About CVE Records

CVE Records (also referred to by the community as "CVE Identifiers," "CVE IDs," "CVE names," "CVE numbers," and "CVEs") are unique, common identifiers for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Information is included about the topics below.

    CVE Records Defined
    Creation of CVE Records
    Requesting CVE IDs
    Enhanced Info for CVE Records & Scoring

CVE Records Defined

Each CVE Record includes the following:

  • CVE ID number with four or more digits in the sequence number portion of the ID (e.g., "CVE-1999-0067", "CVE-2014-12345", "CVE-2016-7654321").
  • Brief description of the security vulnerability.
  • Any pertinent references (i.e., vulnerability reports and advisories).

States of CVE Records

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Creation of CVE Records

The process of creating a CVE Record begins with the discovery of a potential cybersecurity vulnerability. The information is then assigned a CVE ID by a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA), a Description and References are added by the CNA, and then the CVE Record is posted on the CVE website by the CVE Program Secretariat.

The documents below explain the creation of records in more detail:

CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) Rules

The guidelines the CVE Program uses to ensure that CVE Records are created in a consistent fashion, independent of which CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) is doing the creation.


CVE Numbering Authorities

Defines the role and responsibilities of CNAs; shows the number and types of participating CNAs from around the world; provides documentation for CNAs, including the CNA Rules document and Researcher Reservation Guidelines; and provides details of why and how to become a CNA.


Participating CNAs

Provides a list of the products and product categories covered by all CVE Numbering Authorities (CNAs), including Root CNAs.


CVE References

Each CVE Record includes appropriate references. Each reference used in CVE (1) identifies the source, (2) includes a well-defined identifier to facilitate searching on a source's website, and (3) notes the associated CVE ID. CVE also includes a Reference Maps page with links to documents from the commonly used information sources that are used as references for CVE Records.


FAQs

FAQs from the Frequently Asked Questions page also address specific questions about CVE Records on the following topics:

Requesting CVE IDs

To receive a CVE ID for your issue you must contact a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA). See Request a CVE ID for details.

Enhanced Info for CVE Records & Scoring

U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD)

Launched by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2005, NVD provides a vulnerability database of enhanced CVE content that is fully synchronized with the CVE List, so any updates to the CVE List appear immediately in NVD.


In addition to advanced searching (e.g., by operating system, etc.), NVD also provides the following enhanced CVE content:

Page Last Updated or Reviewed: December 15, 2020