What Do Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Represent?

A software bug that gives an attacker direct access to a system or network is known as a vulnerability, according to the CVE website. For example, the flaw might allow an attacker to pretend to be a system administrator with full access rights. Exposures are vulnerabilities that have been exploited, and sensitive data is exposed. An example of an exposure would be if a misconfiguration in web code that provides an attacker with access to sensitive data that can be sold. 

The main purpose of CVE in cyber security is to standardize the identification of each vulnerability and exposure. This helps security teams access the technical information they need to handle vulnerabilities, cyber security threats, and software updates from various sources.

How Does the Catalog Function?

The CVE program is run by the MITRE corporation and is funded by CISA.

How Does a CVE Entry Look?

CVE entries are very brief. Each CVE ID is formatted as CVE-YYYY-NNNNN. The YYYY portion is the year the CVE ID was entered into the catalog or the year it was publicized. 

Additional information about the risk, its impact, and technical data appear in other databases- not in the CVE.

What is the Source of a CVE Entry?

CVE reports can come from vendors, researchers, or an astute consumer who notices something questionable and brings it to the attention of the organization’s security team. Many corporations offer bug bounties to encourage hackers to discover hard-to-find security flaws before malicious attackers do. An ethical hacker will submit any vulnerability they find to a relevant community.