Chapter 5. About Clair


Clair scans container images for known vulnerabilities in Red Hat Quay. You can use National Vulnerability Database (NVD) enrichment, including CVSS severity scores, to prioritize remediation.

The NVD is a United States government repository of security-related information, including known vulnerabilities and security issues in various software components and systems. NVD scores provide the following benefits:

  • Data synchronization. Clair can periodically synchronize its vulnerability database with the NVD. This ensures that it has the latest vulnerability data.
  • Matching and enrichment. Clair compares the metadata and identifiers of vulnerabilities it discovers in container images with the data from the NVD. This process involves matching the unique identifiers, such as Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) IDs, to the entries in the NVD. When a match is found, Clair can enrich its vulnerability information with additional details from NVD, such as severity scores, descriptions, and references.
  • Severity scores. The NVD assigns severity scores to vulnerabilities, such as the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score, to indicate the potential impact and risk associated with each vulnerability. By incorporating NVD severity scores, Clair can provide more context on the seriousness of the vulnerabilities it detects.

If Clair finds vulnerabilities from NVD, a detailed and standardized assessment of the severity and potential impact of vulnerabilities detected within container images is reported to users on the UI. CVSS enrichment data provides the following benefits:

  • Vulnerability prioritization. By using CVSS scores, you can prioritize vulnerabilities based on their severity and address the most critical issues first.
  • Assess risk. CVSS scores can help you understand the potential risk a vulnerability poses to your containerized applications.
  • Communicate severity. CVSS scores provide a standardized way to communicate the severity of vulnerabilities across teams and organizations.
  • Inform remediation strategies. CVSS enrichment data can guide Quay.io users in developing appropriate remediation strategies.
  • Compliance and reporting. Integrating CVSS data into reports generated by Clair can help organizations demonstrate their commitment to addressing security vulnerabilities and complying with industry standards and regulations.

Documentation for installing and configuring Clair can be found in the Additional resources section.

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