Question 1

What is a CVE?

Accepted Answer

CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a standardized identifier for known security vulnerabilities in software and hardware. Each CVE ID uniquely identifies a specific vulnerability, making it easier to share information about security issues across different tools and databases. The format is CVE-YYYY-NNNNN, where YYYY is the year assigned and NNNNN is a unique sequential number.

Question 2

How does CVSS scoring work?

Accepted Answer

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) is a framework that produces a numerical score (0.0-10.0) representing the severity of a vulnerability. It considers factors like attack vector, attack complexity, privileges required, user interaction, and impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Scores are categorized as: None (0.0), Low (0.1-3.9), Medium (4.0-6.9), High (7.0-8.9), and Critical (9.0-10.0).

Question 3

What is the difference between NVD and MITRE CVE?

Accepted Answer

MITRE maintains the CVE List, which is the authoritative source for CVE IDs and provides basic information about each vulnerability. The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) is built upon the CVE List and enhances it with additional analysis including CVSS scores, CWE mappings, fix information, and detailed references. NVD provides richer, more actionable data for security professionals.

Question 4

How should I prioritize vulnerabilities for remediation?

Accepted Answer

While CVSS scores provide a baseline, effective prioritization requires considering multiple factors: exploit availability in the wild, whether the vulnerability affects internet-facing systems, business criticality of affected assets, ease of exploitation, and potential impact. Critical vulnerabilities (9.0-10.0) affecting public-facing systems with known exploits should be addressed first. Use CVSS as one input among many in your risk-based approach.

Question 5

How often is the NVD database updated?

Accepted Answer

The NVD is continuously updated as new vulnerabilities are discovered and analyzed. NIST typically enriches CVE records with CVSS scores and additional metadata within hours to days after initial publication. Our tool queries the live NVD API, so you always see the most current information. For production environments, we recommend daily vulnerability scans and weekly reviews of new critical/high severity CVEs.

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