Implementing Image Provenance Verification with Cosign
Overview
Cosign is a Sigstore tool for signing, verifying, and attaching metadata to container images and OCI artifacts. It supports both key-based and keyless (OIDC) signing, integrates with Fulcio (certificate authority) and Rekor (transparency log), and enables supply chain security for container images.
When to Use
- When deploying or configuring implementing image provenance verification with cosign capabilities in your environment
- When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
- When building or improving security architecture for this domain
- When conducting security assessments that require this implementation
Prerequisites
- Cosign CLI installed
- Docker or Podman for building images
- OCI-compliant container registry (Docker Hub, GHCR, GCR, ECR)
- OIDC provider account (GitHub, Google, Microsoft) for keyless signing
Installing Cosign
# Install via Go
go install github.com/sigstore/cosign/v2/cmd/cosign@latest
# Install via Homebrew
brew install cosign
# Install via script
curl -O -L "https://github.com/sigstore/cosign/releases/latest/download/cosign-linux-amd6…
