CVE Source Check
Audits CVE/vulnerability source coverage for a technology stack. Given an inventory of components and (optionally) the feeds you currently monitor, it maps each component to authoritative CVE sources, flags gaps, and emits audit-ready reports.
Scope
| In scope | Out of scope |
|---|---|
| Mapping components → authoritative feeds via a versioned registry | Running vulnerability scanners (Trivy/Snyk/etc.) |
| Reporting coverage and gaps in JSON + Markdown | Fetching CVE content or ranking by severity |
| Optional HEAD-check for source URL reachability | Integrating with private/commercial vuln databases |
| Audit-ready output (deterministic, reproducible) | Live LLM research per run |
Inputs
| Flag | Purpose |
|---|---|
--inventory <file> |
JSON inventory: [{name, version?, type?}, ...] or {components: [...]}. |
--inline "name@ver,name,..." |
Quick comma-separated list. Mutually exclusive with --inventory. |
--current-sources <file> |
Optional. One URL per line. Blank lines and # comments skipped. |
--service <name> |
Free-form name used in report header and filenames. |
--check-urls |
HEAD-check every source URL (5s timeout, graceful degradation). |
--registry <path> |
Override default tech-source-registry.json. |
--out-dir <path> |
Output directory (default: cwd). |
JSON inventory format only. YAML is not supported — stdlib does not ship a YAML parser.
Outputs
| File | Format |
|---|---|
cve-source-report-{service}-{YYYYMMDD}.md |
Human-readable audit report. |
cve-source-report-{service}-{YYYYMMDD}.json |
Machine-readable per references/output-formats.md. |
| Exit code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Full coverage. |
| 1 | Gaps exist (unmapped components or unmonitored sources). |
| 2 | At least one source URL is unreachable (only with --check-urls). |
| 3 | Input error (missing/malformed registry or inventory). |
Workflow
Phase 1: LOAD
- Locate the registry:
tech-source-registry.jsonnext to this SKILL.md by default. - Build an inventory:
- From
--inventory: parse JSON; accept either a list or{components: [...]}. - From
--inline: split on commas, parsename@versionpairs.
- From
- If
--current-sourcesis provided, read URLs (one per line); normalize for case-insensitive comparison.
Gate: at least one inventory component is present. Empty inventory → exit 3.
Phase 2: MAP & VERIFY
- For each component, look up
name(and aliases) in the registry.- Found → status
mapped, attach the registry's source list. - Missing → status
unmapped, sources[].
- Found → status
- If current sources were loaded, mark each source
monitored: truewhen its normalized URL appears in the set. - If
--check-urlsis set, HEAD-check every unique source URL. Treat 200/301/302/403/405 as reachable; record definite failures and network errors distinctly. Seereferences/source-verification.md.
Gate: every component has a status; every source has monitored and
reachable fields populated (reachable: null when checks are skipped).
Phase 3: REPORT
- Compute the summary: components, mapped/unmapped, monitored, coverage %, gaps, unreachable.
- Write the JSON report.
- Write the Markdown report:
- Summary table.
- Components table with ✅ / ⚠️ / ❌ markers.
- Gaps section listing primary then secondary sources to add (only when gaps exist).
- Unmapped section listing registry-extension TODOs (only when unmapped components exist).
- Print a one-screen summary to stdout including report paths.
- Set the exit code per the table above.
Gate: both files exist on disk and the summary printed; exit code reflects the audit result.
Quick start
# Inline, offline, no monitoring data
python3 scripts/check-cve-sources.py \
--inline "go@1.22,alpine@3.19,postgres@16,redis@7,nginx@1.25" \
--service my-service
# Inventory file + current monitored feeds
python3 scripts/check-cve-sources.py \
--inventory examples/inventory.example.json \
--current-sources examples/current-sources.example.txt \
--service my-service
# Same, with link verification
python3 scripts/check-cve-sources.py \
--inventory examples/inventory.example.json \
--current-sources examples/current-sources.example.txt \
--service my-service \
--check-urls
Extending the registry
To add a technology, edit tech-source-registry.json. Each entry needs name,
aliases, type, and 1–3 sources. Schema lives at
references/registry-schema.md.
Reference files
references/registry-schema.md— registry shape, allowedkind/priority, and how to add entries.references/source-verification.md— HEAD-check semantics and graceful degradation rules.references/output-formats.md— JSON schema, Markdown sections, and exit-code table.
Error handling
"ERROR: failed to load registry"
Cause: registry file missing or malformed JSON.
Solution: confirm tech-source-registry.json is at --registry (or default
location) and parses with python3 -m json.tool.
"ERROR: failed to load inventory"
Cause: inventory file missing, malformed JSON, or unexpected shape.
Solution: validate with python3 -m json.tool. Inventory must be a list or an
object with a components key.
"ERROR: inventory is empty"
Cause: no usable components after parsing.
Solution: confirm each entry has a name. Inline form requires non-empty tokens.
Coverage stuck at 0%
Cause: --current-sources URLs do not match registry URLs exactly (e.g., extra
path segments, trailing slashes).
Solution: copy URLs directly from the registry. The script normalizes scheme/host
case and trailing slash; everything else must match.
--check-urls flags many [—] entries
Cause: network issues (proxy, DNS, offline) — recorded as reachable: null.
Solution: re-run without --check-urls for the audit; investigate network
separately. Network errors do not affect the gap exit code.