CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a free database containing publicly disclosed software security vulnerabilities sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. CVE is an invaluable resource for organizations to identify potential issues, strengthen their cyber security practices, and prevent data breaches from escalating.
Common vulnerabilities and exposures are essential elements of any effective cybersecurity strategy. They provide attackers with direct or indirect access to a computer system, enabling them to execute malicious activities such as running code, accessing memory, installing malware, and stealing data.
What are common vulnerabilities and exposures?
Vulnerabilities are software errors that allow an attacker to access a computer system, potentially resulting in data breaches, theft of personally identifiable information (PII), or even selling that PII on the dark web. Exposures are unintentional errors that grant malicious actors direct or indirect access to a computer system, potentially leading to data leaks, ransomware attacks, and the theft of personally identifiable information (PII).
CVE Best Practices
With increased software security flaws, quickly identifying and fixing security weaknesses is increasingly essential to avoid cybersecurity breaches. Fortunately, the U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD), which uses the Common Vulnerability Enumeration (CVE) dictionary for compiling up-to-date vulnerability and exposure data, provides an invaluable resource for detecting and mitigating threats. The NVD database, active since 1999, contains nearly 216,000 vulnerabilities that are updated daily. As a result, it is the go-to repository for organizations and researchers needing vulnerability data. It details each vulnerability, its fix, and a score based on access complexity, exploitability, remediation level, and other metrics.
With an ever-increasing number of vulnerabilities and exposures, it’s becoming harder for security teams to stay abreast of the most recent risks. Prioritizing which CVEs to patch first and which ones not to patch makes all the difference in preventing attacks from starting in the first place. With these tools at their disposal, security teams can focus on preventing breaches from occurring in the first place.