Report Penetration Test: Example of Prioritizing (en)

Prioritizing Vulnerability Remediation Based on CVSS

To provide the IT team with the most effective recommendations for addressing identified security vulnerabilities, the prioritization of remediation efforts is based on the risk level of each vulnerability. This risk level is calculated using the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), which considers the impact and likelihood of exploitation for each vulnerability.

Risk Categories

The vulnerabilities found in this security assessment have been categorized into four primary risk categories based on their CVSS scores:

• High Risk: CVSS Score > 7.0
  • High-risk vulnerabilities should be prioritized for immediate remediation as they can be easily exploited and can cause serious damage, such as data breaches, privilege escalation, or unauthorized access to internal systems.
  • Example: An SQL Injection vulnerability found in the `/login.php` endpoint allows attackers to execute malicious database queries to steal user credentials or gain administrative access to the application.

• Medium Risk: CVSS Score between 4.0 and 7.0
  • Medium-risk vulnerabilities can be exploited by attackers but may require specific conditions or higher technical skills. Nevertheless, these vulnerabilities should still be remediated to prevent potential escalation of attacks.
  • Example: A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability found in the search form allows for the injection of scripts into the web application.

• Low Risk: CVSS Score < 4.0
  • Low-risk vulnerabilities typically require specific conditions to be exploited or have a limited impact on the system and data. Remediation of these vulnerabilities can be prioritized after high and medium-risk vulnerabilities have been addressed.
  • Example: Excessive server configuration information displayed on the `500` error page.

• Informational
  • Some findings are more like recommendations for best security practices and are not considered direct threats. These recommendations can be implemented as resources allow.
  • Example: The web server does not block rarely used HTTP methods such as `TRACE` or `OPTIONS`.

Example Remediation Priority Table

The following table summarizes the vulnerability findings based on their risk levels:

Caption Example Remediation Priority Table

No	Vulnerability	Location	Risk Level	CVSS Score	Remediation Recommendation	Remediation Deadline
1	SQL Injection	`/login.php`	High	9.0	Validate input and use ORM	1 Week
2	XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)	`/search.php`	6.5	Escape output and filter input	2 Weeks
3	Information Disclosure	Error page `500`	Low	2.5	Hide server details in logs	4 Weeks
4	Unsafe HTTP Methods	Server configuration	Informational	N/A	Disable TRACE/OPTIONS methods	N/A

Mitigation and Implementation Strategy

After conducting the risk assessment, the following mitigation strategies are recommended:

• High Priority: Immediately patch and update systems for high-risk vulnerabilities. Ideally, this should be completed within 1 week to prevent further exploitation.
• Medium Priority: Implement fixes for medium-risk vulnerabilities within 2 weeks. Ensure that there are no gaps that can be combined with other vulnerabilities to increase the risk level.
• Low and Informational Priority: Remediate these vulnerabilities gradually using patches or more optimal system configuration enhancements. Focus on improving security settings and preventing future attacks.

Conclusion

Prioritizing remediation based on risk level is designed to maximize the efficient use of security resources, with a primary focus on vulnerabilities that have the greatest potential impact on system security. Implementing the recommended remediation will improve the security posture and reduce the risk of future attacks.

Additional Notes:

• CVSS: The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a widely used open framework for assessing the severity of computer system vulnerabilities.
• SQL Injection: A type of injection attack that occurs when an attacker is able to execute malicious SQL statements through a web application's input fields.
• XSS: Cross-Site Scripting is a type of injection in which malicious scripts are injected into otherwise benign and trusted web pages.
• ORM: Object-Relational Mapping is a programming technique for converting data between incompatible type systems in object-oriented programming languages.

Related Links

• Ethical Hacking