Vulnerability Assessment is the process of identifying, evaluating, and managing vulnerabilities in systems and applications.

What is Vulnerability Assessment?

Vulnerability Assessment is the systematic process of identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing vulnerabilities in systems, applications, and networks.

Management Process

Identification

  • **Scanning": Automated scanning
  • **Analysis": Code analysis
  • **Review": Manual review
  • **Intelligence": Threat intelligence

Evaluation

  • **Severity": Severity assessment
  • **Impact": Impact assessment
  • **Probability": Probability assessment
  • **Risk": Risk calculation

Prioritization

  • **CVSS": Common Vulnerability Scoring System
  • **Context": Organizational context
  • **Resources": Available resources
  • **Time": Remediation time

Remediation

  • **Patches": Patch application
  • **Configuration": Configuration changes
  • **Mitigation": Mitigation measures
  • **Verification": Correction verification

Types of Vulnerabilities

Software

  • **Bugs": Programming errors
  • **Buffer overflow": Buffer overflow
  • **SQL injection": SQL injection
  • **XSS": Cross-site scripting

Configuration

  • **Default configurations": Insecure configurations
  • **Permissions": Excessive permissions
  • **Services": Unnecessary services
  • **Ports": Open ports

Network

  • **Protocols": Insecure protocols
  • **Services": Vulnerable services
  • **Firewalls": Incorrect configurations
  • **VPNs": Insecure configurations

Tools

Scanning

  • **Nessus": Vulnerability scanner
  • **OpenVAS": Open source scanner
  • **Qualys": Cloud service
  • **Rapid7": Security platform

Analysis

  • **SAST": Static analysis
  • **DAST": Dynamic analysis
  • **IAST": Interactive analysis
  • **SCA": Dependency analysis

Management

  • **VulnDB": Vulnerability database
  • **CVE": Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
  • **NVD": National Vulnerability Database
  • **CWE": Common Weakness Enumeration

Methodologies

OWASP

  • **Top 10": OWASP Top 10
  • **Testing Guide": Testing guide
  • **SAMM": Software Assurance Maturity Model
  • **ASVS": Application Security Verification Standard

NIST

  • **SP 800-53": Security controls
  • **SP 800-40": Patch management
  • **SP 800-115": Testing guide
  • **SP 800-137": Continuous monitoring

ISO

  • **27001": Security management system
  • **27002": Security controls
  • **27005": Risk management
  • **27035": Incident management

Implementation

Phase 1: Planning

  • **Scope": Define scope
  • **Methodology": Select methodology
  • **Tools": Choose tools
  • **Resources": Assign resources

Phase 2: Execution

  • **Scanning": Perform scans
  • **Analysis": Analyze results
  • **Prioritization": Prioritize vulnerabilities
  • **Reports": Generate reports

Phase 3: Remediation

  • **Patches": Apply patches
  • **Configuration": Fix configurations
  • **Mitigation": Implement mitigations
  • **Verification": Verify corrections

Phase 4: Monitoring

  • **Tracking": Continuous tracking
  • **Metrics": Effectiveness measurement
  • **Improvement": Continuous improvement
  • **Update": Process updates

Best Practices

Process

  • **Regularity": Regular scans
  • **Automation": Process automation
  • **Integration": Integration with other processes
  • **Documentation": Complete documentation

Prioritization

  • **CVSS": Use CVSS for prioritization
  • **Context": Consider organizational context
  • **Resources": Evaluate available resources
  • **Time": Consider remediation time

Remediation

  • **Patches": Apply patches quickly
  • **Configuration": Fix configurations
  • **Mitigation": Implement mitigations
  • **Verification": Verify corrections
  • Ethical Hacking - Methodology that includes vulnerability assessment
  • Penetration Testing - Technique that includes vulnerability assessment
  • Nmap - Vulnerability assessment tool
  • Nessus - Vulnerability assessment scanner
  • Metasploit - Vulnerability assessment framework
  • Firewall - Device that vulnerability assessment evaluates
  • VPN - Connection that vulnerability assessment evaluates
  • VLAN - Segment that vulnerability assessment evaluates
  • Routers - Devices that vulnerability assessment evaluates
  • Switches - Devices that vulnerability assessment evaluates
  • Logs - Vulnerability assessment logs
  • Dashboards - Vulnerability assessment visualization

References