What Is a Vulnerability Management System?

• Vulnerability Management: 4 Steps to Successful Remediation
• What Is Vulnerability Assessment? Benefits, Tools, Process
• 5-Step Security Risk Assessment Process
• What Is Common Vulnerabilities & Exposures Glossary (CVE)?
• Vulnerability Management System

7 Minute Read

Vulnerability management systems are software applications or platforms that help organizations identify, assess, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities in their networks, systems, applications, and software. These tools are a critical component of a comprehensive vulnerability management system, which aims to reduce the risk of security breaches by proactively addressing known security weaknesses.

This is part of a series of articles about vulnerability assessment

In this article:

• What Is a Vulnerability Management System?
• Why Is a Vulnerability Management System Important?
• How Vulnerability Management Systems Work
• Choosing The Right Vulnerability Management Software

A vulnerability management system (VMS) is crucial in cybersecurity for several reasons, as it helps organizations maintain a secure and resilient IT environment. The importance of a VMS in cybersecurity can be highlighted through the following points:

• Proactive identification of vulnerabilities: A VMS helps organizations discover and assess vulnerabilities in their IT infrastructure before they can be exploited by attackers. By addressing these weaknesses, organizations can reduce their attack surface and prevent potential breaches.
• Improved incident response: A VMS can provide valuable information to incident response teams during security events. By having a clear understanding of the organization's vulnerabilities, responders can more effectively identify the root cause of an incident and implement appropriate countermeasures.
• Visibility: A VMS offers visibility into an organization's security posture by providing regular reports and analytics on the status of vulnerability management efforts. This enables stakeholders to make informed decisions about security investments and risk management strategies.
• Continuous improvement: A VMS promotes a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging organizations to regularly review and refine their vulnerability management processes. This helps ensure that the organization's cybersecurity posture remains strong and adapts to the evolving threat landscape.

Vulnerability management systems usually work by combining various tools, processes, and practices to identify, assess, prioritize, remediate, and monitor security vulnerabilities in an organization's IT infrastructure. Here's an overview of the typical workflow of a VMS:

1. Discovery: The first step in a VMS is to discover and inventory all assets in the organization's IT environment, including hardware, software, and network components. This helps create a comprehensive understanding of the organization's infrastructure and ensures that all potential vulnerabilities are considered.
2. Vulnerability scanning: The VMS uses automated scanning tools to identify known vulnerabilities in the organization's assets. These tools rely on databases of known vulnerabilities, such as the common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) list, to detect weaknesses in systems, applications, and network devices. Scanning can be performed on a regular basis or triggered by specific events, such as the introduction of new assets or software updates.
3. Assessment: Once vulnerabilities are identified, the VMS assesses their severity, potential impact, and likelihood of exploitation. This assessment may involve the use of vulnerability scoring systems, such as the common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS), to provide a consistent and objective measure of risk.
4. Prioritization: The VMS helps organizations prioritize vulnerabilities based on their assessed risk, considering factors such as the criticality of affected systems, the ease of exploitation, and the potential impact of a successful exploit. This enables organizations to focus their remediation efforts on the most significant risks.
5. Remediation: With the prioritized list of vulnerabilities, the VMS guides organizations in developing and implementing strategies to address these weaknesses. Remediation actions may include patching, configuration changes, compensating controls, or other mitigations to reduce the risk associated with each vulnerability.
6. Verification: After remediation efforts are completed, the VMS verifies that the vulnerabilities have been resolved. This may involve rescanning the affected assets or using other methods to confirm that the weaknesses have been addressed.
7. Reporting and analytics: The VMS provides regular reports and analytics on the status of vulnerability management efforts, giving stakeholders visibility into the organization's risk posture and the effectiveness of its security measures. This information can be used to inform decision-making and drive continuous improvement in security practices.

When evaluating VMS options, consider the following factors:

• Comprehensive asset discovery: The VMS should be capable of discovering and cataloging a wide range of assets in your organization's IT environment, including hardware, software, and network devices. This will ensure that all potential vulnerabilities are identified and addressed.
• Accurate and up-to-date vulnerability scanning: The VMS should provide accurate and timely vulnerability scanning capabilities, utilizing up-to-date vulnerability databases and integrating with industry-standard sources such as the CVE list.
• Automation: The VMS should provide clear guidance on how to remediate identified vulnerabilities and offer automation capabilities to streamline the process where possible. This can help reduce the time and effort required to address security weaknesses.
• Integration with existing systems: The VMS should integrate seamlessly with your organization's existing IT infrastructure, security tools, and workflows. This will help ensure a smooth implementation and enhance the overall effectiveness of your vulnerability management efforts.
• Vendor reputation and support: Evaluate the reputation of the VMS vendor, their track record in the industry, and the quality of their customer support. This will help ensure you receive a reliable solution and adequate assistance when needed.
• Customization and adaptability: The VMS should be customizable and adaptable to your organization's specific needs and requirements, allowing you to tailor the solution to fit your unique environment. It should be able to scale with your organization's growth and support the management of a large number of assets and vulnerabilities.
• Cost: Consider the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the VMS, including initial purchase, implementation, maintenance, and support costs. Make sure the VMS fits within your organization's budget while still meeting its vulnerability management needs.

HackerOne is designed to give organizations broad and deep visibility into their vulnerability landscape, with access to thousands of ethical hackers with extensive vulnerability expertise. Most often, HackerOne is used in combination with vulnerability scanners or vulnerability management tools to enhance effectiveness by:

• Finding new or unknown vulnerabilities that scanners are blind to. These are often the vectors that cybercriminals favor.
• Triaging vulnerabilities, removing false positives and patching exploits before they are exposed while prioritizing critical ones first
• Providing additional human capacity to manage the high volume of reported vulnerabilities, including retesting against vulnerabilities that have been fixed.

The HackerOne Attack Resistance Platform delivers preemptive security solutions to help organizations turn vulnerability management into continuous application security.

Learn more about HackerOne Vulnerability Management