Automation Support for Security Control Assessments: Software Vulnerability Management

Published

April 28, 2020

Author(s)

Kelley L. Dempsey, Eduardo K. Takamura, Paul Eavy, George Moore

Abstract

The NISTIR 8011 capability-specific volumes focus on the automation of security control assessment within each individual information security capability. The capability-specific volumes add tangible detail to the more general overview given in NISTIR 8011 Volume 1, providing a template for transition to a detailed, NIST standards-compliant automated assessment. This document, Volume 4 of NISTIR 8011, addresses automating the assessment of security controls that support the software vulnerability management security capability to facilitate the management of risk created by defects present in software on the network. Software vulnerability management, in the scope of this document, focuses on known defects that have been discovered in software in use on a system. The Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) provides identifiers for weaknesses that result from poor coding practices and have the potential to result in software vulnerabilities. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) program provides a list of many known vulnerabilities. Together, CVE and CWE are used to identify software defects and the weaknesses that cause a given defect. Vulnerable software is a key target that attackers use to initiate an attack internally and to expand control.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 8011 Vol. 4

Report Number

8011 Vol. 4

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

actual state, assessment, authorization boundary, automation, capability, Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE), Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), dashboard, defect, desired state specification, dynamic code analyzer, Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM), malicious code, malware, mitigation, ongoing assessment, patch management, root cause analysis, security capability, security control item, security control, software file, Software Identification (SWID) tag, software injection, software product, software vulnerability, software weakness, software, static code analyzer

Citation

Dempsey, K. , Takamura, E. , Eavy, P. and Moore, G. (2020), Automation Support for Security Control Assessments: Software Vulnerability Management, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8011-4 (Accessed October 9, 2025)