Executive summary
Vulnerability analysis pairs automated scanning with human judgment to find and fix weaknesses before attackers exploit them. The most effective programs prioritize by exposure and exploitability, enforce SLAs for remediation, and verify fixes continuously.
Core steps of vulnerability analysis
- Discover assets and categorize by business criticality.
- Scan for vulnerabilities and configuration weaknesses.
- Prioritize findings using severity, exploitability, and exposure.
- Assign owners and SLAs; remediate or mitigate.
- Validate fixes and retest; track metrics over time.
Prioritization framework
Factors
- Severity (CVSS) and presence of known exploits.
- Internet exposure vs. internal-only.
- Data sensitivity on the impacted asset.
- Compensating controls such as WAF or segmentation.
SLA examples
- Critical internet-facing: 72 hours.
- High internet-facing: 7 days.
- Internal critical: 14 days.
- Medium: 30 days with monitoring for exploitation.
Common vulnerability categories
- Unpatched software and firmware with known CVEs.
- Misconfigurations: open storage buckets, default credentials, weak TLS.
- Identity gaps: missing MFA, excessive privileges, stale accounts.
- Web app flaws: injection, XSS, access control issues.
- Supply chain issues: vulnerable dependencies and plugins.
Verification and validation
After remediation, rescans confirm closure. For high-risk issues, manual validation or exploitation tests ensure the vulnerability is truly fixed. Track drift by monitoring for reopened findings or new exposures on the same assets.
How SecurityScore.me helps
SecurityScore.me runs continuous vulnerability assessment on your external attack surface, prioritizes findings by exploitability, and links each issue to guided remediation. Score changes show how fixes reduce risk over time, and alerts fire when new critical issues appear.
Conclusion: key takeaways
- Continuous discovery and scanning keep your inventory and risk current.
- Prioritize by exposure and exploitability, not just raw CVSS.
- Enforce SLAs, verify fixes, and track metrics like MTTP and open criticals.
FAQ
What is vulnerability analysis?
It is the process of discovering, assessing, and prioritizing security weaknesses in systems, applications, and configurations before attackers exploit them.
How often should scanning run?
Continuously for internet-facing assets and at least weekly for internal systems. Run ad-hoc scans after major changes or new deployments.
How do I prioritize findings?
Use severity (CVSS), exploitability, asset criticality, and exposure. Focus first on critical CVEs on internet-facing assets and issues with known exploits.
Do I need both automated scanning and pen tests?
Yes. Automated scans catch common issues quickly; periodic pen tests find logic flaws and chained attacks that scanners miss.
What metrics matter?
Mean time to patch, percentage of critical findings open over SLA, exploitable internet-facing issues, and remediation rate over time.