Snyk IaC

Snyk Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a developer-first security scanner that finds misconfigurations in cloud infrastructure templates before deployment.

Part of the broader Snyk platform, it integrates into the development workflow through IDE plugins, CLI tools, and CI/CD pipelines, giving developers immediate feedback on security issues without switching contexts.

What is Snyk IaC?

Snyk IaC analyzes infrastructure-as-code files to detect security misconfigurations and compliance violations.

Unlike traditional cloud security tools that scan after deployment, Snyk IaC shifts security left by catching issues during development.

The tool covers Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifests, Helm charts, ARM templates, and Azure Blueprints.

What sets Snyk IaC apart is its focus on developer experience.

Rather than overwhelming teams with cryptic policy violations, it provides actionable fix suggestions directly in the code.

The platform also connects IaC scanning to deployed cloud environments, detecting drift between your templates and actual infrastructure.

Key Features

Multi-Format IaC Support

Snyk IaC handles the major infrastructure-as-code formats used in modern cloud environments.

Terraform configurations for AWS, Azure, and GCP are fully supported, along with CloudFormation templates.

Kubernetes YAML files and Helm charts work seamlessly, and Azure users get ARM template and Blueprint scanning.

In-Line Fix Suggestions

When Snyk IaC finds a misconfiguration, it shows exactly how to fix it.

For example, if an S3 bucket lacks encryption, the tool suggests the specific Terraform block needed to enable it.

These suggestions appear directly in your IDE or pull request, reducing the time from detection to remediation.

Cloud Context and Drift Detection

Snyk IaC can scan live AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud environments to find manually created resources or configuration drift.

This helps teams understand the gap between their IaC templates and actual deployed infrastructure, ensuring that security controls defined in code are actually in place.

Custom Rules with Rego

Security teams can create custom rules using the Open Policy Agent (OPA) Rego language.

This allows enforcement of organization-specific policies beyond the built-in security checks.

Installation

Install the Snyk CLI using npm, Homebrew, or direct download:

# Install via npm
npm install -g snyk

# Install via Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew tap snyk/tap
brew install snyk

# Authenticate with your Snyk account
snyk auth

Scan IaC files from the command line:

# Scan Terraform files in current directory
snyk iac test

# Scan a specific file
snyk iac test main.tf

# Scan Kubernetes manifests
snyk iac test deployment.yaml

# Scan with JSON output
snyk iac test --json > results.json

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Snyk IaC Security Scan
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  snyk-iac:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run Snyk IaC test
        uses: snyk/actions/iac@master
        env:
          SNYK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SNYK_TOKEN }}
        with:
          file: terraform/

GitLab CI

snyk-iac:
  image: snyk/snyk:alpine
  stage: security
  script:
    - snyk auth $SNYK_TOKEN
    - snyk iac test --severity-threshold=high
  allow_failure: false

Jenkins Pipeline

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Snyk IaC Scan') {
            steps {
                snykSecurity(
                    snykInstallation: 'snyk-latest',
                    snykTokenId: 'snyk-api-token',
                    targetFile: 'terraform/',
                    additionalArguments: '--iac'
                )
            }
        }
    }
}

When to Use Snyk IaC

Snyk IaC fits well for teams that want unified developer security across code, dependencies, containers, and infrastructure.

If your organization already uses Snyk for SCA or container scanning, adding IaC creates a single pane of glass for application security.

Choose Snyk IaC when you need strong IDE integration and want developers to self-service security issues.

The fix suggestions and clear remediation guidance reduce friction in the development process.

Teams running multi-cloud environments benefit from the broad format support.

For purely open-source alternatives, consider Checkov or Terrascan.

If you need deep Kubernetes-specific scanning with runtime protection, Kubescape may be a better fit.