Common Vulnerability and Exposure Management

In today’s fast-paced cybersecurity landscape, the surge in Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) alerts presents a significant challenge for SecOps teams. In 2023 alone, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued 28,901 CVEs, underscoring the rising complexity and intensity of security threats. Each vulnerability applies to specific devices, operating systems, and enabled features, making it both difficult and time-consuming to identify which devices within a network are affected.

So, how can organizations manage the food of CVEs and ensure robust network compliance and security? The solution lies in utilizing a network digital twin. This advanced technology provides unparalleled visibility, accuracy, and efficiency, enabling
organizations to streamline vulnerability management and mitigate security risks more effectively.

Why is CVE management for network compliance challenging?

SecOps teams are tasked with the immense responsibility of safeguarding networks against a continuous onslaught of vulnerabilities. Each CVE issued by NIST requires careful evaluation, prioritization, and remediation. However, the complexity of modern networks, which often include tens of thousands of devices from multiple vendors, makes this process increasingly difficult. Traditional methods of vulnerability management are becoming insufficient, leading to a backlog of unaddressed CVEs that leave networks vulnerable to attacks.

Even organizations with dedicated teams for CVE management struggle to keep up. The process of scanning networks for vulnerabilities, identifying affected devices, and determining the severity of each CVE can take days, if not weeks. This delay creates a window of opportunity for attackers, who can exploit these vulnerabilities before they are patched.

It takes several days to scan enterprise networks for CVEs using legacy vulnerability software, and it still does not provide enough detail to make remediation efforts effective.

How do enterprises currently manage vulnerabilities?

Unpatched vulnerabilities can serve as entry points for malicious actors within an enterprise. Many vulnerability scanning tools produce a continuous fow of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), overwhelming already overburdened operations and security teams. While application and server vulnerability scanning is relatively well-developed, network equipment vulnerability management often receives less attention and remains mostly manual. This lack of automation, combined with personnel shortages, can cause significant delays in addressing vulnerabilities. Additionally, the varied nature of network equipment complicates each step in the remediation process, resulting in an expanded attack surface and greater overall risk for the organization.

Typically, organizations handle infrastructure vulnerabilities through distinct processes. Critical vulnerabilities that pose an immediate risk follow one pathway, while less urgent vulnerabilities are managed as part of routine maintenance.

A typical process involves the following steps:

TRADITIONAL PROCESS

Asset Discovery and Inventory:
This process involves identifying and cataloging all assets within the network. Without automated tools, teams must track assets manually, which often results in outdated inventories. The variety of hardware and software further complicates asset discovery and categorization.

CHALLENGE OF DOING THIS MANUALLY OR WITH LEGACY VULNERABILITY SOFTWARE

Most enterprises do not have a current, accurate inventory. Incomplete or inaccurate asset inventories, increases the risk of overlooking vulnerable devices.

BENEFITS OF USING THE FORWARD NETWORKS DIGITAL TWIN

Forward Networks collects configuration and state data from all packet-pushing devices and uses a mathematical model to create the network digital twin, analyzing CDP and LLDP tables to discover neighbor devices and deliver an always accurate network inventory. (See Figure 1)

TRADITIONAL PROCESS

Vulnerability Scanning:
Regular network scans are performed to detect vulnerabilities. However, the variety of equipment and configurations can increase complexity and lead to a high number of false positives

CHALLENGE OF DOING THIS MANUALLY OR WITH LEGACY VULNERABILITY SOFTWARE

Scan results may be less comprehensive, potentially missing critical CVEs in the noise.

BENEFITS OF USING THE FORWARD NETWORKS DIGITAL TWIN

The Forward Networks digital twin is integrated with the NIST and vendor vulnerability databases.

The platform applies a device-centric flter to the vulnerabilities list, focusing on listing all CVEs detected for each impacted device and delivers a detailed report including:

• Device name
• CVE ID
• CVE severity level
• CVE base score
• CVE published date
• Detected based on a confg match or an OS version xmatch. (This is clickable to highlight the exact line of configuration causing the vulnerability)
• Vendor
• OS
• OS Versions
• Tags
• Location
• Exposure

Each line is “clickable” to deliver additional layers of detail to ensure SecOps teams have all the necessary information to ensure network compliance. (See Figure 2)

TRADITIONAL PROCESS

Prioritization and Risk Assessment:
At this phase, vulnerabilities are evaluated and prioritized according to their potential impact and likelihood of exploitation. Typically, prioritization relies on manual risk scoring, a process that is both subjective and time consuming.

CHALLENGE OF DOING THIS MANUALLY OR WITH LEGACY VULNERABILITY SOFTWARE

Misallocation of resources, with critical vulnerabilities potentially overlooked or underestimated.

BENEFITS OF USING THE FORWARD NETWORKS DIGITAL TWIN

Having identified vulnerable devices, Forward Networks’ digital twin also assesses their exposure to the Internet and applications to determine which risks are most severe and which are not. The platform delivers a focused breakdown of the top 10 CVEs by configuration match and OS version match for deeper analysis. This report is exportable. (See Figure 3)

TRADITIONAL PROCESS

Remediation Planning and Execution:
This step involves creating strategies to address identified vulnerabilities. Different systems may require unique remediation approaches, which can be challenging due to shortages in cybersecurity personnel.

CHALLENGE OF DOING THIS MANUALLY OR WITH LEGACY VULNERABILITY SOFTWARE

Incomplete or ineffective remediation plans, leaving vulnerabilities unaddressed.

BENEFITS OF USING THE FORWARD NETWORKS DIGITAL TWIN

The platform also includes an Insights Dashboard to track overall network health.

The Vulnerabilities and Verifications section highlights network security by detailing Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) metrics, including the total detected CVEs, impacted devices, and a focused breakdown of the top 10 CVEs by configuration match and OS version match for deeper analysis. This allows SecOps teams to track network compliance over time. (See Figure 4)

See for yourself how the network OS vulnerability mitigation functionality in the Forward Enterprise platform can help your security and network teams collaborate more effectively on CVE remediation efforts. Your teams can identify and fx affected devices faster to ensure continued network compliance.

Why Forward Networks?

The Forward Enterprise Network Digital Twin delivers customers an average of $14.2 Million in annual benefts by enhancing staff productivity, preventing unplanned downtime, and improving operational efficiency.

Forward Enterprise gathers confguration and L2-L7 state data from network devices and public cloud platforms to create a digital twin of the entire hybrid, multi-cloud network. This digital twin allows you to view the network globally or drill down into individual devices or instances. Acting as a single source of truth, it provides NOC, Cloud, and SOC engineers with the data and insights needed to ensure that security policies are enforced and the network remains reliable. By collecting and analyzing information across all devices and their behavior, Forward Enterprise simplifies critical but tedious tasks, ensuring security posture and compliance are maintained as intended.

Forward Networks’ digital twin supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. This enables network operators to ensure their networks are secure, reliable, and flexible

The data collected and analyzed by the Forward Networks Digital Twin supports various use cases that keep the network agile and secure, ensuring it behaves as expected.

Learn more at www.forwardnetworks.com.