Fast Facts

• Only 26% of over 155,000 CVEs assigned since 2019 have been fully analyzed and enriched.
• In early 2024, NIST nearly halted CVE processing due to funding issues, causing a massive backlog.
• The number of organizations submitting vulnerabilities (CNAs) has ballooned to over 350 worldwide.
• Experts propose decentralizing vulnerability data to make the system more resilient and globally accessible.

The Crumbling Backbone of Cybersecurity

Picture the world’s digital defenses as a vast patchwork quilt - each square a vulnerability, each stitch a record in a global database. But what happens when the thread holding it all together starts to fray? That’s the reality facing the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system, the backbone of how the world tracks software flaws.

Since the late 1990s, organizations have relied on the U.S.-run National Vulnerability Database (NVD) to catalog and enrich reports of security holes. But with cyber threats multiplying at breakneck speed, the NVD is struggling to keep up. In 2024, a funding crisis at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) brought CVE analysis to a near standstill, leaving tens of thousands of new vulnerabilities languishing without crucial details.

One Database, One Point of Failure

The NVD’s woes aren’t just a budget problem - they’re a structural risk. For years, the U.S. government’s stewardship of global vulnerability data has been a service to the world, but as Jerry Gamblin, a principal engineer at Cisco, notes, it’s also left us with a dangerous single point of failure. When NIST sneezes, the world’s cybersecurity catches a cold.

This fragility comes as the flow of vulnerability reports grows ever faster. Over 357 organizations - called CVE Numbering Authorities (CNAs) - now submit data, making it impossible for a single agency to keep pace. The backlog grows, and so does the risk that attackers will exploit untracked flaws before defenders can patch them.

Lessons from Other Continents

The problem isn’t unique to America. Europe has launched its own EU Vulnerability Database, and other regions are exploring similar efforts. But as these databases proliferate, so do data silos and inconsistencies. Gamblin envisions a global, decentralized approach: let regional and industry “root CNAs” manage their own submissions, mirror data across continents, and agree on a universal standard for identifying each flaw. Think of it as shifting from a single, fragile quilt to a network of interlocking blankets - each resilient on its own, but even stronger together.

Some technical challenges loom large: ensuring each vulnerability gets a single, global identifier; preventing duplication or conflicting data; and convincing governments and tech giants to cooperate. But the stakes are clear. As cyber threats become more sophisticated and frequent, the world can’t afford a vulnerability-tracking system that’s stuck in the past.

WIKICROOK

• CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures): A CVE is a unique public identifier for a specific security vulnerability, enabling consistent tracking and discussion across the cybersecurity industry.
• NVD (National Vulnerability Database): The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) is the U.S. government’s official source for publicly disclosed software vulnerabilities and related security information.
• CNA (CVE Numbering Authority): A CNA is an organization authorized to assign official CVE IDs to software vulnerabilities, making them easier to track, share, and fix.
• Enrichment: Enrichment is the process of adding context, severity, and remediation details to basic cybersecurity data, making it more useful for analysis and response.
• Decentralization: Decentralization is the distribution of data or control across a network, reducing reliance on a single authority and enhancing security and resilience.