Scanning Like a Ghost – OpenVAS in Podman

~ Tom's IT Cafe

OpenVAS is a katana forged for vulnerability scanning:

  • open source
  • container-ready
  • minimal noise
  • maximum signal

It thrives in Docker.
But what happens in the daemonless, rootless underworld?

The Ghost maps the terrain.

Sharpen the blade

The Docker Compose file is a map. Follow it to find the way in Podman:
https://greenbone.github.io/docs/latest/_static/docker-compose.yml

podman-compose still limps. It won’t create volumes for you.

volumes.txt:

gpg_data_vol
scap_data_vol
cert_data_vol
data_objects_vol
gvmd_data_vol
psql_data_vol
vt_data_vol
notus_data_vol
psql_socket_vol
gvmd_socket_vol
ospd_openvas_socket_vol
redis_socket_vol
openvas_data_vol
openvas_log_data_vol

Manually carve them out:

while read i; do podman volume create $i; done < volumes.txt

Your podman-compose.yaml must be transformed for Podman:

version: "3.8"

services:
  vulnerability-tests:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/vulnerability-tests
    environment:
      FEED_RELEASE: "24.10"
    volumes:
      - vt_data_vol:/mnt

  notus-data:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/notus-data
    volumes:
      - notus_data_vol:/mnt

  scap-data:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/scap-data
    volumes:
      - scap_data_vol:/mnt

  cert-bund-data:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/cert-bund-data
    volumes:
      - cert_data_vol:/mnt

  dfn-cert-data:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/dfn-cert-data
    volumes:
      - cert_data_vol:/mnt
    depends_on:
      - cert-bund-data

  data-objects:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/data-objects
    environment:
      FEED_RELEASE: "24.10"
    volumes:
      - data_objects_vol:/mnt

  report-formats:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/report-formats
    environment:
      FEED_RELEASE: "24.10"
    volumes:
      - data_objects_vol:/mnt
    depends_on:
      - data-objects

  gpg-data:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/gpg-data
    volumes:
      - gpg_data_vol:/mnt

  redis-server:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/redis-server
    restart: on-failure
    volumes:
      - redis_socket_vol:/run/redis/

  pg-gvm:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/pg-gvm:stable
    restart: on-failure
    volumes:
      - psql_data_vol:/var/lib/postgresql
      - psql_socket_vol:/var/run/postgresql

  gvmd:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/gvmd:stable
    restart: on-failure
    volumes:
      - gvmd_data_vol:/var/lib/gvm
      - scap_data_vol:/var/lib/gvm/scap-data/
      - cert_data_vol:/var/lib/gvm/cert-data
      - data_objects_vol:/var/lib/gvm/data-objects/gvmd
      - vt_data_vol:/var/lib/openvas/plugins
      - psql_data_vol:/var/lib/postgresql
      - gvmd_socket_vol:/run/gvmd
      - ospd_openvas_socket_vol:/run/ospd
      - psql_socket_vol:/var/run/postgresql
    depends_on:
      pg-gvm:
        condition: service_started
      scap-data:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      cert-bund-data:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      dfn-cert-data:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      data-objects:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      report-formats:
        condition: service_completed_successfully

  gsa:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/gsa:stable
    restart: on-failure
    ports:
      - 127.0.0.1:9392:9392
    volumes:
      - gvmd_socket_vol:/run/gvmd
    depends_on:
      - gvmd

  configure-openvas:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/openvas-scanner:stable
    volumes:
      - openvas_data_vol:/mnt
      - openvas_log_data_vol:/var/log/openvas
    command:
      - /bin/sh
      - -c
      - |
        printf "table_driven_lsc = yes\nopenvasd_server = http://openvasd:80\n" > /mnt/openvas.conf
        sed "s/127/128/" /etc/openvas/openvas_log.conf | sed 's/gvm/openvas/' > /mnt/openvas_log.conf
        chmod 644 /mnt/openvas.conf
        chmod 644 /mnt/openvas_log.conf
        touch /var/log/openvas/openvas.log
        chmod 666 /var/log/openvas/openvas.log

  openvas:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/openvas-scanner:stable
    restart: on-failure
    volumes:
      - openvas_data_vol:/etc/openvas
      - openvas_log_data_vol:/var/log/openvas
    command:
      - /bin/sh
      - -c
      - |
        cat /etc/openvas/openvas.conf
        tail -f /var/log/openvas/openvas.log
    depends_on:
      configure-openvas:
        condition: service_completed_successfully

