CycloneDX Maven Plugin Integration Guide

Integrate the CycloneDX Maven Plugin with Vulnetix. Generate a CycloneDX SBOM from your Maven project including all dependencies, then upload to Vulnetix.

Install & scan

$ # No separate install required: invoke directly via Maven
# Or add to pom.xml for persistent configuration:
# <plugin>
#   <groupId>org.cyclonedx</groupId>
#   <artifactId>cyclonedx-maven-plugin</artifactId>
#   <version>2.9.1</version>
# </plugin>
$ mvn org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-maven-plugin:makeAggregateBom

Run CycloneDX Maven Plugin in CI

Scan on every push and upload the report as a workflow artifact:

- name: Generate CycloneDX SBOM
  run: mvn org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-maven-plugin:makeAggregateBom -DoutputFormat=json

- name: Upload report
  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
  with:
    name: cyclonedx-maven
    path: target/bom.json
    if-no-files-found: warn

Then one publish job hands every artifact in the run to Vulnetix, recorded under CycloneDX Maven Plugin's own name and version. Written once per workflow, however many scanners you run:

publish:
  name: Publish to Vulnetix
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  needs: [scan]        # every scanner job, or its report is never published
  if: always()         # or one failing scanner suppresses all the others
  permissions:
    contents: read
    actions: read      # required to list the run's artifacts
  env:
    VULNETIX_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VULNETIX_ORG_ID }}
    VULNETIX_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.VULNETIX_API_KEY }}
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v5
    - name: Install Vulnetix CLI
      run: |
        curl -fsSL https://cli.vulnetix.com/install.sh | sh -s -- --install-dir "$HOME/.local/bin"
        echo "$HOME/.local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
    - name: Publish scanner reports
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
      run: vulnetix gha upload --org-id "$VULNETIX_ORG_ID" --json

After the run, vulnetix gha status reports what was actually recorded.

How Vulnetix compares: better together

Vulnetix does not replace CycloneDX Maven Plugin. Keep running it. Vulnetix sits on top of CycloneDX Maven Plugin (and every other scanner you already own) turning disconnected tool outputs into one prioritised, fixable queue.

CycloneDX Maven Plugin is strongest at its core category and also carries features in SCA, License Compliance, just as Vulnetix spans categories.

✓ full · ~ partial · ✗ not covered

What CycloneDX Maven Plugin does well

• Official CycloneDX generator for Maven/Java, introspecting the resolved dependency graph for accurate direct + transitive components
• Emits precise pkg:maven purls and full CycloneDX BOM in XML or JSON as a native build step
• makeAggregateBom handles multi-module reactor builds, producing one aggregate plus per-module BOMs
• Captures dependency license metadata (optionally including license text) from POMs

Where Vulnetix adds to it: The CycloneDX Maven plugin is a build-time BOM generator scoped to a single Java/Maven project, no vuln matching, cross-project dedup, prioritisation, or VEX. Vulnetix ingests its CycloneDX output and layers SCA vuln correlation, exploit-intel (EPSS/KEV/ESS/LEV), reachability, license policy, EOL, and versioned VEX across all ecosystems. Better together: the plugin gives Vulnetix an authoritative Maven dependency graph, Vulnetix turns it into a prioritised, remediable finding set.

No migration, no rip-and-replace. CycloneDX Maven Plugin keeps doing what it does best; Vulnetix adds the orchestration, exploit-intelligence prioritisation and remediation layer built for the way AppSec works today.

Centralise CycloneDX Maven Plugin results in Vulnetix

Upload CycloneDX Maven Plugin CycloneDX output to the Vulnetix platform to deduplicate findings, prioritise them with EPSS, CISA KEV and Coalition ESS exploit intelligence, and track remediation across every scanner in a single queue.

CycloneDX Maven Plugin documentation ↗  ·  Source repository ↗

Wire CycloneDX Maven Plugin into your CI/CD pipeline →