Cyber Wiki Topic 06
Vulnerabilities & Security Testing
Weakness discovery, prioritization, validation, remediation, and safe security testing.
Topic Directory
46 entries
AI Red Teaming Program
An AI red teaming program uses authorized adversarial testing to discover harmful behavior, security weaknesses, and control failures before and after release.
Service management · IntermediateApproved Scanning Vendor Scans
Approved Scanning Vendor scans provide externally performed vulnerability scanning for applicable internet-facing systems under PCI scanning rules, with defined scope, evidence, dispute, remediation, and passing criteria.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateAssess Critical Suppliers Before Acquisition (ID.RA-10) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-10 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Critical suppliers are assessed prior to acquisition.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateAssess Hardware and Software Authenticity (ID.RA-09) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-09 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: The authenticity and integrity of hardware and software are assessed prior to acquisition and use.
Assurance practice · AdvancedAttack-Surface Reduction Validation
Attack-surface reduction validation confirms that patching, hardening, isolation, encryption, removal, access changes, and architectural controls actually eliminated or constrained the intended exposure.
Vulnerability reference · IntermediateCVE, CWE, CVSS, and EPSS
CVE identifies publicly disclosed vulnerabilities, CWE describes classes of weakness, CVSS expresses technical severity, and EPSS estimates the probability of near-term exploitation.
Browser interface attack · IntermediateClickjacking
Clickjacking overlays or frames a legitimate interface so a user’s visible click lands on a hidden or disguised control, causing an unintended action in the user’s authenticated session.
Application vulnerability class · AdvancedCommand Injection
Command injection occurs when untrusted data is incorporated into an operating-system command or shell expression and changes the command’s intended structure, arguments, control flow, or executed program.
Generative AI attack · IntermediateDirect Prompt Injection
Direct prompt injection is an attempt by a user to override or manipulate an AI application's intended instructions through supplied input.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateEstimate Threat Likelihood and Impact (ID.RA-04) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-04 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Potential impacts and likelihoods of threats exploiting vulnerabilities are identified and recorded.
Embedded security testing practice · AdvancedFirmware Analysis
Firmware analysis examines the software image and supporting metadata that control an embedded device to identify architecture, components, configuration, secrets, services, update logic, vulnerabilities, and runtime behavior.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateIdentify Internal and External Threats (ID.RA-03) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-03 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Internal and external threats to the organization are identified and recorded.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateIdentify and Record Vulnerabilities (ID.RA-01) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-01 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Vulnerabilities in assets are identified, validated, and recorded.
Generative AI attack · AdvancedIndirect Prompt Injection
Indirect prompt injection places hostile instructions in content the model later retrieves or processes, such as a webpage, document, email, or tool result.
Generative AI defense · IntermediateLLM Jailbreak Resistance
Jailbreak resistance is the ability of an AI application to maintain enforced restrictions despite persuasive, encoded, multi-turn, or role-play attempts to bypass them.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateManage Changes and Exceptions (ID.RA-07) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-07 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Changes and exceptions are managed, assessed for risk impact, recorded, and tracked.
Security testing practice · AdvancedMobile Application Security Testing
Mobile application security testing evaluates architecture, storage, cryptography, authentication, network communication, platform interaction, code quality, resilience, privacy, backend APIs, and release integrity across supported mobile platforms.
Emerging AI security · AdvancedMultimodal AI Security
Multimodal AI security addresses systems that combine text, images, audio, video, sensor data, or other modalities in one decision process.
Architecture assurance · AdvancedNetwork Architecture Validation
Network architecture validation proves that a design and its implementation satisfy documented business, technical, security, compliance, availability, and operational requirements.
Operational technology risk · AdvancedOT Patch and Vulnerability Decisions
OT patch and vulnerability decisions balance exploitability and exposure against safety, availability, vendor support, compatibility, maintenance windows, rollback, and recovery.
Service management · IntermediatePCI Evidence Sampling
PCI evidence sampling selects representative systems, locations, users, events, configurations, and time periods so an assessor can form a defensible conclusion about control operation.
Service management · IntermediatePCI Penetration Test Evidence
PCI penetration test evidence shows that qualified testers evaluated relevant internal and external attack paths, segmentation, applications, network layers, scope assumptions, exploitable findings, and remediation.
Service management · IntermediatePCI Segmentation Validation
PCI segmentation validation demonstrates that controls intended to isolate the cardholder data environment are correctly designed, implemented, maintained, and resistant to bypass.
Security testing practice · IntermediatePatches, Updates, and Upgrades
Patches, Updates, and Upgrades is a cybersecurity concept used to describe, protect, analyze, or operate an important part of a modern information environment.
