checkov-policy

Overview

Per checkov-home (opens in new window), supported frameworks: Terraform and Terraform plan, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Helm, ARM Templates, Serverless framework, AWS CDK. Checkov is the broadest IaC security scanner - covers more frameworks than tfsec (Terraform-only) or KICS (similar coverage but Checkov has more built-in checks per release).

When to use

• Team uses any of the supported IaC frameworks.
• Need security scanning for misconfigurations (open ports, unencrypted storage, overly broad IAM, etc.).
• Want one tool covering Terraform + Kubernetes + Dockerfile + CI pipelines.

How to use

1. Install Checkov and pin the version in requirements-dev.txt for CI determinism (Step 1).
2. Run checkov -d . locally, narrowing frameworks with --framework when the repo mixes IaC types (Step 2).
3. Emit SARIF for GitHub Code Scanning and JUnit for CI test reporting (Step 3).
4. Triage findings - fix real issues, annotate intentional exceptions with justified checkov:skip= comments (Step 4).
5. Add custom Python or YAML checks for team-specific policy the built-in rules miss (Step 5).
6. Create a .checkov.baseline so CI fails only on new findings, then wire the scan into CI with SARIF upload (Steps 7-8).
7. Pair with tfsec / KICS and unify the reports for overlapping-but-non-identical coverage (Step 9).

Step 1 - Install

pip install checkov
checkov --version

Per project (recommended for CI determinism):

echo 'checkov==3.2.500' >> requirements-dev.txt
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

Step 2 - Run

# Scan a directory
checkov -d .

# Scan a specific Terraform file
checkov -f main.tf

# Scan multiple frameworks
checkov -d . --framework terraform,kubernetes,dockerfile

# Scan a Terraform plan (deeper analysis)
terraform plan -out=plan.tfplan
terraform show -json plan.tfplan > plan.json
checkov -f plan.json

Step 3 - Output formats

# Default (CLI)
checkov -d .

# JSON for parsing
checkov -d . -o json

# SARIF for code-scanning dashboards (GitHub Code Scanning)
checkov -d . -o sarif --output-file-path checkov.sarif

# JUnit XML for CI test reporting
checkov -d . -o junitxml > checkov.xml

# Multiple
checkov -d . -o cli -o sarif

Step 4 - Skip checks

# Skip specific checks
checkov -d . --skip-check CKV_AWS_18,CKV_AWS_20

# Skip a check class
checkov -d . --skip-check CKV_AWS_*

In code:

# main.tf
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "logs" {
  bucket = "my-logs"

  # checkov:skip=CKV_AWS_20:Public read access intentional for log distribution
}

The :skip= annotation requires a justification - reviewable in PRs.

Step 5 - Custom Python checks

Author custom Python checks (and the no-code YAML-policy alternative) for team-specific rules the built-in set misses: references/custom-checks-and-ci.md.

Step 6 - Soft fail / hard fail

# Default: any failed check exits non-zero (CI fails)
checkov -d .

# Soft fail: log issues but exit 0 (informational)
checkov -d . --soft-fail

# Soft fail only on specific checks
checkov -d . --soft-fail-on CKV_AWS_*

Pattern: hard fail on critical / new findings; soft fail on legacy issues being ratcheted down.

Step 7 - Baseline comparison

# Generate baseline (current state of findings)
checkov -d . --create-baseline

# Use baseline (fail only on NEW findings vs baseline)
checkov -d . --baseline .checkov.baseline

Baselines let teams adopt Checkov against legacy code without fixing all existing issues at once - only new findings break the build.

Step 8 - CI integration

Wire the scan into CI with a baseline plus SARIF upload to GitHub Code Scanning (findings surface as PR comments + the Security tab): references/custom-checks-and-ci.md.

Step 9 - Combine with other scanners

Checkov + tfsec + KICS catch overlapping but non-identical issues. Combine results to a unified verdict.

checkov -d . -o json > checkov.json
tfsec . -f json > tfsec.json
kics scan -p . --report-formats json -o ./kics-results
# Combine the three reports into a unified verdict

Worked example

A team adopts Checkov on a legacy Terraform + Kubernetes monorepo.

1. pip install checkov==3.2.500, pinned in requirements-dev.txt.
2. First run checkov -d . --framework terraform,kubernetes reports a large backlog of existing failures - too many to fix at once.
3. They capture the current state: checkov -d . --create-baseline writes .checkov.baseline.
4. CI runs checkov -d . --baseline .checkov.baseline -o sarif --output-file-path checkov.sarif; the build passes because no findings are new versus the baseline.
5. A PR adds an aws_s3_bucket with acl = "public-read". Checkov flags CKV_AWS_20 as a NEW finding and fails the build.
6. The author drops public-read (or adds a justified checkov:skip=CKV_AWS_20 comment); the SARIF upload clears the Security-tab entry and the build goes green.

Result: legacy debt is ratcheted down, not ignored, and each PR is gated only on net-new misconfigurations.

Anti-patterns

Limitations

• Per-framework rule depth varies. Terraform / Kubernetes have hundreds of rules; ARM / Serverless have fewer.
• False positives common in early adoption. Use baseline to manage.
• Performance on large repos. Checkov scans whole-tree; can take minutes.
• Built-in rules may not match team policy. Custom checks for team-specific rules (Step 5).

References

• ch (opens in new window) - Checkov overview, supported IaC frameworks, common CLI usage, Palo Alto Networks maintainer.
• tfsec-policy, kics-policy - sister scanners.
• policy-as-code-runner - custom policies via OPA / Conftest (Checkov for built-in; OPA for custom).