A Proposed Approach to Integrate Application Security Vulnerability Data with Incidence Response Systems

Abstract

This paper has proposed a method to develop an attack tree, from application vulnerability data discovered through tests and scans and correlation analysis using incoming transaction requests monitored by a Web Application Firewall (WAF) tool. The attack tree shows multiple pathways for an attack to shape through vulnerability linkages and a deeper analysis of the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and Common Vulnerability Exposure (CVE) mapping to individual vulnerabilities. By further relating to a parent, peer, or child CWE (including CWEs that follow another CWE and in some cases precede other CWEs) will provide more insight into the attack patterns. These patterns will reveal a multi-vulnerability, multi-application attack pattern which will be hard to visualize without data consolidation and correlation analysis. The correlation analysis tied to the test and scan data supports a vulnerability lineage starting from incoming requests to individual vulnerabilities found in the code that traces a possible attack path. This solution, if automated, can provide threat alerts and immediate focus on vulnerabilities that need to be remedied as a priority. SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response), XSOAR (Extended Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response), SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), and XDR (Extended Detection and Response) are more constructed to suit networks, infrastructure and devices, and sensors; not meant for application security vulnerability information as collected. So, this paper makes a special case that must be made for integration of application security information as part of threat intelligence, and threat and incident response systems.