In this project, we simulate the implementation of a comprehensive vulnerability management program, from inception to completion.
Inception State: the organization has no existing policy or vulnerability management practices in place.
Completion State: a formal policy is enacted, stakeholder buy-in is secured, and a full cycle of organization-wide vulnerability remediation is successfully completed.
- Tenable (enterprise vulnerability management platform)
- Azure Virtual Machines (Nessus scan engine + scan targets)
- PowerShell & BASH (remediation scripts)
- Vulnerability Management Policy Draft Creation
- Mock Meeting: Policy Buy-In (Stakeholders)
- Policy Finalization and Senior Leadership Sign-Off
- Mock Meeting: Initial Scan Permission (Server Team)
- Initial Scan of Server Team Assets
- Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization
- Distributing Remediations to Remediation Teams
- Mock Meeting: Post-Initial Discovery Scan (Server Team)
- Mock CAB Meeting: Implementing Remediations
- Remediation Round 1: Outdated Wireshark Removal
- Remediation Round 2: Insecure Protocols & Ciphers
- Remediation Round 3: Guest Account Group Membership
- Remediation Round 4: Windows OS Updates
- First Cycle Remediation Effort Summary
This phase focuses on drafting a Vulnerability Management Policy as a starting point for stakeholder engagement. The initial draft outlines scope, responsibilities, and remediation timelines, and may be adjusted based on feedback from relevant departments to ensure practical implementation before final approval by upper management.
Draft Policy
In this phase, a meeting with the server team introduces the draft Vulnerability Management Policy and assesses their capability to meet remediation timelines. Feedback leads to adjustments, like extending the critical remediation window from 48 hours to one week, ensuring collaborative implementation.
Click to expand the scene
Brief Office Vulnerability Policy Remediation Discussion
-Amber: Cyber/Vulnerability Analyst
-John: Server Team Manager
Amber and John are having a discussion about the new policy draft. Amber enters the room, setting down her coffee, while John flips through a document on his desk.
Amber: (Smiling, setting coffee down) Hey, morning John! How's everything been? I know everyone's been busy these last few weeks.
John: (Sighs, nodding) Good morning, Amber. Yeah, it's been a bit hectic, but we're hanging in there. Thanks for asking. (Pauses, flipping a page) I had a chance to read through the policy draft, and overall, it makes sense. However, with our current staffing, we can't meet the aggressive remediation timelines—especially the 48-hour window for critical vulnerabilities.
Amber: (Leaning forward, rubbing her chin) Yeah, I totally understand. It is a bit aggressive, especially to start. (Thinking for a moment) Perhaps we can extend the critical window to one week? That might be a good compromise for now, and we can reserve the 48-hour window for truly severe zero-day vulnerabilities.
John: (Nods, tapping a pen on the table) That sounds reasonable. We appreciate the flexibility. (Pauses, considering) Can we have a bit of leeway in the beginning as we work through getting used to the remediation and patching process—just for the first few months or so?
Amber: (Gesturing slightly, reassuring tone) Absolutely. After the policy is finalized, we'll officially start the program, but we're planning to give all departments about six months to adjust and get comfortable with the new process. (Raises eyebrows) Does that sound fair?
John: (Smiles, setting pen down) Thanks, Amber. We'll do our best. I appreciate you including us in the decision-making process. (Nods appreciatively) It really helps us feel like we're part of the solution.
Amber: (Grins, standing up slightly) Yeah, of course! We're all in this together. Thanks for working with us.
John: (Standing up, extending hand) No problem. Thanks for the short meeting.
Amber: (Shaking hands, chuckling) Yeah, those are my favorite types! Bye now.
John: (Smirks, nodding) See you later.
End Scene
Important Key Takeaways:
- The dialogue highlights the importance of clear communication and collaboration between management and technical teams when implementing new policies.
- Adopting a flexible approach, supported by a phased rollout, can enhance the adoption and overall effectiveness of new security procedures.
- Being receptive to feedback and willing to adjust strategies based on real-world experience is vital for ensuring long-term success.
After gathering feedback from the server team, the policy is revised, addressing aggressive remediation timelines. With final approval from upper management, the policy now guides the program, ensuring compliance and reference for pushback resolution.
Finalized Policy
The team collaborates with the server team to initiate scheduled credential scans. A compromise is reached to scan a single server first, monitoring resource impact, and using just-in-time Active Directory credentials for secure, controlled access.
Click to expand the scene
-Amber: Cyber/Vulnerability Analyst
-John: Server Team Manager
Amber enters the room with a laptop in hand, nodding at John, who is already seated and reviewing some notes. John looks up and sets his pen down.
Amber: (Smiling) Morning, John.
John: (Nods, stretching slightly) Good morning. I heard you're ready to conduct some scans.
Amber: (Sitting down, opening her laptop) Yep. Now that our vulnerability management policy is in place, I wanted to get started on conducting some scheduled credential scans of your environment.
