Open Source Audit Software
Cloud accounts, clusters, and code repositories sprawl faster than anyone can track by hand, and a single overly permissive role, public bucket, or forgotten benchmark can quietly undo every other control. The open source tools here audit the security posture of the systems you already run - your cloud accounts, Kubernetes clusters, source-control settings, and privileged access paths - and let you run those checks yourself. That matters because auditing means handing a tool broad read access to your environment, and with these the credentials, configuration data, and findings never leave it for an outside platform. You can also read exactly which rules each check applies, rather than trusting a scoring engine you cannot inspect.
Prowler
Open-source cloud security platform for automated checks, compliance frameworks, and multi-cloud assessments
Kubescape
Kubernetes security platform spanning IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, and live clusters
kube-bench
Checks whether Kubernetes is deployed according to the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark
Steampipe
Zero-ETL SQL access to APIs and services, with live queries and a single binary
ScoutSuite
Open source multi-cloud security auditing tool for point-in-time posture assessment and offline review
Cartography
Python tool that maps infrastructure assets and relationships into a Neo4j graph database
CloudSploit
Cloud security auditing for AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle, and GitHub with compliance reporting
KubeLinter
Static analysis for Kubernetes YAML files, Helm charts, and Kustomize manifests
Chamber
CLI for managing secrets in AWS SSM Parameter Store, with audit history and export-import commands
Our picks
Pick by what you audit and how results should arrive: a broad multi-cloud sweep, a dated report, cluster checks, or ad hoc SQL.
Broadest multi-cloud audit: Prowler Prowler runs hundreds of built-in checks across AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and GitHub, mapping them to frameworks including CIS, NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC2, and ISO 27001. A ThreatScore prioritizes risk, and you can use the CLI or a web app with dashboards, plus a GitHub Action with SARIF upload.
Point-in-time cloud posture report: ScoutSuite ScoutSuite collects configuration from cloud provider APIs and generates a single HTML report of findings and the account data behind them, a dated view of your attack surface. Once collected, review can be done entirely offline. It covers AWS, Azure, GCP, and more, built by security consultants for this kind of assessment.
Best for Kubernetes posture: Kubescape Kubescape checks clusters for security, compliance, and misconfiguration from the IDE through CI to running clusters, scanning against NSA, MITRE ATT&CK, and CIS controls. Image scanning uses Grype with an offline database option, and an in-cluster operator adds continuous scanning and eBPF runtime threat detection. It runs as a CLI or the operator.
Query your infrastructure with SQL: Steampipe Steampipe exposes cloud accounts, code, and services as live SQL tables, so you interrogate posture on demand instead of moving data into a database first. Plugins map AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, GitHub, and more to thousands of documented tables, and open-source benchmarks check accounts against security frameworks. It ships as a single binary.
Choosing tools to audit the systems you run
The word audit is doing double duty in this category, and getting it wrong wastes the most time. These are not tools for managing audit paperwork and sign-offs; they audit the security posture of real systems, and you pick by target. Prowler, ScoutSuite, and CloudSploit assess cloud accounts across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Kubescape, kube-bench, and KubeLinter check Kubernetes clusters and manifests. Legitify audits GitHub and GitLab settings, Cloudsplaining and CloudFox dig into AWS IAM, and sshportal and ShellHub sit on the access path itself, recording privileged SSH sessions.
Next decide between a point-in-time snapshot and continuous monitoring, and whether you need to map findings to a compliance standard. ScoutSuite and CloudSploit produce a report you run on demand, useful for a periodic assessment, while Kubescape's in-cluster operator and Prowler's app keep watching. If an auditor expects CIS, PCI, HIPAA, or SOC2 evidence, Prowler, CloudSploit, kube-bench, and Kubescape score directly against those frameworks. For open-ended investigation instead of a fixed checklist, Steampipe queries live cloud APIs with SQL and Cartography loads your assets into a graph you explore for attack paths.
Finally, look at how findings come out and how the tool reaches your accounts. Output shapes what you can automate: Legitify and KubeLinter emit SARIF for code-scanning pipelines, CloudSploit writes CSV and JSON, ScoutSuite and Cloudsplaining build HTML reports, and Steampipe gives you SQL. Because auditing needs broad read access, confirm the tool uses read-only credentials and runs in your environment, so account metadata and findings stay with you rather than a hosted service.
Related categories
Frequently asked questions
Are these tools for managing audits or for auditing my own systems?+
For auditing your systems. This category is security auditing, not audit-management paperwork: the tools inspect cloud accounts, Kubernetes clusters, source-control settings, IAM policies, and privileged access, then report what is misconfigured or risky. Prowler and ScoutSuite examine cloud posture, Kubescape and kube-bench check clusters, and Cloudsplaining analyzes IAM permissions. If you need workpapers and sign-off tracking, that is a different kind of product.
Which tool fits which target - cloud accounts, Kubernetes, or source control?+
Match the tool to the surface. For multi-cloud accounts, Prowler, ScoutSuite, and CloudSploit cover AWS, Azure, and GCP. For Kubernetes, kube-bench runs the CIS benchmark, KubeLinter checks manifests and Helm charts, and Kubescape spans posture and runtime. For source control, Legitify audits GitHub and GitLab organizations and repositories. For AWS IAM specifically, Cloudsplaining and CloudFox go deep on permissions and exposure.
Do these map findings to compliance frameworks like CIS, PCI, or SOC2?+
Several do, which saves translating raw findings into an auditor's language. Prowler ships frameworks for CIS, NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC2, and ISO 27001; CloudSploit has compliance modes for HIPAA, CIS, and PCI; and for Kubernetes, kube-bench runs the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark while Kubescape scans against NSA, MITRE ATT&CK, and CIS controls. Confirm the specific control set you must report against is present before you rely on it.
Do I need a one-time scan or continuous monitoring?+
Both have a place. A point-in-time run from ScoutSuite or CloudSploit gives you a dated snapshot, which is what a periodic assessment or a spot check needs. Continuous monitoring catches drift as it happens: Kubescape's in-cluster operator scans running workloads, and the Prowler app can run repeated assessments with dashboards. Many teams start with a snapshot to size the problem, then move the recurring checks into automation.
How do these access my cloud, and do my keys leave my environment?+
They use the provider APIs with read-only credentials you supply, and with the tools here the collection runs locally or in your own CI, so account data and findings stay in your environment. ScoutSuite gathers configuration through provider APIs and lets you review the report offline afterward, and Prowler runs entirely against your own accounts. Use least-privilege, read-only roles for scanning and treat the collected output as sensitive.
Can I audit IAM permissions for least-privilege violations?+
Yes, and it is worth a dedicated tool. Cloudsplaining scans every policy in an AWS account and produces a risk-prioritized HTML report with a triage worksheet, flagging privilege escalation, data exfiltration, and resource exposure. CloudFox surfaces overly permissive roles and cross-account trusts during an assessment. For custom questions, Steampipe lets you query IAM with SQL and Cartography maps the relationships as a graph.
How do I audit who accessed which servers?+
That is access auditing rather than posture scanning, and two tools here handle it. sshportal is a transparent SSH bastion that records sessions with an audit log and TTY recording, so you can replay exactly what happened. ShellHub is a centralized SSH gateway with session recording and a built-in player, reaching Linux and IoT devices without exposing public IPs. Both give you a reviewable trail of privileged access.