Vulnerability Solution Resolution System for Third-Party Scanner Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vulnerability scanning technologies face challenges in accurately identifying relationships between vulnerabilities identified by third-party scanners and solutions provided by third-party vendors, leading to inappropriate solution recommendations due to proprietary identification schemes and lack of standardization.
Innovation Solution
A vulnerability-solution resolution system (VSRS) that creates and maintains relationships between vulnerabilities and solutions using a standardized data scheme, enabling automatic formation of relationships based on solution supersedence and inheritance, and providing a graphical user interface for users to exclude specific relationships when recommending solutions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If third-party vulnerability scanners use proprietary identification schemes, then they can provide detailed vulnerability detection capabilities, but they cannot accurately match vulnerabilities with standardized solutions due to lack of industry standardization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mapping layer that translates between proprietary scanner identification schemes and standardized CVE identifiers. This mediator component receives vulnerability data from third-party scanners with proprietary IDs, matches them to standardized CVEs using multiple criteria (vendor, product, version, vulnerability description), and then connects to standardized solution databases. This intermediary layer resolves the contradiction by enabling both proprietary scanner capabilities and standardized solution matching to coexist.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the identification parameters from proprietary formats to standardized CVE parameters through a multi-step matching process. It changes the parameter representation by comparing vendor names, product names, version numbers, and vulnerability descriptions to transition from scanner-specific identifiers to industry-standard CVE identifiers, thereby enabling solution compatibility while maintaining detection accuracy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If solutions are associated with standardized CVE identifiers, then they can be universally applied across different platforms, but they may not be suitable for specific platform variations where the same CVE ID applies to different vulnerabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the solution matching process into multiple hierarchical levels: first matching at the CVE level for universal applicability, then refining at the vendor-product-version level for platform-specific accuracy. This segmentation allows the system to apply standardized solutions broadly while then filtering and selecting the most appropriate solution for each specific platform context, resolving the contradiction between universality and precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the matching criteria based on the specific platform context. When multiple CVEs or solutions are potential matches, it dynamically evaluates vendor, product, version, and vulnerability description parameters to select the most appropriate match. This dynamic adaptation allows the same CVE-based solution framework to accurately apply to different platform variations.
3Reliability
If manual verification is performed to ensure accurate vulnerability-solution matching, then solution appropriateness can be confirmed, but the time and resources required increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary automated matching actions using multiple criteria (vendor, product, version, vulnerability description) before manual review is needed. By pre-processing and pre-matching vulnerabilities with potential solutions using standardized CVE identifiers, it reduces the scope and complexity of any required manual verification, thereby maintaining high accuracy while minimizing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where automated matching results are presented for verification, and manual verification outcomes feed back to refine and improve the automated matching algorithms. This feedback loop increases reliability over time while reducing the need for extensive manual verification, as the system learns from and adapts to manual correction patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
A vulnerability-solution resolution (VSR) system is disclosed that is designed to create and maintain associations between vulnerabilities identified by third-party scanners (TPSs) and solutions, such as software patches received from third-party vendors. The VSR system includes a data scheme that enables information regarding vulnerabilities and solutions to be stored, and enables certain relationships to be automatically created between these vulnerabilities and solutions. In particular, the VSR system is designed to automatically form certain relationships between particular vulnerabilities and solutions based on solution supersedence and inheritance. Additionally, the VSR system includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables a user to exclude particular relationships from consideration when recommending solutions to resolve a vulnerability or when calculating metrics regarding the vulnerability.