What is the vulnerability management lifecycle?
The vulnerability management lifecycle is a structured process that helps teams uncover security gaps and respond effectively to risks before attackers can exploit them. It includes the following six stages:
Identification
Assessment
Prioritization
Remediation and mitigation
Verification and validation
Reporting, monitoring, and improvement
A vulnerability management program uses these stages to create a strategic approach to enhancing cybersecurity. Rather than attending to new vulnerabilities only as they emerge, security teams can continuously search for weaknesses in their systems, prioritize the most critical vulnerabilities, and implement protective measures before attackers strike.
Below, you’ll learn the stages of the vulnerability management lifecycle and how to use management tools, steps, and techniques to fortify your cloud environments.
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The 6 stages of the vulnerability management lifecycle
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) adds more than 2,000 new security vulnerabilities to the National Vulnerability Database monthly. Since no security team has the resources to monitor them all, organizations can rely on a vulnerability management lifecycle to pinpoint and address the threats that matter most.
Each stage of the lifecycle involves specific techniques and tools to help you effectively manage risks. Here’s a closer look at each.
1. Identification and assessment
Without a comprehensive view of critical assets, it’s easy to overlook resources with severe vulnerabilities that require immediate attention.
In cloud environments, a variety of IT assets require protection, including virtual machines, containers, serverless functions, databases, and network components. You can leverage cloud asset discovery tools, such as AWS Config, Azure Resource Graph, and Google Cloud Asset Inventory, to maintain an up-to-date inventory of these resources.
Once you've identified the assets you need to protect, you’re ready to run robust vulnerability scans using cloud native tools like Amazon Inspector, Azure Security Center, and Google Cloud’s Web Security Scanner. Comprehensive scans of network devices, applications, cloud environments, and endpoints provide valuable insights into security vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance issues.
The final step of this stage involves manual testing, including penetration testing and detailed security assessments. Manual checks complement automated vulnerability scanning by uncovering complex vulnerabilities that scanning tools may have missed. Combining broad coverage with targeted checks ensures a thorough evaluation of your cloud environment to reveal critical security gaps.
2. Prioritization
To prioritize and classify vulnerabilities, consider the following:
Asset and business criticality: Focus on high-value targets (like databases with sensitive data, mission-critical applications, and workloads whose compromise would disrupt operations) and use external ratings like CVE and CVSS to guide prioritization.
Exploit availability: Prioritize vulnerabilities that have known exploits or are actively targeted by malware, using insights from exploit prediction systems (like EPSS) and threat intelligence feeds.
Quantitative risk modeling: Apply models like FAIR and tools like RiskLens to quantify potential financial, legal, and operational impacts and ensure remediation efforts reflect actual business risk.
3. Resolving vulnerabilities in the cloud
The third stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle involves resolving identified and prioritized vulnerabilities. Resolving a vulnerability means remediating, mitigating, or accepting it.
Remediation
Remediate vulnerabilities by patching flaws in the operating system, correcting misconfigurations, or removing vulnerable assets from the network. Remember that complete remediation isn't always possible. In the case of zero-day vulnerabilities, for example, a complete fix may not be available at the time of discovery. In other instances, fully addressing the issue may be too resource intensive.
🛠️ Action step: Leverage cloud native remediation tools like AWS Shield, Azure Security Center, and Google Cloud Armor to defend against distributed denial-of-service attacks, deploy web application firewalls, and enforce security policies.
Mitigation
Implement security controls and best practices to increase the difficulty of exploiting a vulnerability and reduce impact if exploitation occurs. Configuration hardening—such as having stricter authentication and authorization, disabling unnecessary services, and enforcing least-privilege access—helps minimize attack surfaces and improve your overall security posture.
🛠️ Action step: Create incident response plans for identified vulnerabilities to reduce the impact of potential cyberattacks.
Acceptance
Determine when it’s appropriate to accept a vulnerability, such as when exploitation risk is low or the potential impact is minimal. In cases where attempting resolution may not justify the cost or effort, it may be better to acknowledge the risk and monitor the situation rather than take immediate action.
Contextualized features by CNAPPs like Wiz can help your team prioritize issues to focus on what matters first.
