docs: add terminology page to explain Trivy concepts (#7996)

Signed-off-by: knqyf263 <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: simar7 <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: DmitriyLewen <[email protected]>

docs/docs/references/terminology.md

@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+# Terminology
+
+This page explains the terminology system used in Trivy, helping users understand the specific terms and concepts unique to the Trivy ecosystem.
+
+**Inclusion Criteria**
+
+1. Core Components of Trivy
+    - Primary features such as Scanner, Target
+    - Essential components such as Scan Assets (trivy-db, trivy-java-db)
+    - Components that users directly interact with
+
+2. Trivy-specific Terms
+    - Terms unique to Trivy (e.g., VEX Hub)
+    - Terms that have special meaning in Trivy's context (e.g., Plugin, Module)
+
+**Exclusion Criteria**
+
+1. General Terms
+    - Common security/technical terms (e.g., CVE, CVSS, Container, Registry)
+    - Standard industry terminology
+
+2. Implementation Details
+    - Internal workings of components
+    - Usage instructions (these belong in feature documentation)
+
+
+## Core Concepts
+
+### Target
+Types of artifacts that Trivy can scan, like container images and filesystem.
+
+### Scanner
+Trivy's built-in security scanning engines. Trivy has four main scanners:
+
+- [Vulnerability Scanner](../scanner/vulnerability.md)
+- [Misconfiguration Scanner](../scanner/misconfiguration/index.md)
+- [Secret Scanner](../scanner/secret.md)
+- [License Scanner](../scanner/license.md)
+
+!!! note
+   SBOM is not a scanner but an output format option.
+
+### Scan Assets
+External data that Trivy downloads (if needed for scanner) and uses during scanning:
+
+- [Vulnerability Database (Trivy DB, trivy-db)](#vulnerability-database-trivy-db-trivy-db): Database containing vulnerability information
+- [Java Index Database (Trivy Java DB, trivy-java-db)](#java-index-database-trivy-java-db-trivy-java-db): Database for Java artifact identification
+- [Checks Bundle (trivy-checks)](#checks-bundle): Archive containing misconfiguration detection rules
+- [VEX Repository](#vex-repository): Repository containing VEX documents
+
+## Vulnerability Scanning
+
+### Vulnerability Database (Trivy DB, trivy-db)
+The core vulnerability database required for vulnerability detection.
+Contains comprehensive vulnerability information for multiple ecosystems.
+Distributed via OCI registry.
+
+Managed at https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy-db.
+
+The vulnerability database is built from a GitHub repository that collects and stores vulnerability information from various data sources.
+This repository serves as the foundation for building the Trivy DB.
+
+Managed at:
+
+- https://github.com/aquasecurity/vuln-list
+- https://github.com/aquasecurity/vuln-list-nvd
+- https://github.com/aquasecurity/vuln-list-redhat
+- https://github.com/aquasecurity/vuln-list-debian
+- etc.
+
+### Java Index Database (Trivy Java DB, trivy-java-db)
+Specialized database used for identifying Java libraries and their components during JAR/WAR/PAR/EAR scanning.
+Distributed via OCI registry.
+
+Managed at https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy-java-db.
+
+
+## Misconfiguration Scanning
+When the context does not clearly indicate these terms are related to misconfiguration scanning, they may be prefixed with "Misconfiguration" for clarity.
+For example, "Check" may be referred to as "Misconfiguration Check", and "Checks Bundle" as "Misconfiguration Checks Bundle".
+
+### Check
+A Rego file that defines rules for detecting misconfigurations in various types of IaC files.
+
+### Built-in Checks
+Default set of checks distributed through [the trivy-checks repository](https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy-checks), providing standard security and configuration best practices.
+
+### Checks Bundle
+A tar.gz archive containing [the built-in checks](#built-in-checks), distributed via OCI registry.
+
+## Secret Scanning
+
+### Rule
+Pattern matching rules used to detect hardcoded secrets and sensitive information.
+Each rule consists of:
+
+- Metadata (ID, Category, Title, etc.)
+- Regular expressions for matching sensitive patterns
+- Additional context for detection accuracy
+
+## Kubernetes Integration
+
+### KBOM (Kubernetes Bill of Materials)
+A specialized SBOM format for Kubernetes clusters that includes detailed information about the cluster's components.
+
+## VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange)
+
+### VEX Repository
+A repository system that stores VEX documents following [the VEX Repository Specification](https://github.com/aquasecurity/vex-repo-spec).
+VEX repositories help users manage and share information about vulnerability applicability and exploitability.
+
+For detailed information about VEX repositories, see [the document](../supply-chain/vex/repo.md).
+
+### VEX Hub
+The default VEX repository managed by Aqua Security at https://github.com/aquasecurity/vexhub.
+It primarily aggregates VEX documents published by package maintainers in their source repositories.
+VEX Hub serves as a central point for collecting and distributing vulnerability applicability information for OSS projects.
+
+## Cache System
+
+### Cache Types
+The cache directory contains several distinct types of data:
+
+- [Vulnerability Database](#vulnerability-database-trivy-db-trivy-db)
+- [Java Index Database](#java-index-database-trivy-java-db-trivy-java-db)
+- [Misconfiguration Checks](#misconfiguration-scanning)
+- [VEX Repositories](#vex-repository)
+- [Scan Cache](#scan-cache)
+
+### Asset Cache
+Downloaded assets like vulnerability databases and Java index databases.
+
+### Scan Cache
+A caching mechanism that stores analysis results from previous scans to speed up subsequent scans.
+For container image scanning, the scan cache stores analysis results including package names and versions per layer.
+
+For detailed information about caching, see [the document](../configuration/cache.md).
+
+## Plugin System
+
+### Plugin
+An add-on tool that integrates with Trivy to extend its core functionality.
+Plugins can be written in any programming language and integrate seamlessly with Trivy CLI, appearing in Trivy help and subcommands.
+They can be installed and removed independently without affecting the core Trivy installation.
+
+For detailed information about plugins, see [the document](../plugin/index.md).
+
+### Plugin Index (trivy-plugin-index)
+A centralized registry that lists available Trivy plugins, managed at https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy-plugin-index.
+The index maintains a curated list of official and community plugins, providing metadata such as plugin names, descriptions, and maintainers.
+It enables plugin discovery through the `trivy plugin search` command and facilitates automatic plugin installation and updates.
+
+For detailed information about the plugin index, see [the document](../plugin/user-guide.md).
+
+## Module System
+### Module
+A WebAssembly-based extension mechanism that allows custom scanning logic without modifying the Trivy binary.
+Modules can modify scan results by analyzing files or post-processing results.
+
+For detailed information about modules, see [the document](../advanced/modules.md).

mkdocs.yml

@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ nav:
               - Standalone: docs/references/modes/standalone.md
               - Client/Server: docs/references/modes/client-server.md
           - Troubleshooting: docs/references/troubleshooting.md
+          - Terminology: docs/references/terminology.md
   - Ecosystem: 
     - Overview: ecosystem/index.md
     - CI/CD: ecosystem/cicd.md
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