John: (Leaning forward, hands clasped together) Sounds good to me. What's involved? How can we help?
Amber: (Scrolling through her notes) We're planning to schedule some weekly scans of the server infrastructure. We estimate it'll take about four to six hours to scan all 2,200 assets. Looks up We'll need you to provide us with some administrative credentials so the scan engine can remotely log into the targets and assess them more effectively.
John: (Raises an eyebrow, crossing arms) Whoa, whoa—hold on there. What does scanning actually entail? I'm a bit worried about resource utilization. Pauses Also, you want admin credentials to all 2,200 machines? That doesn't sound safe.
Amber: (Nods, adjusting her laptop screen) Those are valid concerns. The scan engine basically sends different traffic to the servers to check for vulnerabilities. Gestures with hands This includes looking into the registry, checking for outdated software, and identifying insecure protocols or cipher suites. That’s why credentials are required.
John: (Exhales, nodding slowly) I see. Well, as long as it doesn't bring the servers offline, I guess we should be okay.
Amber: (Reassuring tone) Absolutely. Let's just scan a single server for now and monitor resource utilization.
John: (Leaning back, thinking) Not a bad idea.
Amber: (Nods, typing a note) Great. Also, for the credentials, can you set up something in Active Directory for us? Maybe temporary AD credentials? You can leave them disabled until we're ready to scan, then enable them during the scan, and disable or deprovision them afterward—kind of like a just-in-time access model.
John: (Considering, rubbing chin) That sounds good. I'll ask Susan to get started on automating the account provisioning.
Amber: (Smiles, closing laptop) Awesome. Okay, talk soon.
John: (Standing up, shaking hands) Yeah, that sounds good. I'll get back to you once the credentials are set up. See you later.
Amber: (Nods, heading toward the door) See you later.
Key Takeaways:
- This dialogue underscores the importance of striking a balance between security needs and operational requirements.
- It illustrates a proactive approach to mitigating security risks by implementing pilot scans and just-in-time access for credentials.
- The discussion highlights the critical role of communication and collaboration between security and IT operations teams in addressing security concerns effectively.
In this phase, an insecure Windows Server is provisioned to simulate the server team's environment. After creating vulnerabilities, an authenticated scan is performed, and the results are exported for future remediation steps.
We assessed vulnerabilities and established a remediation prioritization strategy based on ease of remediation and impact. The following priorities were set:
- Third Party Software Removal (Wireshark)
- Windows OS Secure Configuration (Protocols & Ciphers)
- Windows OS Secure Configuration (Guest Account Group Membership)
- Windows OS Updates
The server team received remediation scripts and scan reports to address key vulnerabilities. This streamlined their efforts and prepared them for a follow-up review.
The server team reviewed vulnerability scan results, identifying outdated software, insecure accounts, and deprecated protocols. The remediation packages were prepared for submission to the Change Control Board (CAB).
Click to expand the scan results discussion scene
A meeting between John and a security analyst to discuss the results of a vulnerability scan. The conversation includes findings, concerns, and next steps for remediation.
Amber: (nods) Morning John! How are you doing?
John: (sips coffee) Not bad for a Monday. You?
Amber: (shrugs) Still alive, so I can't complain. Before we get into vulnerabilities, how did the actual scan go on your end? Any outages or overutilization?
John: (shakes head) The scan went well. We were monitoring the systems, and aside from all the open connections, you wouldn’t have even known a scan was running.
Amber: (smiles) That’s good news. I kind of expected that. We'll keep monitoring, but I don’t anticipate any resource issues. Mind if I dive into the vulnerability findings?
John: (leans forward) Yeah, absolutely.
Amber: (shares screen) So, the majority of these vulnerabilities come from Wireshark being installed. You can see all these instances here—it's just super out of date.
John: (nods) Got it. Anything else concerning?
Amber: (scrolls) One interesting thing—I found that the local guest account on some servers belongs to a group. After digging deeper, turns out it’s part of the local administrators group. Not sure why.
John: (raises eyebrow) That’s not good.
Amber: (clicks through results) Yeah. Some vulnerabilities might be resolved automatically by Windows updates, like this Microsoft Edge Chromium one. Not sure about this other one yet—it could be a simple patch fix.
John: (thinking) And the others?
Amber: (points at screen) We don’t need to worry about the self-signed certificate finding—that's just the computer's default behavior. But these medium-strength cipher suites and TLS 1.0/1.1 protocols? Those are deprecated and should be removed.
John: (nods) So our main concerns are Wireshark, the insecure protocols, cipher suites, and removing that guest account?
Amber: (gestures) Exactly.
John: (crosses arms) The good news is, most of our servers likely have the same vulnerabilities. Hopefully, that simplifies remediation.
Amber: (nods) Yeah, a uniform loadout helps. Do you foresee any issues fixing the cipher suites and insecure protocols?