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4. Verification and validation in the cloud
The fourth stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle involves confirming that implemented fixes effectively resolve vulnerabilities and ensuring ongoing maintenance of a healthy environment. Here’s how to start:
Verify applied fixes: Initiate testing to confirm that applied patches, configurations, and security controls effectively address identified vulnerabilities. You can use automated scans, manual testing, and security assessments to do this.
Conduct validation processes: Incorporate comprehensive security testing and re-run vulnerability scanners to ensure your environment is secure and free from gaps.
Document validation results: Record details of vulnerabilities, applied fixes, validation methods, and security testing outcomes to maintain an audit trail and demonstrate compliance.
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5. Reporting
The reporting phase involves tracking vulnerabilities, documenting remediation activities, and monitoring your overall security posture. Include these pillars for effective reporting:
Comprehensive documentation: Document all identified vulnerabilities, impact assessments, remediation steps, and validation results so you can track progress and demonstrate compliance.
Key metrics: Monitor vulnerability counts, remediation timeframes, and severity levels to measure the effectiveness of the process.
Stakeholder communication: Provide regular updates to executives, security teams, and business units to ensure transparency and accountability.
6. Monitoring and improvement
The final stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle involves continually monitoring for new vulnerabilities, reassessing your security posture, and implementing improvements based on insights and experience. Best practices for this stage include:
Continuous monitoring: Use automated tools, IDSs, SIEM systems, and cloud native monitoring to detect new vulnerabilities and environmental changes in real time.
Periodic reassessments: Conduct regular vulnerability scans and security assessments to identify new threats and evaluate control effectiveness.
Feedback loop: Analyze security incidents and assessments to identify root causes and areas for improvement, refining processes accordingly.
Continuous improvement: Regularly review and update vulnerability management processes, incorporating new technologies and best practices to address emerging threats and evolving business requirements.
Frameworks and standards for vulnerability management
By adopting industry-standard frameworks, you can ensure consistent, risk-based, and compliance-aligned vulnerability management throughout your cloud infrastructure. Here are key tools and standards your DevSecOps team can incorporate, along with practical guidance for use:
CVSS v3/v4 is a standardized scoring system for evaluating the severity of vulnerabilities. Use it to consistently rank vulnerabilities across your cloud environments and pinpoint exploitability and impact.
Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) is a data-driven model that estimates the likelihood a vulnerability will be exploited within a given timeframe. Leverage this system alongside CVSS to prioritize issues based on severity and probability.
NIST SP 800-40 is a US government framework that provides guidance for effective vulnerability and patch management. Use it to build a structured remediation process and meet compliance expectations.
ISO/IEC 27001 is an international standard outlining best practices for information security management systems. Incorporate its controls to strengthen governance and advance compliance maturity.
While these standards provide a foundation for vulnerability management, they aren’t the end-all, be-all solution. Your team needs a way to automate unified vulnerability management, distribute roles effectively, and provide full visibility into your multi-cloud environment.
Dimitri Lubenski, the head of technology and innovation at Siemens, articulated this need after adopting Wiz for security: “Protecting our infrastructure is no longer concentrated in one team; the responsibility is distributed across the organization.”
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Next steps and Wiz resources
Effective vulnerability management is essential for securing cloud environments. Following the full vulnerability management lifecycle strengthens your defenses and reduces risk. By implementing continuous monitoring, regular reassessments, and strong feedback loops, you can adapt to evolving threats and ensure long-term effectiveness of your security measures.
To put these best practices into action and enhance your vulnerability management strategy, consider leveraging solutions specific to the complexities of cloud security. Wiz for Vulnerability Management offers a comprehensive suite of tools and services to support your security efforts.
Wiz's advanced vulnerability management solutions seamlessly integrate with your cloud infrastructure and provide real-time visibility across your entire environment. The all-in-one platform also helps you identify and assess vulnerabilities, prioritize risks based on potential impact, and implement effective remediation and mitigation strategies.
With features like automated scanning, continuous monitoring, and in-depth analytics, Wiz enables you to stay ahead of cyber threats and enhance your overall security posture. Ready to see for yourself? Schedule a demo today.
Or, to streamline your vulnerability management lifecycle from discovery to remediation, get your personalized vulnerability assessment now.
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