benchmarks, are included by default.
Key features
- Policy as Code: Enforces compliance and security using customizable, codified policies.
- Multicloud support: Scans IaC across multiple cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- CI/CD integration: Integrates seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines for automated security scanning.
- Drift detection: Identifies configuration drift between deployed infrastructure and IaC definitions.
- Extensive rule library: Provides a comprehensive set of pre-built rules for security and compliance checks.
Price/license: Free (Open source)
Website: https://runterrascan.io
Use case example: Terrascan Features, Use Cases & Custom Policies
TFLint is a Terraform-specific linting tool. It provides a plugin-extensible framework for detecting misconfigurations in your Terraform files. It flags problems including errors, unused config sections, and deprecated syntax.
TFLint is a good choice when you’re only working with Terraform and need to run core checks quickly. It helps you maintain consistent code quality and avoid common errors, but it’s not as comprehensive as static analysis tools. Nonetheless, it’s easy to implement your own checks by writing custom plugins and OPA policies.
Key features
- Static analysis: Detects potential errors and best practice violations in Terraform configurations before deployment.
- Pluggable rulesets: Allows customization by enabling or disabling rules or adding custom rules for specific use cases.
- Multi-provider support: Provides checks and validations for multiple cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
- Extensibility: Supports custom plugins to extend validation capabilities beyond the built-in rules.
- Fast execution: Offers quick analysis, enabling developers to integrate TFLint seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines for rapid feedback.
Price/license: Free (Open source)
Website: https://github.com/terraform-linters/tflint
Use case example: How to Lint Your Terraform Code
tfsec is an open-source Terraform static analysis solution that’s developed by Aqua Security. It deeply integrates with Terraform’s official Hashicorp Configuration Language (HCL) parser, enabling accurate scans with good coverage of all Terraform functions.
Built-in rules are available for the Terraform modules of major cloud providers. tfsec also checks local and remote Terraform modules, evaluates expressions, and checks the validity of inter-resource relationships. You can use tfsec within your CI/CD pipelines and add it to your IDEs using plugins, letting developers get results right alongside their work.
tfsec is a popular solution, but further development is now being directed at Aqua’s separate Trivy tool instead (see below). You can keep using tfsec but no new features are planned.
Key features
- Security scanning: tfsec scans Terraform code to identify potential security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.
- Contextual analysis: It analyzes code contextually to provide accurate security findings based on how resources are used.
- Extensibility: tfsec supports custom checks and plugins, allowing users to tailor security rules to their specific needs.
- CI/CD integration: Seamlessly integrates into CI/CD pipelines for continuous security enforcement during development.
- Rich output formats: Provides results in multiple formats (JSON, CSV, etc.) to accommodate different reporting and automation needs.
Price/license: Free (Open source)
Website: https://github.com/aquasecurity/tfsec
Use case example: What is tfsec? How to Install, Config, Ignore Checks
Trivy is a flexible security scanning engine that’s suitable for a variety of use cases, including IaC scans. It now includes the Terraform HCL scanning system from tfsec, in addition to support for CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Docker, Helm, and Azure ARM files. The tool reports misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and hardcoded secrets present in your IaC code.
Trivy can also scan live environments, including Kubernetes clusters and virtual machines running in your cloud accounts. This can help you find discrepancies compared to your IaC source files.
Further, Trivy can scan other types of target outside of IaC, including container images, filesystems, and Git repositories. This makes it a compelling choice when you want to standardize all your security scans around one tool.
Key features
- Vulnerability scanning: Detects vulnerabilities in container images, file systems, and repositories to enhance security posture.
- Misconfiguration detection: Identifies misconfigurations in Kubernetes, Terraform, and Docker to prevent security risks.
- IaC security: Analyzes IaC files (like Terraform and Kubernetes manifests) for security best practices and issues.
- SBOM generation: Creates a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to provide transparency about dependencies and components in projects.
- Comprehensive support: Supports multiple platforms and environments including container images, VM images, and CI/CD pipelines for integrated security.
