6 Best IaC Security Tools (2026): Terraform & K8s Scanners

What is IaC Security?

As infrastructure moves to code (Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifests), security misconfigurations in these files can lead to exposed databases, overly permissive IAM roles, and unencrypted storage.

IaC security tools scan these configuration files and catch issues before they are deployed.

This is shift-left security for infrastructure.

Instead of discovering that your S3 bucket is public after a breach, you find it in the pull request before it ever reaches production.

I have seen teams catch hundreds of misconfigurations in their first scan.

The statistics back this up. According to Check Point’s 2024 Cloud Security Report, 82% of enterprises faced incidents tied to misconfigurations. SentinelOne reports that 23% of cloud breaches are due to misconfigurations, and 82% of those misconfigurations are caused by human error, not software flaws. In December 2024, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued Binding Operational Directive 25-01, mandating federal agencies secure cloud environments specifically due to widespread cloud misconfigurations exposing sensitive data. As of 2025, around 82% of all data breaches involve cloud-stored data.

“Infrastructure as Code shifts the security conversation left — but only if you actually scan it,” notes Yevgeny Pats, founder of Bridgecrew and now VP of Engineering at Palo Alto Networks. “A misconfigured Terraform file is just as dangerous as a SQL injection vulnerability.”

Advantages

• Catches misconfigurations before deployment
• Shift-left for infrastructure
• Supports multiple IaC frameworks
• All major tools are free and open-source

Limitations

• Limited to configuration issues
• Framework-specific rules needed
• Cannot detect runtime issues
• Does not replace CSPM for drift detection

Common IaC Misconfigurations

IaC security tools detect patterns that lead to security breaches.

Here are the most common issues they catch:

Public Storage Buckets

S3 buckets, GCS buckets, and Azure Blob containers configured with public access. A common cause of data breaches.

Overly Permissive IAM

IAM roles and policies with wildcard permissions (*) or excessive privileges beyond what the workload needs.

Unencrypted Data

Databases, storage volumes, and network traffic without encryption at rest or in transit.

Exposed Ports

Security groups and network ACLs allowing unrestricted inbound access (0.0.0.0/0) to sensitive ports like SSH (22) or RDP (3389).

Hardcoded Secrets

API keys, passwords, and tokens embedded directly in IaC files instead of using secret managers like AWS Secrets Manager or Vault.

Disabled Logging

Resources deployed without audit logging, CloudTrail, or access logs enabled. Makes incident response nearly impossible.

Quick Comparison of IaC Security Tools

Tool	USP	Backed By	License
Free / Open Source
Checkov	1000+ built-in policies	Palo Alto / Prisma	Open Source
Trivy	IaC + containers + SBOM in one tool	Aqua Security	Open Source
KICS	Extensible query language	Checkmarx	Open Source
Terrascan	500+ policies, OPA/Rego support	Tenable / CNCF	Open Source
Kubescape	CNCF project, K8s focused, 25k+ users	ARMO / CNCF	Open Source
Freemium
Snyk IaC	IDE, CLI & CI/CD integration	Snyk	Freemium

IaC Format Support

Each tool supports different IaC formats.

Here is what each tool can scan:

Format	Checkov	KICS	Trivy	Terrascan	Kubescape
Terraform	✓	✓	✓	✓	—
CloudFormation	✓	✓	✓	✓	—
Kubernetes YAML	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Helm Charts	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
ARM Templates	✓	✓	—	✓	—
Dockerfile	✓	✓	✓	✓	—
Container Images	—	—	✓	—	✓
SBOM Generation	—	—	✓	—	—
K8s Cluster Scan	—	—	✓	—	✓

How to Choose an IaC Security Tool

For IaC-only Scanning: Checkov or KICS

If you only need to scan Terraform, CloudFormation, and Kubernetes manifests, either Checkov or KICS will work well. Checkov has more built-in policies; KICS has a more extensible query language.

For Unified Scanning: Trivy

If you also scan container images, generate SBOMs, or scan running Kubernetes clusters, Trivy covers all these use cases in a single tool. It absorbed tfsec, so Terraform scanning is solid.

For Kubernetes-focused Teams: Kubescape

If your infrastructure is primarily Kubernetes, Kubescape is the best choice. CNCF project with excellent compliance frameworks (CIS, NSA-CISA, MITRE ATT&CK) and runtime cluster scanning.

For Developer Experience: Snyk IaC

If you want the best IDE and CI/CD integration with inline fix suggestions, Snyk IaC provides a polished developer experience. Free tier available with limited monthly tests.

For Enterprise Compliance

All open-source tools have commercial counterparts (Prisma Cloud for Checkov, Checkmarx for KICS, Aqua for Trivy) that add compliance reporting, policy management, and enterprise support if you need those features.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security?

IaC security is the practice of scanning infrastructure configuration files (Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifests, etc.) for security misconfigurations before they are deployed. This catches issues like exposed databases, overly permissive IAM roles, and unencrypted storage at development time rather than in production.

Are all IaC security tools free?

The main IaC security tools (Checkov, KICS, Trivy, Terrascan, Kubescape) are all free and open-source. Snyk offers IaC scanning with a free tier. Commercial vendors like Prisma Cloud and Wiz offer IaC scanning as part of larger cloud security platforms.

Which IaC security tool should I use?

If you need only IaC scanning, Checkov or KICS are good choices. If you also scan containers and want a single tool for multiple security use cases, Trivy is the best option since it covers IaC, container images, SBOM, and Kubernetes clusters in one tool. For Kubernetes-focused teams, Kubescape is excellent.

What IaC formats do these tools support?

All tools support Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifests, and Helm charts. Checkov also supports ARM templates and Serverless framework. Trivy additionally scans container images and generates SBOMs. KICS has the most extensive query library with support for Ansible, Docker, and more.

Can IaC security tools replace CSPM?

No. IaC security tools scan configuration files before deployment. CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management) tools scan your actual cloud environment after deployment. You need both: IaC security catches issues in development, CSPM catches drift and changes made outside of IaC.

Explore Other Categories

IaC Security covers one aspect of application security. Browse other categories in our complete tools directory.

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Written by

Suphi Cankurt

Suphi Cankurt is an application security enthusiast based in Helsinki, Finland. He reviews and compares 129 AppSec tools across 10 categories on AppSec Santa. Learn more.