---
title: Container Vulnerability Response glossary
description: Learn about terms and concepts that are unique to Container Vulnerability Response.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/security-management/container-vulnerability-response/cvr-glossary.html
release: australia
product: Container Vulnerability Response
classification: container-vulnerability-response
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Reference, Container Vulnerability Response, Unified Security Exposure Management, Security Operations]
---

# Container Vulnerability Response glossary

Learn about terms and concepts that are unique to Container Vulnerability Response.

## Key terms

-   **Container**

    A unit of software, which packages the code and all its dependencies so that the application runs seamlessly and reliably from one computing environment to another.

-   **Container image**

    A static file with executable code that can create a container on a computing system. A container image cannot be changed and thus can be deployed consistently in any environment.

-   **Cluster**

    A set of worker machines, called nodes, that run containerized applications.


-   **Docker**

    Software to create, deploy, and manage application containers on servers and the cloud.

-   **Docker Image**

    A template file that contains code, required libraries, configurations, and so on. The file is used to launch container instances. It consists of a union of layered file systems.

-   **Dockerfile**

    A text file containing instructions to create container images by adding multiple layers. For example, layering of Base Ubuntu, Nginx, and App code.

-   **Docker Compose**

    A tool for defining and running complex applications with Docker. With Compose, you can define a multi-container application in a single file.

-   **Docker Container**

    A Docker Container is a runtime instance launched from a Docker Image.

-   **Image Layer**

    A layer is a modification to an image. It is represented by an instruction in the Dockerfile. Layers are applied in sequence to the base image to create the final image.

-   **Image Repository**

    A collection of docker images with different tags or versions.

-   **Image Labels**

    A set of key-value pairs stored with the image as metadata.

-   **Namespace**

    An abstraction used by Kubernetes to support the isolation of groups of resources within a single cluster.

-   **Pod**

    A set of running containers \(another abstraction on top of a container\).

-   **Registry**

    A hosted service containing repositories of images.

-   **Service**

    An abstract way to expose an application running on a set of pods as a network service.

-   **Tag**

    A tag is a label applied to a Docker image in a given image repository. Tags are how various images in a repository are distinguished from each other.


**Parent Topic:**[Container Vulnerability Response reference](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/security-management/container-vulnerability-response/cvr-reference.md)