building-vulnerability-dashboard-with-defectdojo

Building Vulnerability Dashboard with DefectDojo

Overview

DefectDojo is an open-source application vulnerability management platform that aggregates findings from 200+ security tools, deduplicates results, tracks remediation progress, and provides executive dashboards. It serves as a central hub for vulnerability management, integrating with CI/CD pipelines, Jira for ticketing, and Slack for notifications. DefectDojo supports OWASP-based categorization and provides REST API for automation.

When to Use

• When deploying or configuring building vulnerability dashboard with defectdojo capabilities in your environment
• When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
• When building or improving security architecture for this domain
• When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• 4GB+ RAM, 2+ CPU cores, 20GB+ disk
• PostgreSQL 12+ (included in Docker deployment)
• Python 3.9+ for API integration scripts
• Jira instance (optional, for ticket integration)

Deployment

Docker Compose Deployment

# Clone DefectDojo repository
git clone https://github.com/DefectDojo/django-DefectDojo.git
cd django-DefectDojo

# Start with Docker Compose (production mode)
./dc-up-d.sh

# Alternative: manual Docker Compose
docker compose up -d

# Check service status
docker compose ps

# View initial admin credentials
docker compose logs initializer 2>&1 | grep "Admin password"

# Access DefectDojo at http://localhost:8080

Environment Configuration

# Key environment variables in docker-compose.yml
DD_DATABASE_ENGINE=django.db.backends.postgresql
DD_DATABASE_HOST=postgres
DD_DATABASE_PORT=5432
DD_DATABASE_NAME=defectdojo
DD_DATABASE_USER=defectdojo
DD_DATABASE_PASSWORD=<secure_password>
DD_ALLOWED_HOSTS=*
DD_SECRET_KEY=<random_64_char_key>
DD_CREDENTIAL_AES_256_KEY=<random_128_bit_key>
DD_SOCIAL_AUTH_GOOGLE_OAUTH2_ENABLED=True

Organizational Structure