OpenSCAP was initiated in 2006-2009 as an open-source implementation of the SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) standard. The project was developed with support from Red Hat and the security compliance community.
- 2009: First public release of OpenSCAP
- 2010: SCAP 1.0 certification
- 2011: Integration with Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- 2013: OpenSCAP 1.2 with improved features
¶ Growth and Adoption (2015-Present)
OpenSCAP became the standard tool for security compliance scanning on Linux:
- 2016: SCAP 1.2 certification
- 2018: OpenSCAP 1.3 with enhanced capabilities
- 2020: Integration with compliance frameworks
- 2022+: Continued development and maintenance
| Year |
Version |
Notable Changes |
| 2009 |
0.1 |
Initial release |
| 2010 |
1.0 |
SCAP 1.0 certification |
| 2013 |
1.2 |
Improved features |
| 2018 |
1.3 |
Enhanced capabilities |
- Written primarily in C with Python bindings
- Command-line tools (oscap)
- SCAP standard implementation
- XCCDF and OVAL support
- Security compliance scanning
- Vulnerability detection
- Configuration assessment
- Regulatory compliance (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, STIG)
- Report generation (HTML, XML)
¶ Impact and Legacy
OpenSCAP’s contributions to security compliance:
- Standard implementation: Reference implementation of SCAP standard
- Linux compliance: De facto standard for Linux security compliance
- Red Hat integration: Built into RHEL and derived distributions
- Automation: Enables automated compliance checking
OpenSCAP remains actively maintained:
- Open-source: LGPL-2.1 licensed
- Red Hat supported: Commercial support available
- SCAP certified: NIST-certified SCAP implementation
- Enterprise use: Widely used in regulated industries
| Feature |
OpenSCAP |
Lynis |
CIS-CAT |
| First Release |
2009 |
2006 |
2008 |
| License |
LGPL-2.1 |
GPL-3.0 |
Proprietary (free version) |
| Standard |
SCAP |
Custom |
CIS Benchmarks |
| Certification |
NIST SCAP |
None |
CIS |
| Integration |
RHEL built-in |
Package |
Standalone |