shieldctl

CI-stage infrastructure security scanner. Wraps best-of-breed tools — checkov, tfsec, gitleaks, shellcheck, hadolint, actionlint, bandit, safety, pip-audit — into a single command with unified findings, configurable severity thresholds, and CI-ready exit codes.

shieldctl scan ./infrastructure

→ checkov       infrastructure/ (38 files)
→ tfsec         infrastructure/ (38 files)
→ gitleaks      . (repo-wide)
→ shellcheck    scripts/ (4 files)
→ hadolint      Dockerfile
→ actionlint    .github/workflows/ci.yaml
→ pip-audit     . (repo-wide)

CRITICAL  .github/workflows/ci.yaml:14   CKV2_GHA_1   Top-level permissions set to write-all
HIGH      infrastructure/gke.tf:22       AVD-GCP-0038  GKE node auto-upgrade disabled
HIGH      infrastructure/iam.tf:8        AWS-IAM-109  IAM wildcard action on policy
MEDIUM    scripts/deploy.sh:31           SH-001       curl piped directly to bash — supply chain risk
LOW       Dockerfile:4                   DL3008       Pin versions in apt-get install
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
5 findings  (1 CRITICAL, 2 HIGH, 1 MEDIUM, 1 LOW)  exit 3

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Why shieldctl

Each security tool in the ecosystem is excellent at its domain but requires different invocations, different output formats, and different CI setup. shieldctl is the single entry point:

• One command covers Terraform, secrets, shell scripts, YAML, Dockerfiles, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and Python dependencies
• Consistent exit codes so CI gates are trivial to configure
• Unified finding model — file, line, rule, severity, message, remediation, OWASP reference
• Content-based detection — finds Kubernetes manifests and GHA workflows regardless of their directory path
• Built-in deduplication — same finding from two tools appears once

Use shieldctl in CI. Use proofctl pre-commit for fast, zero-dependency linting.

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Installation

pip install shieldctl

Requires: Python 3.11+

Install the scanner dependencies:

shieldctl install-tools

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Scanner dependencies

Scanner	Tools	Installed via
Terraform	checkov, tfsec	pip install checkov, brew install tfsec
Secrets	gitleaks	brew install gitleaks
Shell	shellcheck	brew install shellcheck
YAML	yamllint, checkov	pip install yamllint checkov
Dockerfile	hadolint	brew install hadolint
Python	bandit, safety	pip install bandit safety
Kubernetes	checkov	pip install checkov
GitHub Actions	actionlint, checkov	brew install actionlint, pip install checkov
Python deps	pip-audit	pip install pip-audit

Install all at once:

shieldctl install-tools

shieldctl gracefully skips any scanner whose tool is not installed — it never hard-fails for a missing binary unless you pass --strict.

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Quick start

# Scan everything from the repo root
shieldctl scan .

# Scan a specific directory
shieldctl scan ./infrastructure

# Fail the build on HIGH or above
shieldctl scan . --fail-on HIGH

# Only run the Terraform scanner
shieldctl scan . --scanner terraform

# Scan only git-changed files (fast CI mode)
shieldctl scan . --changed-only

# Output JSON for downstream processing
shieldctl scan . --format json --output findings.json

# Generate an HTML dashboard
shieldctl scan . --format html --output report.html

# Fail immediately if any required scanner tool is missing
shieldctl scan . --strict

---

CI integration (GitHub Actions)

name: shieldctl

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

jobs:
  security-scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0   # gitleaks needs full history

      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"

      - name: Install shieldctl and scanner tools
        run: |
          pip install shieldctl checkov yamllint bandit safety pip-audit
          brew install tfsec gitleaks shellcheck hadolint actionlint

      - name: Run shieldctl
        run: shieldctl scan . --fail-on HIGH

      - name: Generate HTML report
        if: failure()
        run: shieldctl scan . --format html --output shieldctl-report.html || true

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: failure()
        with:
          name: shieldctl-report
          path: shieldctl-report.html
          retention-days: 14

For PR-only scans to keep CI fast:

      - name: Run shieldctl (changed files only)
        run: shieldctl scan . --changed-only --fail-on HIGH

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Scanners

Terraform

Wraps checkov and tfsec. Scans .tf, .tfvars, and terragrunt.hcl files.

• checkov: 1000+ policies across AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes
• tfsec: static analysis focused on cloud misconfigurations
• Findings deduplicated by (file, line, rule)

Secrets

Wraps gitleaks. Runs repo-wide (not per-file) to detect secrets in:

• Source code and config files
• Git history (including previously committed and deleted secrets)
• .env files, CI configs, Terraform variable files

All secret findings are CRITICAL severity.

Shell

Wraps shellcheck plus 6 custom rules (shieldctl-bash):

Rule	Severity	Description
SH-001	HIGH	curl/wget piped directly to a shell interpreter
SH-002	HIGH	Hardcoded credential in shell script (PASSWORD=, TOKEN=, etc.)
SH-003	MEDIUM	eval with a dynamic variable operand (command injection risk)
SH-004	LOW	Script missing set -euo pipefail
SH-005	MEDIUM	rm -rf with a variable path
SH-006	MEDIUM	chmod 777 (world-writable permissions)

YAML

Wraps yamllint for structural validation of all .yml/.yaml files.

