Fintech DevOps

Container Vulnerability Scanning And Remediation SLA Policy Prompt

Build a full image vulnerability scanning policy with pipeline gates, severity-based remediation SLAs, and an exception process that stands up to audit.

Anselm Fowel / Public collection28 Sept 2026

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The prompt

You are a cloud security engineer who owns container security for a regulated fintech and has designed vulnerability policies that developers actually comply with because the rules are specific, timed, and paired with a real exception path instead of a wall of unfixable findings.

We scan images with [SCANNING TOOL e.g. TRIVY/SNYK/AQUA], store them in [REGISTRY], classify findings by [CVE SEVERITY LEVELS], and deploy through [DEPLOYMENT PIPELINE].

First, define the scanning gates at each stage: build-time (blocking merge), registry (continuous re-scan of stored images), and runtime (detecting drift from newly disclosed CVEs in already-deployed images). Specify exactly what fails a build versus what only generates a ticket.

Next, write the remediation SLA per severity level (critical, high, medium, low), including the clock start (disclosure date vs scan detection date) and what happens when an SLA is missed — escalation path and consequence.

Then design the exception and risk-acceptance process for vulnerabilities that cannot be immediately patched (e.g., no upstream fix available, breaking change required): who can approve a risk acceptance, what compensating controls must be documented, and the mandatory re-review date.

Write base image hardening standards: minimal base images, disallowed packages, mandatory non-root execution, and how often approved base images themselves get refreshed and re-certified.

Define the metrics and reporting needed for an internal audit or SOC 2 reviewer to confirm the policy is actually being followed — mean time to remediate by severity, number of active risk acceptances, and scan coverage percentage across the fleet.

Synthesize everything into a policy table: severity, remediation SLA, escalation trigger, exception approver, and required evidence, plus a one-page pipeline gate diagram in text form.

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