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What is CVE in Vulnerability Management?

Among the modern approaches, standardization and sharing are two pillars of application development. Instead of monolithic applications built on proprietary code, distributed applications incorporate open-source frameworks and libraries into a micro-services architecture. There are several benefits of distributed applications, such as ease of high integration, high levels of interoperability, and shared other efforts that encourage innovation, reduce market times, and improve quality.

Here in this article, we have described how the CVE program brings a high level of standardization and data sharing to the vulnerability management services of different experts in cybersecurity.

What do you mean by CVE?

CVE stands for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures. CVE is a free service that helps identify and catalogue, termed software or firmware vulnerabilities. CVE is not an actionable vulnerability database but an effect, a standardized dictionary of publicly known vulnerabilities and exposures. Various security-related products and services use CVE, including incident management, vulnerability management services and remediation, intrusion detection, and many more.




What is the workability of the CVE System?

A CVE List contains records describing a specific vulnerability or exposure. The CVE List is highly maintained by a significant community of trusted entities and individuals; these organizations are qualified to identify and describe different programming or coding flaws or security misconfigurations that bad actors could exploit to compromise a system or information. The major contributors to the CVE List include developers, vendors, researchers, and end users.

As per CVE, a vulnerability is a type of flaw in a software, firmware, hardware, or service component that results in a weakness that can be exploited, hurting the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an affected part or component.

Vulnerability offers an attacker with highly unauthorized access to a network or system, often with full privileges. By this, the company can efficiently execute commands or access restricted information.

The Benefits of the CVE System

Here below, we have mentioned some of the advantages of the CVE System:

Centralized management of vulnerabilities is one of the most significant advantages facilitated by the CVE. This provides a centralized place where exposures can be managed and even reviewed, regardless of their point of origin. If your organization uses different software products, one can rely on the CVE list to provide you with data on vulnerabilities. To be updated, one can consult multiple databases.

CVE System helps in maintaining consistent evaluation. The MITRE Corporation is the structural and functional “editor” to evaluate vulnerabilities consistently. The chances of skipping, duplicity and mistaken number assignments are muddling the list that need not be worried about.

The feature of standard formatting and descriptions within the CVE offers the same data fields (for the most part). Once you are accustomed to reviewing various other CVE entries, studying becomes more accessible.

The existence of the CVE system encourages the public sharing of data. When companies discover vulnerabilities in their published software, they’re incentivized to report it. There are systems in the companies that can help in identifying, cataloguing and communicating information about vulnerabilities, but the CVE makes each and everything more streamlined.

The activity of research and better security is an essential parts to be followed. Of course, the most crucial benefit of the CVE is that it provides a high level of information about vulnerabilities and exposures to the people who need it. CVE can also be used to research software products you’re considering for your business; this proactively identifies potential vulnerabilities and figure out solutions and workarounds before it’s too late.

Identifiers of the CVE system

Always refer to a specific identification number when referring to CVE. These standard identifiers are CVEs, CVE IDs, or CVE numbers. The common identifiers help in allowing consistency when discussing or sharing information about specific vulnerabilities. CVE identifiers can be issued by the CNAs. Lots of CVE IDs are assigned each year.

Anyone can identify vulnerabilities or exposures in search of CVE identifiers, whether he is a researcher, vendor, or even a savvy user. To encourage the disclosure of flaws, some other users help to facilitate bug bounties. To assign a CVE ID, the issue must be:

  • Independently fixable, it can be resolved independently of other bugs.

  • Acknowledged by the hardware of the software vendor or documented with a vulnerability report.

  • Affecting only one codebase.

It must be ensured that cyber attackers do not exploit information in the CVE list; sometimes, a CVE will be assigned before a high level of public security advisory is issued. They are often kept secret to reduce the risk of attacks until a fix has been developed and tested.

What are the disadvantages of CVE?

CVE is not a vulnerability database; it does not even contain some of the information that is required to run a proper comprehensive vulnerability management program. Additionally to the CVE identifier, the CVE entry includes only a major description of the security references and vulnerability to more information about the CVE, including vendor advisories.

Over the website of the vendor, all the relevant and additional information on each CVE can be found, as well as in the NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD). The National Vulnerability Database offers the CVSS Based Scores, essential details, and fixed data which is often needed by information technology and security teams that want to mitigate the vulnerability priority.

CVE also represents vulnerabilities in unpatched software. While traditional vulnerability management programs detect the unpatched software as the primary issue for all the modern, resolution, risk-based approaches to vulnerability management recognize the types of “vulnerabilities” introducing risk to an organization, all need to be identified and mitigated.

Fncyber is one of the leading cyber security consulting services across the globe.


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