Application vulnerability class · IntermediatePath Traversal
Path traversal occurs when untrusted input influences a file or directory path and allows access outside the application’s intended storage boundary through relative segments, alternate encodings, symbolic links, or platform-specific path behavior.
Remediation assurance practice · AdvancedPenetration Test Remediation Validation
Penetration test remediation validation confirms that reported attack paths are closed, compensating controls work as intended, and related weaknesses are not still exploitable.
Communication practice · IntermediatePenetration Test Reporting
A penetration test report explains what was tested, what was demonstrated, why it matters, how confident the tester is, and what should happen next.
Testing methodology · IntermediatePenetration Testing Lifecycle
A penetration test moves through authorization, planning, reconnaissance, analysis, controlled exploitation, post-exploitation, evidence handling, reporting, cleanup, and retesting.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateReceive Cyber Threat Intelligence (ID.RA-02) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-02 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Cyber threat intelligence is received from information sharing forums and sources.
Testing technique · IntermediateReconnaissance and Enumeration
Reconnaissance gathers information about a target, while enumeration actively identifies services, accounts, resources, versions, trust relationships, and other usable details.
NIST CSF Category profile · IntermediateRisk Assessment (ID.RA) — NIST CSF 2.0 Category
Use ID.RA to manage vulnerabilities, threats, intelligence, likelihood, impact, inherent risk, response, change, authenticity, and supplier risk within the Identify Function.
Engagement control · IntermediateScope and Rules of Engagement
Scope defines what a security test may include, while rules of engagement define how, when, and under which conditions testing may occur.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateSelect and Track Risk Responses (ID.RA-06) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-06 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Risk responses are chosen, prioritized, planned, tracked, and communicated.
Application security practice · IntermediateSoftware Supply Chain Security
Software supply chain security protects source, dependencies, build systems, artifacts, distribution, updates, and the people and services that influence delivered software.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateUnderstand Inherent Risk (ID.RA-05) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-05 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Threats, vulnerabilities, likelihoods, and impacts are used to understand inherent risk and inform risk response prioritization.
ATT&CK mitigation profile · IntermediateUpdate Software (M1051)
Reduce exploitable exposure by applying verified software, firmware, package, dependency, and platform updates within risk-based timelines. This original Bare Metal Cyber profile explains implementation, validation, evidence, failure modes, ownership, and responsible use with ATT&CK.
Assessment method · IntermediateUsing MITRE ATT&CK® for Security Assessments
How to evaluate whether people, processes, architecture, controls, and telemetry can prevent, observe, investigate, and recover from relevant behaviors.
NIST CSF Subcategory profile · IntermediateVulnerability Disclosure Processes (ID.RA-08) — NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategory
Apply ID.RA-08 to achieve this CSF 2.0 outcome: Processes are established for receiving, analyzing, and responding to vulnerability disclosures.
Security program · IntermediateVulnerability Management
Vulnerability management is a continuous program for discovering weaknesses, understanding exposure and consequence, selecting treatment, verifying remediation, and monitoring change.
Remediation assurance practice · IntermediateVulnerability Remediation Validation
Vulnerability remediation validation confirms that the weakness is actually removed or reduced, the correct asset was changed, and the fix did not create unacceptable side effects.
Vulnerability management · IntermediateVulnerability Remediation Verification
Vulnerability remediation verification confirms that an approved patch, configuration change, mitigation, compensating control, or removal actually reduced the intended exposure without creating a new failure.
Assessment practice · BeginnerVulnerability Scanning
Vulnerability scanning uses automated checks to identify known weaknesses, missing updates, unsafe configurations, exposed services, and other conditions that may require review.
ATT&CK mitigation profile · IntermediateVulnerability Scanning (M1016)
Use authenticated and appropriately scoped assessment to identify known vulnerabilities, missing updates, weak configurations, and exposed services. This original Bare Metal Cyber profile explains implementation, validation, evidence, failure modes, ownership, and responsible use with ATT&CK.
Application security concept · IntermediateWeb Application Attack Classes
Web application attack classes include injection, broken access control, authentication failures, insecure design, misconfiguration, component risk, request forgery, and unsafe handling of data and sessions.
Testing practice · IntermediateWeb Application Penetration Testing
Web application penetration testing evaluates how an application handles identity, authorization, input, sessions, business rules, APIs, dependencies, and trust boundaries under realistic misuse.
Application vulnerability class · AdvancedXML External Entity Processing
XML External Entity risk arises when an XML parser resolves attacker-controlled external entities or related document features, potentially reading local resources, making server-side requests, disclosing data, or consuming excessive resources.