September 26, 2024 at 07:51AM
Businesses often rely on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) for vulnerability prioritization. However, CVSS does not factor in real-world threat data. In contrast, the Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) predicts the likelihood of a vulnerability being exploited in the next 30 days. EPSS offers a more efficient and effective approach to vulnerability prioritization.
Based on the meeting notes, the main points are as follows:
1. Vulnerability prioritization is the process of evaluating and ranking vulnerabilities based on the potential impact they could have on an organization, aiming to help security teams determine which vulnerabilities should be addressed, in what timeframe, or if they need to be fixed at all.
2. Historically, organizations have used CVSS base scores to prioritize vulnerabilities. However, it is recognized that CVSS scores have limitations in that they do not consider the current threat landscape, such as whether a vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild.
3. To improve vulnerability prioritization, organizations should consider moving beyond CVSS scores and consider other factors, such as exploitation activity identified in the wild, by using EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). EPSS provides a daily estimate of the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days and produces a score between 0 and 1, with higher scores indicating a higher probability of exploitation.
4. By considering EPSS when prioritizing vulnerabilities, organizations can better align their remediation efforts with the actual threat landscape, reducing the time and resources needed and focusing on vulnerabilities that would have the most impact if not addressed first.
5. Intruder, a cloud-based security platform, is about to release a vulnerability prioritization feature powered by EPSS, providing real-world context for smarter prioritization by incorporating EPSS scores alongside existing scoring systems.
Overall, utilizing EPSS for vulnerability prioritization is described as a game changer that allows organizations to focus on the most critical risks and improve their cybersecurity efforts.