Introduction: The Problem RapidFort Solves

Are your CVEs growing exponentially? Did you convert to microservices only to lose control? Do you know what your application dependencies are at runtime? If these are common questions, the RapidFort Platform can help achieve those goals as a decision system that eliminates software risk at scale.

The Zero Day Clock projects time from vulnerability discovery to active exploitation, now decreasing below 24 hours per year. That matches an average of 162 new vulnerabilities discovered every day. RapidFort packages multiple security elements into a single source of truth for your container images, Kubernetes deployments, and vulnerabilities.

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Platform Philosophy: More Than Tools

Platforms are not just about tools. They are about creating decision velocity at scale. Platforms function as economic engines that reduce cognitive load, standardize pathways, and convert fragmented engineering into measurable outcomes. Platform design seeks to improve time-to-decision and organizational resilience.

RapidFort was designed to be the global leader in delivering secure software supply chains to any customer. Every customer faces unique challenges in delivering effective and secure products to market. RapidFort offers ownership, funding, and timelines to create strategic effects in managing containerized software supply chains. In traditional DevOps, most central security functions are rebuilt for every project. Managing container security should not require a rebuild for every instantiation. Instead, the RapidFort platform combines common functions into an easily accessible, scalable result.

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Real-World Impact: A Concrete Example

Consider Ubuntu Jammy, a common open source base image. Without RapidFort, a typical deployment includes 83 CVEs, consumes 801 MB of storage, and contains 244 packages. After processing through the RapidFort Platform, that same image is reduced to just 1 CVE, 244 MB of storage, and 63 packages.

When you must find newly released CVEs, manage dependencies, and secure your applications, which state would you rather defend? This transformation happens through four integrated components working together as a unified system.

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The Four Components of RapidFort

RapidFort combines four functional elements into a single integrated platform: Analyzer, Profiler, Optimizer, and CART. Together, these tools reduce existing CVEs by up to 95 percent and attack surfaces by up to 90 percent.

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1. RF Analyzer: Validated Vulnerability Intelligence

The RF Analyzer cuts through scanner noise to deliver validated vulnerability intelligence. Removing noise allows teams to focus on what matters. Traditional scanners lack full image transparency because they typically inspect only package metadata. Those scans miss binaries, embedded tools, and artifacts within the image.

The Analyzer turns those limitations on their head by offering deep image analysis. The system assesses every file, package, and configuration within container images to ensure visibility beyond package manager reporting. It identifies base image vulnerabilities and suggests swapping them for RapidFort's curated library of near-zero CVE images.

This removes CVEs and allows standardization of STIG and CIS-aligned fixes with FIPS-validated baselines. For example, Python's CVE count can be reduced from 340 to 1. While the Analyzer does not make the fixes, it shows exactly where remediation speed and compliance readiness can improve without any code changes.

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2. RF Profiler: Runtime Truth

The RF Profiler exposes runtime truth. Only packages and functions required when the application actually runs compile to create a Runtime Bill of Materials (RBOM). This RBOM turns theoretical CVEs across the build into measurable risk.

RapidFort was the first in the security community to advocate for an RBOM. While others in the market attempted to create observability, only RapidFort creates an artifact usable for compliance that documents exactly what runs and when. Execution paths transform an overall build from numerous dormant layers into active code, significantly reducing vulnerability surface.

Consider a customer with over 3,000 packages in their application based on a Python graphics module. Only 200 packages appeared at runtime. Once identified through RF Profiler, a running Kubernetes cluster was reduced from over 3,900 packages in the SBOM to only 21 in the RBOM and just 3 in the RBOM with fixes applied. The Profiler adds less than 1 percent operational overhead to identify these elements routinely.

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3. RF Optimizer: Attack Surface Reduction

The RF Optimizer makes the magic happen. While the Analyzer removed CVEs by swapping curated images, RF Optimizer digs further to remove excess packages from remaining images and reduce attack surfaces. Attack surfaces are the exposed areas of a software application where interaction, communication, or information sharing occurs.

Removing unused areas eliminates vulnerabilities that the application does not need. Manual container hardening takes approximately one Full-Time Equivalent engineer per 10 containers, or about 10 percent of overall development time. It is simply not possible to manually scale and keep up with hardening across all containers.

RF Optimizer uses runtime intelligence from the RBOM to selectively remove non-execution-relevant components while preserving application functionality. This removal cuts paths potentially used for privilege escalation or data exfiltration during an attack. Hardened images are rebuilt every 24 hours and available on the platform as drop-in replacements without requiring CI/CD changes. The tool offers light, standard, and aggressive hardening levels to suit every customer's needs.

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4. RF CART: Compliance and Remediation

RF CART (Compliance and Remediation Tool) closes the loop to generate audit-ready compliance evidence continuously. Continuous evaluation matches container environments to approved security benchmarks, detects drift, and produces decision-ready remediation guidance. This shifts your compliance baseline from an annual audit to daily awareness and improvement.

Benchmark validation is built on OpenSCAP principles, providing an open source framework for vulnerability scanning and compliance checks for DISA STIGs, CIS benchmarks, NIST control frameworks, Red Hat security guides, and customizable organizational baselines. Built environments can drift as different teams submit changes, but RF CART provides continuous benchmark assessment with remediation guidance generated at the same speed.

The tool provides reports in JSON, CSV, HTML, or XML formats suitable for any audit. RF CART produces remediation scripts to resolve issues quickly before they become problems for customers or auditors. The platform maintains versioned evidence to show improvement over time, regardless of whether you are using current or legacy images.

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The RapidFort Curated Library

At the heart of RapidFort's effectiveness is a continuously maintained library of over 30,000 curated near-zero CVE images. These pre-hardened base images come with STIG and CIS-aligned configurations and FIPS-validated baselines. The combination of analyzing, profiling, and optimizing with runtime intelligence against this library is what enables the dramatic reductions in CVEs and attack surfaces.

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Accessibility: CLI and GUI Interfaces

The RapidFort Platform incorporates both command-line (CLI) and graphical user interface (GUI) elements to speed user adoption and quickly deliver information about every image and package in your application. Whether your team prefers automation through CLI or the clarity of GUI dashboards, RapidFort adapts to your workflow.