diff --git a/cmd/grype/cli/commands/root.go b/cmd/grype/cli/commands/root.go
index c0e35269925..8f6987ac9da 100644
--- a/cmd/grype/cli/commands/root.go
+++ b/cmd/grype/cli/commands/root.go
@@ -359,6 +359,7 @@ func getProviderConfig(opts *options.Grype) pkg.ProviderConfig {
 			Platform:               opts.Platform,
 			Name:                   opts.Name,
 			DefaultImagePullSource: opts.DefaultImagePullSource,
+			Sources:                opts.From,
 		},
 		SynthesisConfig: pkg.SynthesisConfig{
 			GenerateMissingCPEs: opts.GenerateMissingCPEs,
diff --git a/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype.go b/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype.go
index 26a07fb02b9..1db48bfb6c3 100644
--- a/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype.go
+++ b/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package options
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/anchore/clio"
 	"github.com/anchore/grype/grype/match"
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ type Grype struct {
 	SortBy                     SortBy             `yaml:",inline" json:",inline" mapstructure:",squash"`
 	Name                       string             `yaml:"name" json:"name" mapstructure:"name"`
 	DefaultImagePullSource     string             `yaml:"default-image-pull-source" json:"default-image-pull-source" mapstructure:"default-image-pull-source"`
+	From                       []string           `yaml:"from" json:"from" mapstructure:"from"`
 	VexDocuments               []string           `yaml:"vex-documents" json:"vex-documents" mapstructure:"vex-documents"`
 	VexAdd                     []string           `yaml:"vex-add" json:"vex-add" mapstructure:"vex-add"`                                                                   // GRYPE_VEX_ADD
 	MatchUpstreamKernelHeaders bool               `yaml:"match-upstream-kernel-headers" json:"match-upstream-kernel-headers" mapstructure:"match-upstream-kernel-headers"` // Show matches on kernel-headers packages where the match is on kernel upstream instead of marking them as ignored, default=false
@@ -149,6 +151,11 @@ func (o *Grype) AddFlags(flags clio.FlagSet) {
 		"an optional platform specifier for container image sources (e.g. 'linux/arm64', 'linux/arm64/v8', 'arm64', 'linux')",
 	)
 
+	flags.StringArrayVarP(&o.From,
+		"from", "",
+		"specify the source behavior to use (e.g. docker, registry, podman, oci-dir, ...)",
+	)
+
 	flags.StringArrayVarP(&o.VexDocuments,
 		"vex", "",
 		"a list of VEX documents to consider when producing scanning results",
@@ -156,6 +163,8 @@ func (o *Grype) AddFlags(flags clio.FlagSet) {
 }
 
 func (o *Grype) PostLoad() error {
+	o.From = flatten(o.From)
+
 	if o.FailOn != "" {
 		failOnSeverity := *o.FailOnSeverity()
 		if failOnSeverity == vulnerability.UnknownSeverity {
@@ -207,3 +216,14 @@ func (o Grype) FailOnSeverity() *vulnerability.Severity {
 	severity := vulnerability.ParseSeverity(o.FailOn)
 	return &severity
 }
+
+// flatten takes a list of comma-separated entries and returns a flattened list of trimmed values (preserving order)
+func flatten(commaSeparatedEntries []string) []string {
+	var out []string
+	for _, v := range commaSeparatedEntries {
+		for _, s := range strings.Split(v, ",") {
+			out = append(out, strings.TrimSpace(s))
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype_test.go b/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..38ce29ce519
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/grype/cli/options/grype_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package options
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func Test_flatten(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    []string
+		expected []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "single value",
+			input:    []string{"docker"},
+			expected: []string{"docker"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "comma-separated values",
+			input:    []string{"docker,registry"},
+			expected: []string{"docker", "registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "multiple entries with commas",
+			input:    []string{"docker,registry", "podman"},
+			expected: []string{"docker", "registry", "podman"}, // preserves order
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "whitespace trimming",
+			input:    []string{" docker , registry "},
+			expected: []string{"docker", "registry"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty input",
+			input:    []string{},
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := flatten(tt.input)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, got)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/grype/pkg/provider_config.go b/grype/pkg/provider_config.go
index d18a5a19015..ebaae4fe094 100644
--- a/grype/pkg/provider_config.go
+++ b/grype/pkg/provider_config.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ type SyftProviderConfig struct {
 	Exclusions             []string
 	Name                   string
 	DefaultImagePullSource string
+	Sources                []string
 }
 
 type SynthesisConfig struct {
diff --git a/grype/pkg/syft_provider.go b/grype/pkg/syft_provider.go
index 7f43aba16e8..118ccf6913b 100644
--- a/grype/pkg/syft_provider.go
+++ b/grype/pkg/syft_provider.go
@@ -70,11 +70,15 @@ func getSource(userInput string, config ProviderConfig) (source.Source, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	var sources []string
-	schemeSource, newUserInput := stereoscope.ExtractSchemeSource(userInput, allSourceTags()...)
-	if schemeSource != "" {
-		sources = []string{schemeSource}
-		userInput = newUserInput
+	// prioritize explicitly specified sources from --from flag
+	sources := config.Sources
+	if len(sources) == 0 {
+		// fallback to extracting from scheme if --from not specified (for backward compatibility)
+		schemeSource, newUserInput := stereoscope.ExtractSchemeSource(userInput, allSourceTags()...)
+		if schemeSource != "" {
+			sources = []string{schemeSource}
+			userInput = newUserInput
+		}
 	}
 
 	return syft.GetSource(context.Background(), userInput, syft.DefaultGetSourceConfig().
diff --git a/test/quality/test-db b/test/quality/test-db
index 9cde1ec6349..55e5441e74c 100644
--- a/test/quality/test-db
+++ b/test/quality/test-db
@@ -1 +1 @@
-vulnerability-db_v6.1.1_2025-10-01T01:30:08Z_1759323862.tar.zst
+vulnerability-db_v6.1.3_2025-11-01T00:25:05Z_1761981068.tar.zst