When upgrades are issued for software and hardware used by your firm, you may find security fixes for known vulnerabilities included in the update. If left unattended to, these weaknesses represent a potential cybersecurity risk, with malicious operators able to exploit vulnerabilities to their advantage.
However, before they are patched, these identified weaknesses are first named for the purpose of cataloguing and analysis, represented by a series of numerals with a prefix of “CVE”. This creates a unique identifying tag.
What is the CVE glossary? What are “Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures” (CVEs)?
When upgrades are issued for software and hardware used by your firm, you may find security fixes for known vulnerabilities included in the update. If left unattended to, these weaknesses represent a potential cybersecurity risk, with malicious operators able to exploit vulnerabilities to their advantage.
However, before they are patched, these identified weaknesses are first named for the purpose of cataloguing and analysis, represented by a series of numerals with a prefix of “CVE”. This creates a unique identifying tag.
What is the CVE glossary?
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) glossary is a dedicated index established to classify known vulnerabilities. The glossary analyses identified vulnerabilities and then employs an evaluation method known as the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) to assess each vulnerability’s potential threat level. CVE scores are typically employed to prioritise the security of a known vulnerability.
Dedicated to tracing and recording identified weaknesses found in consumer hardware and software, the CVE glossary is a system currently maintained and operated by the MITRE Corporation, assisted by funding from Homeland Security in the USA. Vulnerabilities are gathered, collated, and catalogued utilising the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). After evaluating vulnerability data, SCAP then assigns every identified weakness with its own unique identifying code.
After evaluation and identification, the categorised vulnerabilities are then listed in a glossary made publicly available. After they have been listed, each vulnerability is then comprehensively analysed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Following analysis, all known vulnerability and analysis data is then added to the institute’s National Vulnerability Database.
The purpose of the CVE glossary was to present a standardised form of communication and a dialogue source for both technology and security sectors. Dedicated CVE identifiers effectively offer a common language that unifies communication among information security professionals and all security advisories, bug trackers and vulnerability databases, use CVE as standard.
What type of weaknesses will qualify for a CVE?
In order to be counted as a CVE vulnerability, weaknesses must meet exceptionally specific criteria.
The weakness must be an issue that can be fixed independently of any other problems. It must also be a vulnerability known by the vendor of the software or hardware, and they must have confirmed that the issue can potentially represent a security risk. When submitted for CVE classification, the vulnerability must include evidence of a potential security impact that will violate the vendor’s established security policies, thus proving it is a real risk.
Establishing effective cybersecurity protocols
Ensuring you run updates as soon as they are available is an essential part of keeping your enterprise’s system safe. Updates include the latest security fixes for identified issues marked with a CVE class representing a risk to your firm
While installing updates is critical, at Galaxkey we have created a secure system, offering information security chiefs peace of mind. Equipped with powerful end-to-end encryption, our platform stores no passwords and offers zero backdoors for attackers to exploit. Contact our team today to book a demonstration.
