Security Vulnerabilities

A security vulnerability is a flaw or weakness in the design, implementation, or configuration of a computer system, network, or application that can be exploited by a threat actor to compromise its confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Stemming from sources such as software bugs, insecure coding practices, or improper system setup, these weaknesses create openings for attackers to gain unauthorized access, execute malicious code, or cause a denial of service. The proactive discovery, assessment, and mitigation of vulnerabilities are central pillars of cybersecurity, aiming to close these security gaps before they can be leveraged in an attack.

1. Fundamentals of Security Vulnerabilities
   1. Defining Security Vulnerabilities
      1. Core Definition of Vulnerability
      2. Vulnerability vs Weakness
      3. Vulnerability vs Bug
      4. Asset-Vulnerability Relationship
   2. Security Terminology and Relationships
      1. Vulnerability
      2. Threat
      3. Risk
      4. Attack Vector
      5. Exploit
      6. Attack Surface
      7. Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
   3. The CIA Triad
      1. Confidentiality
         1. Definition and Scope
         2. Data Classification
         3. Information Disclosure Scenarios
         4. Privacy Implications
      2. Integrity
         1. Data Integrity
         2. System Integrity
         3. Authentication Integrity
         4. Non-repudiation
      3. Availability
         1. Service Availability
         2. Data Availability
         3. System Uptime Requirements
         4. Business Continuity Impact
   4. Extended Security Properties
      1. Authentication
      2. Authorization
      3. Accountability
      4. Non-repudiation
   5. Vulnerability Lifecycle Management
      1. Discovery Phase
         1. Internal Discovery Methods
         2. External Discovery Methods
         3. Automated Discovery Tools
         4. Manual Testing Approaches
         5. Bug Bounty Discovery
      2. Analysis and Validation
         1. Reproducibility Testing
         2. Impact Assessment
         3. Root Cause Analysis
         4. Proof of Concept Development
         5. False Positive Elimination
      3. Disclosure Processes
         1. Responsible Disclosure
         2. Full Disclosure
         3. Coordinated Disclosure
         4. Zero-Day Disclosure
         5. Disclosure Timeline Standards
      4. Remediation Planning
         1. Patch Development Process
         2. Workaround Solutions
         3. Compensating Controls
         4. Risk Acceptance Decisions
      5. Implementation and Deployment
         1. Patch Testing
         2. Staged Deployment
         3. Rollback Procedures
         4. Change Management
      6. Verification and Monitoring
         1. Remediation Verification
         2. Regression Testing
         3. Continuous Monitoring
         4. Effectiveness Measurement
   6. Root Causes of Vulnerabilities
      1. Design-Level Causes
         1. Insecure Architecture
         2. Missing Security Requirements
         3. Poor Threat Modeling
         4. Inadequate Security Controls
         5. Trust Boundary Violations
      2. Implementation-Level Causes
         1. Coding Errors
         2. Logic Flaws
         3. Input Validation Failures
         4. Memory Management Errors
         5. Race Conditions
      3. Configuration-Level Causes
         1. Default Configurations
         2. Insecure Permissions
         3. Unnecessary Services
         4. Missing Security Settings
         5. Weak Authentication Settings
      4. Operational-Level Causes
         1. Inadequate Maintenance
         2. Poor Change Management
         3. Insufficient Monitoring
         4. Weak Incident Response
      5. Human Factor Causes
         1. Lack of Security Awareness
         2. Insufficient Training
         3. Social Engineering Susceptibility
         4. Insider Threats
         5. Process Non-compliance