building-vulnerability-scanning-workflow

Builds a structured vulnerability scanning workflow using tools like Nessus, Qualys, and OpenVAS to discover, prioritize, and track remediation of security vulnerabilities across infrastructure. Use when SOC teams need to establish recurring vulnerability assessment processes, integrate scan results with SIEM alerting, and build remediation tracking dashboards.

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Repository: autohandai/community-skills
Last source activity: March 16, 2026 at 00:59
Detected SKILL.md language: English
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name	building-vulnerability-scanning-workflow
description	Builds a structured vulnerability scanning workflow using tools like Nessus, Qualys, and OpenVAS to discover, prioritize, and track remediation of security vulnerabilities across infrastructure. Use when SOC teams need to establish recurring vulnerability assessment processes, integrate scan results with SIEM alerting, and build remediation tracking dashboards.
domain	cybersecurity
subdomain	soc-operations
tags	["soc","vulnerability-scanning","nessus","qualys","openvas","cvss","remediation","patch-management"]
version	1.0
author	mahipal
license	Apache-2.0

Building Vulnerability Scanning Workflow

When to Use

Use this skill when:

SOC teams need to establish or improve recurring vulnerability scanning programs
Scan results require prioritization beyond raw CVSS scores using asset context and threat intelligence
Vulnerability data must be integrated into SIEM for correlation with exploitation attempts
Remediation tracking needs formalization with SLA-based dashboards and reporting

Do not use for penetration testing or active exploitation — vulnerability scanning identifies weaknesses, penetration testing validates exploitability.

Prerequisites

Vulnerability scanner (Tenable Nessus Professional, Qualys VMDR, or OpenVAS/Greenbone)
Asset inventory with criticality classifications (business-critical, standard, development)
Network access from scanner to all target segments (agent-based or network scan)
SIEM integration for scan result ingestion and correlation
Patch management system (WSUS, SCCM, Intune) for remediation tracking

Workflow

Step 1: Define Scan Scope and Scheduling

Create scan policies covering all asset types:

Nessus Scan Configuration (API):

import requests

nessus_url = "https://nessus.company.com:8834"
headers = {"X-ApiKeys": f"accessKey={access_key};secretKey={secret_key}"}

# Create scan policy
policy = {
    "uuid": "advanced",
    "settings": {
        "name": "SOC Weekly Infrastructure Scan",
        "description": "Weekly credentialed scan of all server and workstation segments",
        "scanner_id": 1,
        "policy_id": 0,
        "text_targets": "10.0.0.0/16, 172.16.0.0/12",
        "launch": "WEEKLY",
        "starttime": ,
        : ,
        : 
    },
    : {
        : {
            : {
                : [{
                    : ,
                    : ,
                    : ,
                    : 
                }],
                : [{
                    : ,
                    : ,
                    : 
                }]
            }
        }
    }
}

response = requests.post(, headers=headers, json=policy, verify=)
scan_id = response.json()[][]
()

import qualysapi

conn = qualysapi.connect(
    hostname="qualysapi.qualys.com",
    username="api_user",
    password="API_PASSWORD"
)

# Launch vulnerability scan
params = {
    "action": "launch",
    "scan_title": "Weekly_Infrastructure_Scan",
    "ip": "10.0.0.0/16",
    "option_id": "123456",  # Scan profile ID
    "iscanner_name": "Internal_Scanner_01",
    "priority": "0"
}

response = conn.request("/api/2.0/fo/scan/", params)
print(f"Scan launched: {response}")

import requests
import csv

# Export Nessus results
response = requests.get(
    f"{nessus_url}/scans/{scan_id}/export",
    headers=headers,
    params={"format": "csv"},
    verify=False
)

# Parse and prioritize
vulns = []
reader = csv.DictReader(response.text.splitlines())
for row in reader:
    cvss = float(row.get("CVSS v3.0 Base Score", 0))
    asset_criticality = get_asset_criticality(row["Host"])  # From asset inventory

    # Risk-based priority calculation
    risk_score = cvss * asset_criticality_multiplier(asset_criticality)

    # Boost score if actively exploited (check CISA KEV)
    if row.get("CVE") in cisa_kev_list:
        risk_score *= 1.5

    vulns.append({
        "host": row["Host"],
        "plugin_name": row["Name"],
        "severity": row["Risk"],
        "cvss": cvss,
        "cve": row.get("CVE", "N/A"),
        "risk_score": round(risk_score, 1),
        "asset_criticality": asset_criticality,
        "kev": row.get("CVE") in cisa_kev_list
    })

# Sort by risk score
vulns.sort(key=lambda x: x["risk_score"], reverse=True)

import requests

kev_response = requests.get(
    "https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json"
)
kev_data = kev_response.json()
cisa_kev_list = {v["cveID"] for v in kev_data["vulnerabilities"]}

