Audit Python environments and requirements files for known vulnerabilities with pip-audit
domain: python-dependency-management · 8 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Install in an isolated env (recommended): pipx install pip-audit — or pip install pip-audit into the environment you'll audit from.
Audit the current environment's installed packages: pip-audit
Audit a requirements file instead: pip-audit -r requirements.txt (repeatable -r flags; dependencies are resolved like an install, without installing).
Machine-readable output: pip-audit --format json ; other formats include columns (default), markdown, and cyclonedx-json/cyclonedx-xml for SBOMs.
Attempt automatic remediation: pip-audit --fix (combine with --dry-run first to preview which upgrades would be made).
Inside a virtualenv, use pip-audit --local to exclude globally installed packages; for fully pinned requirement files use --no-deps to skip resolution and speed up the audit.
In CI, rely on exit codes: 0 = no known vulnerabilities, 1 = vulnerabilities found (or when the audit itself fails).
pip-audit is a PyPA project; vulnerability data comes from the Python Packaging Advisory Database via the PyPI JSON API, with OSV available as an alternate service. Docs: https://github.com/pypa/pip-audit
Known gotchas
A non-zero exit when findings exist will fail CI jobs by design; there is no built-in flag to suppress it, so gate deliberately rather than blanket-ignoring.
Suppress specific advisories with --ignore-vuln <ID> (CVE/GHSA/PYSEC aliases accepted) and document why — vulnerability feeds do contain reports that are not actionable for every project.
Auditing a requirements file performs full dependency resolution and can take as long as a pip install; --no-deps (pinned files) or --require-hashes speeds it up.
pip-audit finds KNOWN vulnerabilities only; it is not malware detection and not a substitute for supply-chain controls like hash-checking.
--fix rewrites requirement files in place with upgraded versions; review the diff — upgraded versions can introduce breaking changes and there is no rollback.
Private index authentication support is limited (keyring-based); interactive prompts are not supported.
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