Integrate Tern with Vulnetix. Generate CycloneDX or SPDX SBOMs from container images with Tern and upload to Vulnetix for supply chain security analysis.
Install & scan
$ # Recommended - run without global install uv run --with tern tern --version # Or install globally pip install tern $ uv run --with tern tern report -f cyclonedxjson -i myimage:latest
Run Tern in CI
Scan on every push and upload the report as a workflow artifact:
- name: Generate SBOM with Tern
run: uv run --with tern tern report -f cyclonedxjson -i myapp:${{ github.sha }} > tern-sbom.cdx.json
- name: Upload report
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
with:
name: tern
path: tern-sbom.cdx.json
if-no-files-found: warnThen one publish job hands every artifact in the run to Vulnetix, recorded under Tern'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" --jsonAfter the run, vulnetix gha status reports what was actually recorded.
How Vulnetix compares: better together
Vulnetix does not replace Tern. Keep running it. Vulnetix sits on top of Tern (and every other scanner you already own) turning disconnected tool outputs into one prioritised, fixable queue.
Tern is strongest at its core category and also carries features in License Compliance, Container & Image Scanning, just as Vulnetix spans categories.
| Capability | Vulnetix | Tern |
|---|---|---|
| Security coverage | ||
| SAST (static code analysis) | ✓ Built-in rules + Semgrep augmentation | ✗ |
| SCA / dependencies | ✓ 40+ ecosystems, transitive graph | ~ Package metadata/composition analysis; experimental cve-bin-tool integration only, not in reports |
| DAST (dynamic testing) | ~ Ingests DAST results; no native dynamic engine | ✗ |
| Container & image | ✓ Image CVEs, base image, Dockerfile | ~ Image composition/layer analysis, but no vuln or malware scanning |
| IaC / misconfiguration | ✓ Terraform, k8s, CloudFormation | ✗ |
| Secret scanning | ✓ 1,000+ rules, source + binary + git history | ✗ |
| Cloud / CSPM | ✓ Cloud-posture findings, compliance tab | ✗ |
| Mobile (MAST) | ~ Ingests mobile scanner output; no native mobile engine | ✗ |
| License compliance | ✓ SPDX, copyleft/AGPL/SSPL policy | ✓ License detection and reporting per package |
| SBOM generation | ✓ CycloneDX 1.7 + SPDX 2.3, cosign-signable | ✓ Core: generates container image/Dockerfile SBOMs in SPDX and CycloneDX |
| Malware / supply-chain | ✓ De-duplicated corpus + install-time firewall (25+ registries) | ✗ |
| Network / infra vuln | ~ Ingests network scanner output; no native network scanner | ✗ |
| Fuzzing | ✗ Ingests fuzzing crashes; no native fuzzer | ✗ |
| Pentest / bug bounty | ✗ Ingests pentest/bug-bounty findings; not a testing service | ✗ |
| The Vulnetix orchestration layer | ||
| Cross-scanner dedup & one queue (ASPM) | ✓ Correlates every scanner into one prioritised queue with ownership routing | ✗ |
| Exploit-intel prioritisation | ✓ EPSS, CISA KEV, Coalition ESS, CWSS, Vulnetix LEV | ✗ |
| Reachability analysis | ✓ Tree-sitter + CVEAffected; direct/transitive/semantic | ✗ |
| Versioned VEX + audit trail | ✓ Immutable OpenVEX/CycloneDX, cosign-signable | ✗ |
| Safe Harbour autofix | ✓ Resolves + applies the nearest safe version | ✗ |
| End-of-life policy | ✓ Flags/blocks past-EOL runtimes & packages | ✗ |
| SSVC / risk-based policy | ✓ SSVC v2 + CISA/FedRAMP/Essential-8 presets | ✗ |
✓ full · ~ partial · ✗ not covered
What Tern does well
- Layer-by-layer container image inspection revealing exactly which packages, versions and origins are in each image layer
- Strong license and package-origin transparency. Its original VMware use case for container supply-chain questions
- Broad output format support: human-readable, JSON, HTML, YAML, SPDX (tag-value + JSON) and CycloneDX JSON
Where Vulnetix adds to it: Tern is a focused SBOM and license generator: Vulnetix ingests Tern's CycloneDX/SPDX output and adds the entire cross-scanner layer: dedup into one prioritised queue, exploit-intel (EPSS/KEV/ESS/CWSS/LEV), reachability, versioned VEX, autofix, EOL and SSVC, plus its own SBOM generation (CycloneDX 1.7 + SPDX 2.3) and supply-chain malware/package firewall that Tern lacks. Better together: Tern for deep per-layer license/origin, Vulnetix for prioritisation and remediation.
No migration, no rip-and-replace. Tern keeps doing what it does best; Vulnetix adds the orchestration, exploit-intelligence prioritisation and remediation layer built for the way AppSec works today.
Centralise Tern results in Vulnetix
Upload Tern CycloneDX, SPDX, JSON 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.