diff --git a/apps/cnspec/cmd/vuln.go b/apps/cnspec/cmd/vuln.go
index 43662f2b..14f679e8 100644
--- a/apps/cnspec/cmd/vuln.go
+++ b/apps/cnspec/cmd/vuln.go
@@ -200,6 +200,10 @@ scan be executed on an instance that is running inside of AWS.`,
 			log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("failed to prepare config")
 		}
 
+		if conf.UpstreamConfig == nil {
+			log.Fatal().Msg("vulnerability scan requires authentication, future versions will not have this restriction, login with `cnspec login --token`")
+		}
+
 		ctx := discovery.InitCtx(context.Background())
 
 		log.Info().Msgf("discover related assets for %d asset(s)", len(conf.Inventory.Spec.Assets))
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 304572f0..f82e10d9 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6-0.20201009195203-85dd5c8bc61c
 	github.com/spf13/viper v1.13.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0
-	go.mondoo.com/cnquery v0.0.0-20221022114011-d65565ff364b
+	go.mondoo.com/cnquery v0.0.0-20221023032627-fb3272efa0d3
 	go.mondoo.com/ranger-rpc v0.5.1-0.20220923135836-9e7732899d34
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.11.0
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20220923202941-7f9b1623fab7
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 1d3e0ced..d17e5583 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1567,8 +1567,8 @@ go.etcd.io/etcd v0.0.0-20200513171258-e048e166ab9c/go.mod h1:xCI7ZzBfRuGgBXyXO6y
 go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.5.0/go.mod h1:cbVKeC6lCfl7j/8jBhAK6aIYO9XOjdptoxU/nLQcPvs=
 go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.5.0/go.mod h1:IJHfcCEKxYu1Os13ZdwCwIUTUVGYTSAM3YSwc9/Ac1g=
 go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.305.0/go.mod h1:h9puh54ZTgAKtEbut2oe9P4L/oqKCVB6xsXlzd7alYQ=
-go.mondoo.com/cnquery v0.0.0-20221022114011-d65565ff364b h1:cYgdOkVGEbG6GPytRLe/d/q7lVNli1rQHCGxL4xo3jA=
-go.mondoo.com/cnquery v0.0.0-20221022114011-d65565ff364b/go.mod h1:MuM8Xs1NGrthK/FFdcO6auvSqs0cZ8Wx8dpouQQJSiE=
+go.mondoo.com/cnquery v0.0.0-20221023032627-fb3272efa0d3 h1:LyhOwvPvNrXVAGNtxV98jrKaomwgA3lp2nlTsX4rp1U=
+go.mondoo.com/cnquery v0.0.0-20221023032627-fb3272efa0d3/go.mod h1:MuM8Xs1NGrthK/FFdcO6auvSqs0cZ8Wx8dpouQQJSiE=
 go.mondoo.com/ranger-rpc v0.5.1-0.20220923135836-9e7732899d34 h1:mtPZ1J+nRI/ivV+n41bjIwY6Rfxb2Jf49svZSQMGHIA=
 go.mondoo.com/ranger-rpc v0.5.1-0.20220923135836-9e7732899d34/go.mod h1:3YKcqFrlPgaB4FZ4EoLgdmRtwMQdO7RoAkZYFn+F1eY=
 go.mozilla.org/mozlog v0.0.0-20170222151521-4bb13139d403/go.mod h1:jHoPAGnDrCy6kaI2tAze5Prf0Nr0w/oNkROt2lw3n3o=