Cloudsmith built Enterprise Policy Management (EPM) on Open Policy Agent (OPA) and uses Rego to define policies as code. These policies control how packages move through your systems. They're versioned, reviewable, and enforceable.

EPM is in early release, but it already draws on extensive metadata Cloudsmith collects from your artifacts: format, version, tags, license, vulnerability, malware scan results, and digital signatures. Policies tap into this data to take action based on what matters to your team.

Enterprise Policy Management with Cloudsmith

This article follows the example provided by Ciara Carey, a Solutions Engineer at Cloudsmith, shown in the video below.

EPM edited

From the Cloudsmith interface, navigate to the 

 policy to view the Rego-based rules for an example policy. These code-defined policies give you fine-grained control over artifact behavior.

This policy evaluates multiple risk indicators across all known vulnerabilities for a package to determine whether it should be flagged and quarantined. These indicators include CVSS and EPSS scores, the presence of a patch, and the age of the vulnerability.

At the top of the code, we set up our Rego script with the necessary dependencies:

 variable to store whether the vulnerability matches our criteria:

We’re testing against parameters including EPSS and CVSS scores, repo name, age, and CVE exclusion, and these are declared as variables:

 from the lower setting in the video, to reflect a more realistic threshold.

 block, which evaluates the conditions for each vulnerability and sets match to true if all pass:

This example uses a nuanced policy that checks for several risk factors before it triggers an action. Let’s examine these checks and the code they use.

Target Repository and Iterate Vulnerabilities

Make sure we are targeting our preferred repo:

Then loop through each reported vulnerability. The policy then applies the conditions to every vulnerability in the dataset. A vulnerability is bound to the 

Apply and Evaluate Conditions for Each Vulnerability

The following checks are then applied to each vulnerability for the package:

 – Skips known and accepted vulnerabilities to reduce unnecessary noise:

This uses a simple Rego helper rule to check if the vulnerability is in the ignore CVE list:

– This check ensures that a patched version of the package exists. If not, the policy will not trigger:

 – Evaluates the severity of any vulnerability using a configured CVSS threshold:

This uses a helper rule to check if the EPSS score exceeds our limit:

 – Evaluates the likelihood of vulnerability exploitation using the configured EPSS threshold:

– This checks the vulnerability's age by comparing its published date to a threshold of 30 days ago. This gives the vulnerability a grace period to establish itself. If the vulnerability was published before that date, it meets the age condition for further evaluation:

 panel, you can add a series of actions taken in response to a policy trigger. In this example, Cloudsmith performs the following automated actions:

 – Adds a visible marker so teams can immediately identify problematic artifacts.

 – Blocks the artifact from being downloaded, deployed to infrastructure, or promoted to other repositories.

Once the actions have been added, toggle the switch to the right of the policy name to ensure the policy is active.

To test the policy, upload a package that matches the policy conditions. For example, one with a known vulnerability that exceeds the configured CVSS and EPSS thresholds.

 to push a package that triggers the policy.

Cloudsmith automatically scans the package, extracts metadata, and applies the policy. In the example, if the conditions match, Cloudsmith:

Quarantines it to block deployment, download, and promotion

The API offers a range of instructions to manage policies using EPM. For example, use the simulate API to test policies without enforcing them. This returns results as if the policy were active, helping teams validate changes safely.

Open the decision log to examine how the policy responded. Locate the policy ID and view the result. The interface shows the evaluated Rego policy and the triggered event's full context.

You'll find detailed metadata from the package, including:

This information forms the basis for policy evaluation. Scroll to the bottom to see what actions the policy took. The decision log provides a transparent record of what happened and why.

Cloudsmith blog

Enterprise Policy Management Example: Quarantine Packages Using Policy as Code