diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory_indexer.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory_indexer.go
index 1facdc44b..bc3d8a5f2 100644
--- a/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory_indexer.go
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/directory_indexer.go
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ func (r directoryIndexer) addDirectoryToIndex(p string, info os.FileInfo) error
 		return err
 	}
 
-	metadata := file.NewMetadataFromPath(p, info)
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromPath(p, info)
 	r.index.Add(*ref, metadata)
 
 	return nil
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ func (r directoryIndexer) addFileToIndex(p string, info os.FileInfo) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	metadata := file.NewMetadataFromPath(p, info)
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromPath(p, info)
 	r.index.Add(*ref, metadata)
 
 	return nil
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ func (r directoryIndexer) addSymlinkToIndex(p string, info os.FileInfo) (string,
 		targetAbsPath = filepath.Clean(filepath.Join(path.Dir(p), linkTarget))
 	}
 
-	metadata := file.NewMetadataFromPath(p, info)
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromPath(p, info)
 	metadata.LinkDestination = linkTarget
 	r.index.Add(*ref, metadata)
 
diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/file_indexer.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/file_indexer.go
index cf257dc95..086dc75a9 100644
--- a/syft/internal/fileresolver/file_indexer.go
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/file_indexer.go
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ func (r *fileIndexer) addDirectoryToIndex(path string, info os.FileInfo) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	metadata := file.NewMetadataFromPath(path, info)
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromPath(path, info)
 	r.index.Add(*ref, metadata)
 
 	return nil
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ func (r *fileIndexer) addFileToIndex(path string, info os.FileInfo) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	metadata := file.NewMetadataFromPath(path, info)
+	metadata := NewMetadataFromPath(path, info)
 	r.index.Add(*ref, metadata)
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/get_xid.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/get_xid.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8e00bc7a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/get_xid.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+//go:build !windows
+
+package fileresolver
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"syscall"
+)
+
+// getXid is the UID GID system info for unix
+func getXid(info os.FileInfo) (uid, gid int) {
+	uid = -1
+	gid = -1
+	if stat, ok := info.Sys().(*syscall.Stat_t); ok {
+		uid = int(stat.Uid)
+		gid = int(stat.Gid)
+	}
+
+	return uid, gid
+}
diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/get_xid_win.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/get_xid_win.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5202e92b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/get_xid_win.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+//go:build windows
+
+package fileresolver
+
+import (
+	"os"
+)
+
+// getXid is a placeholder for windows file information
+func getXid(info os.FileInfo) (uid, gid int) {
+	return -1, -1
+}
diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/metadata.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/metadata.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af15c8733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/metadata.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package fileresolver
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/stereoscope/pkg/file"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/internal/windows"
+)
+
+func NewMetadataFromPath(path string, info os.FileInfo) file.Metadata {
+	var mimeType string
+	uid, gid := getXid(info)
+
+	ty := file.TypeFromMode(info.Mode())
+
+	if ty == file.TypeRegular {
+		usablePath := path
+		// denormalize the path back to windows so we can open the file
+		if windows.HostRunningOnWindows() {
+			usablePath = windows.FromPosix(usablePath)
+		}
+
+		f, err := os.Open(usablePath)
+		if err != nil {
+			// TODO: it may be that the file is inaccessible, however, this is not an error or a warning. In the future we need to track these as known-unknowns
+			f = nil
+		} else {
+			defer internal.CloseAndLogError(f, usablePath)
+		}
+
+		mimeType = file.MIMEType(f)
+	}
+
+	return file.Metadata{
+		FileInfo: info,
+		Path:     path,
+		Type:     ty,
+		// unsupported across platforms
+		UserID:   uid,
+		GroupID:  gid,
+		MIMEType: mimeType,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/syft/internal/fileresolver/metadata_test.go b/syft/internal/fileresolver/metadata_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..936cd227c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/internal/fileresolver/metadata_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package fileresolver
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/stereoscope/pkg/file"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestFileMetadataFromPath(t *testing.T) {
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		path             string
+		expectedType     file.Type
+		expectedMIMEType string
+	}{
+		{
+			path:             "test-fixtures/symlinks-simple/readme",
+			expectedType:     file.TypeRegular,
+			expectedMIMEType: "text/plain",
+		},
+		{
+			path:             "test-fixtures/symlinks-simple/link_to_new_readme",
+			expectedType:     file.TypeSymLink,
+			expectedMIMEType: "",
+		},
+		{
+			path:             "test-fixtures/symlinks-simple/link_to_link_to_new_readme",
+			expectedType:     file.TypeSymLink,
+			expectedMIMEType: "",
+		},
+		{
+			path:             "test-fixtures/symlinks-simple",
+			expectedType:     file.TypeDirectory,
+			expectedMIMEType: "",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.path, func(t *testing.T) {
+			info, err := os.Lstat(test.path)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			actual := NewMetadataFromPath(test.path, info)
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expectedMIMEType, actual.MIMEType, "unexpected MIME type for %s", test.path)
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expectedType, actual.Type, "unexpected type for %s", test.path)
+		})
+	}
+}