The CVE Program is a global community of technology vendors, cyber security professionals, researchers, and academics...
The CVE Program is a global community of technology vendors, cyber security professionals, researchers, and academics that share and report vulnerabilities. This community ensures that flaws are recognized and categorized using common identifiers.
What is CVE?
The CVE system provides a standard, public way to reference cybersecurity vulnerabilities by assigning unique identifiers and providing context. It makes it easier for vendors, organizations, end-users, and security experts to communicate about these flaws.
Vulnerabilities are mistakes within software code that make systems more susceptible to attack, resulting in unauthorized access or data breaches. Exposures are conditions that increase the likelihood of a vulnerability being discovered, such as misconfigurations or design flaws. CVE lists only publicly known vulnerabilities and exposures. It includes those disclosed by CNAs and those uncovered by researchers or in third-party libraries used in production applications. CVE does not proactively seek out vulnerabilities, which explains why it has over 98,000 gaps.
What is a CVE Record?
CVE records describe publicly disclosed IT security vulnerabilities. A CVE entry features a short description of the vulnerability, its CVSS base score, and references to additional information from various sources like vendor advisories.
The CVE program is a federated network of CVE Numbering Authorities worldwide that collaborate to share consistent descriptions of IT vulnerabilities. Sharing this data allows cybersecurity teams to communicate and use the same terms when discussing and assessing vulnerabilities.
Vulnerabilities are software, firmware, hardware, or service component flaws that threat actors can exploit to gain unauthorized access and carry out cyber-attacks. Exposures are errors that make it easier for threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities.
What is a CVE ID?
A CVE ID is a unique, numeric identification number that references a specific vulnerability. It acts as a standardized identifier for cybersecurity flaws, making it easier for vendors, organizations, and end-users to communicate about vulnerabilities.
The process for adding new vulnerabilities to the CVE database is thorough and systematic. It ensures that each entry is accurately documented and verifiable and impacts the security landscape.
When a vulnerability is discovered, it is reported to the CVE Program by a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA). The CNA is authorized by the CVE Program to analyze and assign CVE IDs to vulnerabilities and publish them on the public CVE Catalog.
What is a CVE Summary?
The CVE system facilitates accurate tracking of software vulnerabilities and exposures across diverse platforms, vendors, and technologies. It allows academic researchers, security experts, and vendors to find, catalog, prioritize easily, and remediate cybersecurity weaknesses.
CVE entries typically include a vulnerability description and references to additional information. They also provide a CVSS score (Common Vulnerability Scoring System), used to rank the severity of the weakness.
A board of directors of cybersecurity organizations, research institutions, and security experts oversees the CVE program. The board helps guide the goals and strategic direction of the program. It also helps identify and resolve issues that may impact the CVE dictionary.
What is a CVE Reference?
Using CVE as a common reference allows security tools to keep track of vulnerabilities for more precise vulnerability management. With this, teams can rely on vendor advisories and in-house research for information which takes time and effort and can buy cybercriminals more time to exploit a vulnerability or carry out a malicious attack.
Each vulnerability is assigned a unique CVE ID in the format CVE-YYYY-NNNN, where YYYY is a four-digit year that indicates when the CVE was assigned or made public, and NNNN is an arbitrary number. The CVE database also includes various references to explain further the vulnerability and what steps must be taken to mitigate it.
What is a CVE Impact?
Before the launch of CVE in 1999, it was difficult for organizations to identify and mitigate software vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities were tracked in many different databases with unique identification systems, making it difficult to compare information about a vulnerability between tools.
CVE lists publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and exposures and assigns a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score to each entry. Although some people worry that publicizing vulnerability details makes it easier for hackers to exploit them, it's generally considered that the benefits outweigh the risks. The National Cybersecurity Federally Funded Research and Development Center, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security unit, maintains the database.