Price/license: Free (Open source)
Website: https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy
GitLab Infrastructure as Code scanning is a built-in feature within the GitLab CI/CD platform. It provides a preconfigured CI/CD template that runs appropriate static analysis tests for the IaC files found in your project.
The system supports Ansible, CloudFormation, Azure ARM, Terraform, Kubernetes, and more. You can enable scans for your project by simply including the CI/CD template in your pipeline configuration. The results are then displayed in your GitLab Merge Requests, letting you check detected issues before new changes are accepted into your project.
GitLab IaC Scanning is a good option if you want to get started quickly and are already using GitLab for CI/CD. Once enabled, you can customize and extend the predefined rulesets, although this is only possible on GitLab’s paid Enterprise tier.
Key features
- Vulnerability detection: Automatically scans IaC templates for misconfigurations and security vulnerabilities, helping identify risks early in the development process.
- Integration with CI/CD pipelines: Seamlessly integrates into GitLab CI/CD pipelines to provide continuous security checks as part of your development workflow.
- Policy enforcement: Enables enforcement of security and compliance policies, ensuring infrastructure adheres to best practices before deployment.
- Detailed reports: Provides comprehensive, easy-to-understand reports with actionable insights for fixing detected misconfigurations.
- Support for popular IaC tools: Offers compatibility with widely-used IaC tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, and Ansible, ensuring broad applicability across infrastructure environments.
Price/license: Available across different GitLab pricing tiers, each offering varying features and capabilities
Website: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/application_security/iac_scanning
Kubescape is a Kubernetes linter and security scanner. It can check your YAML manifests and Helm charts for misconfigurations and security problems. Several standard security frameworks, including NSA, MITRE, and SOC2, are supported. You can also add your own controls using OPA and Rego rules.
Kubescape can perform live cluster scans to discover vulnerabilities in your environments. It’s also capable of providing continual runtime security, including automatic threat monitoring and analysis. Suggested hardening steps provide guidance on resolving misconfigurations. These features make Kubescape ideal for ops teams that need comprehensive Kubernetes protection.
Key features
- Security posture management: Continuously scans and monitors Kubernetes clusters for misconfigurations and vulnerabilities to ensure compliance with security standards.
- Compliance frameworks support: Supports major compliance standards like CIS Kubernetes Benchmark, NSA-CISA guidelines, and MITRE ATT&CK for security assessments.
- RBAC visualization: Offers Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) visualization to analyze and manage permissions and potential security risks effectively.
- CI/CD integration: Easily integrates into CI/CD pipelines to perform security checks during the development process.
- Open-source and extensible: Provides flexibility and transparency as an open-source tool, allowing customization and community contributions.
Price/license: Free tier and paid subscription
Website: https://kubescape.io
KubeLinter lints Kubernetes manifests and Helm charts. It’s designed to be simple to use, including sensible defaults that prioritize production readiness. Compared to other tools, KubeLinter can feel more approachable, but it’s still in development and is yet to reach a stable release.
The default checks cover a range of best practices for safe Kubernetes operations, such as running Deployments with at least three replicas, preventing use of privileged containers, and ensuring all Pods have a liveness probe. You can also add your own checks based on predefined templates.
Key features
- Static analysis for Kubernetes YAML files: KubeLinter scans Kubernetes manifests and Helm charts to identify potential misconfigurations and security issues before deployment.
- Customizable rules: Offers a set of predefined checks and allows users to create custom rules tailored to their organization’s standards.
- Helm chart support: Enables linting of Helm charts in addition to regular Kubernetes YAML files for comprehensive validation.
- CI/CD integration: Easily integrates with CI/CD pipelines to enforce security and configuration best practices automatically.
- Extensible and open source: As an open-source tool, it can be extended and customized to fit the evolving needs of Kubernetes projects.
Price/license: Free (Open source)
Website: https://docs.kubelinter.io
Spectral is a developer-centric cloud security platform from Check Point. It can scan IaC config files—among other resource types—to catch misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and leaked secrets. You can integrate scans with your CI/CD pipelines and cloud providers to ensure comprehensive protection.