# Check if vulnerability is actively exploited
def is_actively_exploited(cve_id):
    return cve_id in cisa_kev_list

Priority	CVSS Range	Asset Type	SLA	Examples
P1 Critical	9.0-10.0 + KEV	All assets	24 hours	Log4Shell, EternalBlue on prod servers
P2 High	7.0-8.9 or 9.0+ non-KEV	Business-critical	7 days	RCE without known exploit
P3 Medium	4.0-6.9	Business-critical	30 days	Authenticated privilege escalation
P4 Low	0.1-3.9	Standard	90 days	Information disclosure, low-impact DoS
P5 Informational	0.0	Development	Next cycle	Best practice findings, config hardening

index=vulnerability sourcetype="nessus:scan"
| eval vuln_key = Host.":".CVE
| join vuln_key type=left [
    search index=ids_ips sourcetype="snort" OR sourcetype="suricata"
    | eval vuln_key = dest_ip.":".cve_id
    | stats count AS exploit_attempts, latest(_time) AS last_exploit_attempt by vuln_key
  ]
| where isnotnull(exploit_attempts)
| eval risk = "CRITICAL — Vulnerability being actively exploited"
| sort - exploit_attempts
| table Host, CVE, plugin_name, cvss_score, exploit_attempts, last_exploit_attempt, risk

index=vulnerability sourcetype="nessus:scan" severity="Critical"
| lookup cisa_kev_lookup.csv cve_id AS CVE OUTPUT kev_status, due_date
| where kev_status="active"
| lookup asset_criticality_lookup.csv ip AS Host OUTPUT criticality
| where criticality IN ("business-critical", "mission-critical")
| table Host, CVE, plugin_name, cvss_score, kev_status, due_date, criticality

-- Open vulnerabilities by severity
index=vulnerability sourcetype="nessus:scan" status="open"
| stats count by severity
| eval order = case(severity="Critical", 1, severity="High", 2, severity="Medium", 3,
                    severity="Low", 4, 1=1, 5)
| sort order

-- SLA compliance tracking
index=vulnerability sourcetype="nessus:scan" status="open"
| eval sla_days = case(
    severity="Critical", 1,
    severity="High", 7,
    severity="Medium", 30,
    severity="Low", 90
  )
| eval days_open = round((now() - first_detected) / 86400)
| eval sla_status = if(days_open > sla_days, "OVERDUE", "Within SLA")
| stats count by severity, sla_status

-- Remediation trend over 90 days
index=vulnerability sourcetype="nessus:scan"
| eval is_open = if(status="open", 1, 0)
| eval is_closed = if(status="fixed", 1, 0)
| timechart span=1w sum(is_open) AS opened, sum(is_closed) AS remediated

import requests

servicenow_url = "https://company.service-now.com/api/now/table/incident"
headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {snow_token}"
}

for vuln in vulns:
    if vuln["risk_score"] >= 8.0:
        ticket = {
            "short_description": f"[VULN] {vuln['cve']} — {vuln['plugin_name']} on {vuln['host']}",
            "description": (
                f"Vulnerability: {vuln['plugin_name']}\n"
                f"CVE: {vuln['cve']}\n"
                f"CVSS: {vuln['cvss']}\n"
                f"Host: {vuln['host']}\n"
                f"Asset Criticality: {vuln['asset_criticality']}\n"
                f"CISA KEV: {'YES' if vuln['kev'] else 'NO'}\n"
                f"Risk Score: {vuln['risk_score']}\n"
                f"Remediation SLA: {'24 hours' if vuln['kev'] else '7 days'}"
            ),
            "urgency": "1" if vuln["kev"] else "2",
            "impact": "1" if vuln["asset_criticality"] == "business-critical" else "2",
            "assignment_group": "IT Infrastructure",
            "category": "Vulnerability"
        }
        response = requests.post(servicenow_url, headers=headers, json=ticket)
        print(f"Ticket created: {response.json()['result']['number']}")

Term	Definition
CVSS	Common Vulnerability Scoring System — standardized severity rating (0-10) for vulnerabilities
CISA KEV	Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — CISA-maintained list of vulnerabilities with confirmed active exploitation
Credentialed Scan	Vulnerability scan using authenticated access for deeper detection than network-only scanning
Asset Criticality	Business impact classification determining remediation priority (mission-critical, business-critical, standard)
Remediation SLA	Service Level Agreement defining maximum time allowed to patch vulnerabilities by severity
EPSS	Exploit Prediction Scoring System — ML-based probability score predicting likelihood of exploitation

VULNERABILITY SCAN REPORT — Weekly Summary
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Scan Date:    2024-03-16 02:00 UTC
Scan Scope:   10.0.0.0/16 (1,247 hosts scanned)
Duration:     4h 23m
Coverage:     98.7% (16 hosts unreachable)

Findings:
  Severity     Count    New    CISA KEV
  Critical     23       5      3
  High         187      34     12
  Medium       892      78     0
  Low          1,456    112    0
  Info         3,891    201    0

Top Priority (P1 — 24hr SLA):
  CVE-2024-21762  FortiOS RCE           3 hosts   KEV: YES
  CVE-2024-1709   ConnectWise RCE       1 host    KEV: YES
  CVE-2024-3400   Palo Alto PAN-OS RCE  2 hosts   KEV: YES

SLA Compliance:
  Critical: 82% within SLA (4 overdue)
  High:     91% within SLA (17 overdue)
  Medium:   88% within SLA (107 overdue)

Tickets Created: 39 (ServiceNow)