  openvasd:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/openvas-scanner:stable
    restart: on-failure
    hostname: openvasd
    environment:
      OPENVASD_MODE: service_notus
      GNUPGHOME: /etc/openvas/gnupg
      LISTENING: 0.0.0.0:80
    volumes:
      - openvas_data_vol:/etc/openvas
      - openvas_log_data_vol:/var/log/openvas
      - gpg_data_vol:/etc/openvas/gnupg
      - notus_data_vol:/var/lib/notus
    depends_on:
      vulnerability-tests:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      configure-openvas:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      gpg-data:
        condition: service_completed_successfully

  ospd-openvas:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/ospd-openvas:stable
    restart: on-failure
    hostname: ospd-openvas.local
    cap_add:
      - NET_ADMIN
      - NET_RAW
    security_opt:
      - seccomp=unconfined
      - apparmor=unconfined
    command:
      [
        "ospd-openvas",
        "-f",
        "--config",
        "/etc/gvm/ospd-openvas.conf",
        "--notus-feed-dir",
        "/var/lib/notus/advisories",
        "-m",
        "666",
      ]
    volumes:
      - gpg_data_vol:/etc/openvas/gnupg
      - vt_data_vol:/var/lib/openvas/plugins
      - notus_data_vol:/var/lib/notus
      - ospd_openvas_socket_vol:/run/ospd
      - redis_socket_vol:/run/redis/
      - openvas_data_vol:/etc/openvas/
      - openvas_log_data_vol:/var/log/openvas
    depends_on:
      redis-server:
        condition: service_started
      gpg-data:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      vulnerability-tests:
        condition: service_completed_successfully
      configure-openvas:
        condition: service_completed_successfully

  gvm-tools:
    image: registry.community.greenbone.net/community/gvm-tools
    volumes:
      - gvmd_socket_vol:/run/gvmd
      - ospd_openvas_socket_vol:/run/ospd
    depends_on:
      - gvmd
      - ospd-openvas

volumes:
  gpg_data_vol:
  scap_data_vol:
  cert_data_vol:
  data_objects_vol:
  gvmd_data_vol:
  psql_data_vol:
  vt_data_vol:
  notus_data_vol:
  psql_socket_vol:
  gvmd_socket_vol:
  ospd_openvas_socket_vol:
  redis_socket_vol:
  openvas_data_vol:
  openvas_log_data_vol:

Pull in the the arsenal:

podman-compose -f podman-compose.yaml pull

OpenVAS is not monolithic.
Each container does one job.
Silent. Sharp. Modular.

Summon the system:

podman-compose -f podman-compose.yaml up -d

Some containers like vulnerability-tests, notus-data, scap-data are ghosts themselves.
They appear, inject knowledge, vanish.

In case of noise – logs never lie:

podman-compose -f podman-compose.yaml logs -f

Cut

Once online, scan like a specter.
Open browser -> http://localhost:9392

Use credentials:

admin / admin

Then change the password.
The shadows are always watching.

A Ghost’s vision is limited… for now

When you log in:

You are currently using the free Greenbone Community Feed – this shows only a few vulnerabilities for business critical enterprise software such as MS Exchange, Cisco, VMware, Citrix and many more.
Over 60% of all relevant exploits remain hidden.

Translation?
You’re flying low-res. The Community Feed is a shadow of the full arsenal.

Ghosts don’t panic. They adapt.

If you’re hunting in the enterprise jungle, you either:

  • Maintain multiple scanners
  • Supplement with external intel
  • Or switch to the Greenbone Enterprise Feed – at a price.

In this operation we fly free.

But always remember:
60% of the cracks are in the dark.

Clean it up

No trace. No fingerprint. No echo.

Stop the containters:

podman-compose down

Purge the volumes:

while read i; do podman volume rm openvas_$i; done < volumes.txt

Erase the images:

podman image ls |grep greenbone |awk '{print $3}' |xargs podman image rm --

The system breathes clean.
Only the ghost remains.

—

Whisper to DeadSwitch on Matrix: @deadswitch:matrix.org
Maybe the Ghost signals back.

DeadSwitch | The Silent Architect
In silence, I rise. In structure, I endure.

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