Spectral is a commercial service that’s mainly aimed at enterprises. In addition to IaC scans, it supports SCA for source code, provides visibility into dependency issues, and can scour log files for exposed credentials and other sensitive information. When problems are found, Spectral highlights their exact location so you can start resolving them.
Key features
- Code security scanning: Automatically scans for security vulnerabilities in source code, configurations, and infrastructure-as-code files.
- Secrets detection: Identifies and prevents the leakage of secrets like API keys, tokens, and credentials within code repositories.
- CI/CD pipeline integration: Seamlessly integrates with CI/CD workflows to ensure security checks are automated throughout the development process.
- Fast scanning engine: Performs rapid, high-performance scans to minimize impact on development productivity.
- Customizable policies: Allows teams to define custom rules and policies to meet specific security needs and compliance standards.
Price/license: Pricing varies depending on the number of developers contributing code within a 90-day period
Website: https://spectralops.io
IaC scan tools should be integrated into your development process. Running them as part of your CI/CD pipeline before IaC changes are actually applied to your infrastructure is the most effective way to prevent broken and unsafe configs from rolling out.
Use CI/CD policies to enforce a scan whenever developers commit to IaC files. If the scan completes successfully, the pipeline can then run the IaC tool to apply the change. This automates the infrastructure provisioning process and enables central oversight of which configurations are in use.
Developers shouldn’t be able to directly change infrastructure by running the IaC tool locally. This would let devs apply potentially untested configs that could pose a threat. However, developers may need the ability to run local scans. This ensures they can quickly verify their changes meet required standards without having to push their code and wait for a CI/CD pipeline to complete.
A platform like Spacelift can help you and your organization fully manage cloud resources within minutes. Spacelift is an infrastructure management platform that supports tools like OpenTofu, Terraform, Ansible, Pulumi, Kubernetes, and more.
You can use Spacelift and its Custom Inputs feature to integrate tfsec, Checkov, Terrascan, Kics, and others in your workflows. Security is one of Spacelift’s biggest priorities, so there are also state-of-the-art security solutions that are embedded inside the product, like Policy as Code, Encryption, Single Sign-On (SSO), MFA, and Private Worker Pools.
Spacelift includes drift detection capabilities that periodically check your infrastructure for discrepancies compared to your repository’s state. It can then launch reconciliation jobs to restore the correct state, ensuring your infrastructure operates predictably and reliably.
With Spacelift, you get:
- Policies to control what kind of resources engineers can create, what parameters they can have, how many approvals you need for a run, what kind of task you execute, what happens when a pull request is open, and where to send your notifications
- Stack dependencies to build multi-infrastructure automation workflows with dependencies, having the ability to build a workflow that, for example, generates your EC2 instances using Terraform and combines it with Ansible to configure them
- Self-service infrastructure via Blueprints, or Spacelift’s Kubernetes operator, enabling your developers to do what matters – developing application code while not sacrificing control
- Creature comforts such as contexts (reusable containers for your environment variables, files, and hooks), and the ability to run arbitrary code
- Drift detection and optional remediation
Read more about integrating security tools with Spacelift. And if you want to learn more about Spacelift, create a free account or book a demo with one of our engineers.
IaC scanning tools find misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and compliance issues in your IaC config files. They let you fix possible problems before they reach your live infrastructure resources.
We’ve looked at 10 of the top IaC scanners for protecting your infrastructure deployments. There’s no universal solution because the best option depends on which IaC tools you’re using. Options such as Checkov and Trivy are good starting points for broad coverage, while more specialist scanners like TFLint and Kubescape provide tailored features for specific IaC platforms.
Secure Infrastructure as Code at Scale
Operate at the pace your business demands, knowing your infrastructure is compliant and under control. Spacelift enables you to rapidly provision and configure infrastructure in a single integrated workflow while giving you the control to manage risk and meet compliance requirements.