Also runs checkov on files that are detected as Kubernetes manifests or GitHub Actions workflows — detection is content-based (apiVersion:/kind: for K8s, on:/jobs: for GHA), so it works regardless of directory structure.

Dockerfile

Wraps hadolint. Scans Dockerfile, Dockerfile.*, and *.dockerfile files.

Rule coverage includes: unpinned base images, root user, missing --no-install-recommends, secrets in ARG/ENV, inefficient layer caching, and supply chain risks.

Python

Wraps bandit for SAST and safety for known CVE scanning of installed packages.

• bandit: detects injection, hardcoded passwords, weak crypto, use of pickle, subprocess misuse, and more
• safety: checks installed packages against the PyUp vulnerability database

Kubernetes

Wraps checkov with --framework kubernetes. Files are detected by content (apiVersion: + kind: at root level), so the scanner works even if manifests live outside a k8s/ directory.

Covers Kubernetes Pod Security Standards, RBAC misconfigurations, missing resource limits, and insecure pod specs.

GitHub Actions

Wraps actionlint and checkov (--framework github_actions). Files are detected by content (on: + jobs: at root level).

actionlint checks:

• Expression injection via ${{ github.event.* }} in run: steps
• Invalid action references and syntax errors
• Shell script correctness inside run: blocks

checkov checks:

• pull_request_target with PR head checkout (pwn request pattern)
• Missing top-level permissions: block
• Unpinned third-party action versions

Python dependencies (pip-audit)

Wraps pip-audit. Runs repo-wide, auditing the active Python environment against the PyPI Advisory Database (OSV). Reports CVE IDs, affected versions, and available fix versions.

All pip-audit findings are HIGH severity.

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Configuration

Place .shieldctl.yaml in the scan root:

# Minimum severity that causes a non-zero exit (INFO | LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH | CRITICAL)
fail_on: HIGH

# Glob patterns to exclude from scanning
exclude_paths:
  - "**/.terraform/**"
  - "**/.terragrunt-cache/**"
  - "**/node_modules/**"
  - "**/.git/**"

# Suppress specific rules globally
suppress:
  - rule: CKV_GCP_29
    reason: "Allow-all-egress on bastion is intentional — tracked in JIRA-1234"
  - rule: CKV2_GHA_1
    reason: "write-all permissions required for release workflow"

The suppress list accepts any rule ID from any scanner (checkov rule IDs, tfsec IDs, SH-001, etc.).

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Suppressing a single finding

For checkov/tfsec Terraform rules, use the native inline skip:

resource "google_storage_bucket" "assets" {
  # checkov:skip=CKV_GCP_5:Public read for static assets is intentional
  name = "my-public-assets"
}

For shell custom rules, add a comment on the flagged line:

eval "$generated_cmd"  # shieldctl: ignore[SH-003]

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Commands

shieldctl scan

shieldctl scan [PATH] [OPTIONS]

Options:
  --fail-on        INFO | LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH | CRITICAL
                   Overrides .shieldctl.yaml fail_on setting
  --format / -f    terminal | json | html    (default: terminal)
  --output / -o    Write report to file
  --changed-only   Only scan git-changed files
  --scanner        Run a single scanner: terraform | secrets | bash |
                   yaml | dockerfile | python | kubernetes | gha | pip-audit
  --strict         Exit immediately if any required scanner tool is not installed

shieldctl install-tools

Install all scanner dependencies. Detects the OS and uses the appropriate package manager.

shieldctl install-tools          # install everything
shieldctl install-tools --dry-run  # show what would be installed

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Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	No findings
1	Findings present, all below MEDIUM
2	MEDIUM findings present
3	HIGH or CRITICAL findings present (or --fail-on threshold exceeded)
4	Scanner error (tool crashed or --strict tool not found)

These codes are designed for CI gate configuration:

# Fail the build on HIGH+
- run: shieldctl scan . --fail-on HIGH
# Fail on any finding
- run: shieldctl scan . --fail-on INFO

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Output formats

Terminal (default) — colour-coded rich table grouped by severity.

CRITICAL  .github/workflows/ci.yaml:14  CKV2_GHA_1  Top-level permissions set to write-all
HIGH      infra/gke.tf:22               AVD-GCP-0038  GKE node auto-upgrade disabled

JSON — structured output for downstream tooling:

{
  "summary": {
    "total": 5,
    "CRITICAL": 1,
    "HIGH": 2,
    "MEDIUM": 1,
    "LOW": 1
  },
  "findings": [
    {
      "file": ".github/workflows/ci.yaml",
      "line": 14,
      "rule": "CKV2_GHA_1",
      "severity": "CRITICAL",
      "message": "Top-level permissions are set to write-all",
      "remediation": "Set permissions to read-only at top level and grant write only where needed",
      "scanner": "checkov-gha",
      "owasp": "A05:2021 – Security Misconfiguration"
    }
  ]
}

HTML — self-contained single-file dashboard with severity summary cards, scanner breakdown, and a filterable findings table.

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License

MIT