implementing-infrastructure-as-code-security-scanning

name	implementing-infrastructure-as-code-security-scanning
description	Implements automated security scanning for Infrastructure as Code using Checkov, tfsec, and KICS to detect misconfigurations in Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifests, and Helm charts, plus policy-based governance and CI/CD integration. Use when validating cloud infrastructure before deployment or blocking insecure changes (public S3 buckets, open security groups) in pull requests.
domain	cybersecurity
subdomain	devsecops
tags	["devsecops","cicd","iac-security","checkov","tfsec","terraform","secure-sdlc"]
version	1.0.0
author	mahipal
license	Apache-2.0
nist_csf	["PR.PS-01","GV.SC-07","ID.IM-04","PR.PS-04"]
mitre_attack	["T1195","T1554","T1059.004","T1078.004","T1530"]

Implementing Infrastructure as Code Security Scanning

When to Use

• When provisioning cloud infrastructure with Terraform, CloudFormation, or Pulumi and needing automated security validation
• When compliance frameworks require evidence of infrastructure configuration review before deployment
• When preventing common cloud misconfigurations like public S3 buckets, open security groups, or unencrypted storage
• When establishing guardrails that block insecure infrastructure changes in pull requests
• When managing multi-cloud environments requiring consistent security policies across AWS, Azure, and GCP

Do not use for scanning application source code (use SAST), for monitoring already-deployed infrastructure drift (use cloud security posture management tools), or for container image vulnerability scanning (use Trivy).

Prerequisites

• Checkov v3.x installed (pip install checkov) or tfsec installed
• Terraform, CloudFormation, or Kubernetes IaC files in the repository
• CI/CD pipeline with access to IaC directories
• Bridgecrew API key (optional, for Checkov platform integration)

Workflow

Step 1: Run Checkov Against Terraform Files

# Scan all Terraform files in a directory
checkov -d ./terraform/ --framework terraform --output cli --output json --output-file-path ./results

# Scan specific file
checkov -f main.tf --output json

# Scan Terraform plan (more accurate for dynamic values)
terraform init && terraform plan -out=tfplan
terraform show -json tfplan > tfplan.json
checkov -f tfplan.json --framework terraform_plan

# Scan with specific checks only
checkov -d ./terraform/ --check CKV_AWS_18,CKV_AWS_19,CKV_AWS_20

# Skip specific checks
checkov -d ./terraform/ --skip-check CKV_AWS_145,CKV2_AWS_6

Step 2: Integrate IaC Scanning into GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/iac-security.yml
name: IaC Security Scan

on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - 'terraform/**'
      - 'cloudformation/**'