John: (shakes head) Highly doubtful. We’ll run everything through the next Change Control Board. Uninstalling Wireshark and fixing the guest account shouldn’t be a problem either—they shouldn’t be on the servers anyway. I'll need to talk to our CIS admins about that, though.
Amber: (smiles) Good to hear. I’ll start building remediation packages to streamline the fixes.
John: (leans forward) That would be great. By the way, do you have anything in place to handle Windows Update-related vulnerabilities? Like, do you already have patch management?
Amber: (nods) Oh yeah, I’m not worried about that. Windows updates will be handled automatically next week—we already have patch management in place.
John: (relieved) Excellent. Alright, I’ll start researching the best way to remediate these findings and get back to you before the next Change Control Board.
Amber: (smiles) Sounds good. Talk to you soon.
John: (waves) Cool, cool. Talk soon.
Scene end
The Change Control Board (CAB) reviewed and approved the plan to remove insecure protocols and cipher suites. The plan included a rollback script and a tiered deployment approach.
Click to expand the scan results discussion scene
Scenario:
A meeting discussing vulnerability remediation for insecure protocols and cipher suites. The discussion focuses on the technical process, deployment, and rollback strategy for mitigating security risks.
-Michelle: CAB Facilitator,
-John: Server Team Manager,
-Amber: VM Security Analyst,
-Joe: Lead Systems Engineer,
Michelle (CAB Facilitator):
"Okay, next up on the list are a couple of vulnerability remediations for the server team. First, removal of insecure protocols and second, removal of insecure Cipher Suites. It looks like Josh from the risk department is working with Jimmy from infrastructure on this. Jimmy, do you want to walk us through the technical aspects of the change being implemented?"
John (Server Team Manager):
"Normally, I would, but do you mind giving this one to Josh? He actually built the solution for us, and we're still getting used to the process."
Amber (VM Security Analyst):
"Yeah, I can explain this. So, basically, insecure Cipher Suites and protocols refer to algorithms or protocols that are deprecated. If a system connects to a server that only supports those outdated protocols, it might still negotiate and use them. These protocols are controlled by the Windows registry. It’s a simple fix; we wrote a PowerShell script that disables all insecure protocols and ciphers and enables the secure, standardized ones."
Joe (Lead Systems Engineer):
"Sounds good, but what if something goes wrong? Do we have a rollback plan in place? Did you think about that?"
Amber (VM Security Analyst):
"Yes, absolutely. First, we’re doing a tiered deployment: a pilot group, pre-pilot, pre-production, and then production, where it goes everywhere. On top of this, we’ve created an automated rollback script for each remediation. If any issues arise, the script restores the original protocols and ciphers."
Joe (Lead Systems Engineer):
"That sounds good. I assume these fixes are just simple registry updates, so I’m not too concerned."
Amber (VM Security Analyst): "Exactly. Any other questions from anyone?"
Michelle (CAB Facilitator): "Great, that wraps up this week's CAP meeting. See you all next week!"
Key Points:
- The dialogue highlights the importance of collaboration between the server, risk, and infrastructure teams when implementing security changes.
- A tiered deployment strategy, including pilot groups and pre-production testing, is crucial for minimizing potential issues.
- An automated rollback plan ensures that any unforeseen problems can be swiftly resolved.
The server team used a PowerShell script to remove outdated Wireshark. A follow-up scan confirmed successful remediation.
Wireshark Removal Script
Scan 2 - Third Party Software Removal
The server team used PowerShell scripts to remediate insecure protocols and cipher suites. A follow-up scan verified successful remediation, and the results were saved for reference.
PowerShell: Insecure Protocols Remediation
PowerShell: Insecure Ciphers Remediation
Scan 3 - Ciphersuites and Protocols
The server team removed the guest account from the administrator group. A new scan confirmed remediation, and the results were exported for comparison.
PowerShell: Guest Account Group Membership Remediation
<img width="627" alt="image" src="(https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e8cadb78-2ab1-42ba-969a-65fe4d68e4b9)>
Scan 4 - Guest Account Group Removal
Windows updates were re-enabled and applied until the system was fully up to date. A final scan verified the changes
The remediation process reduced total vulnerabilities by 80%, from 30 to 6. Critical vulnerabilities were resolved by the second scan (100%), and high vulnerabilities dropped by 90%. Mediums were reduced by 76%. In an actual production environment, asset criticality would further guide future remediation efforts.
After completing the initial remediation cycle, the vulnerability management program transitions into Maintenance Mode. This phase ensures that vulnerabilities continue to be managed proactively, keeping systems secure over time. Regular scans, continuous monitoring, and timely remediation are crucial components of this phase. (See Finalized Policy for scanning and remediation cadence requirements.)
Key activities in Maintenance Mode include:
- Scheduled Vulnerability Scans: Perform regular scans (e.g., weekly or monthly) to detect new vulnerabilities as systems evolve.
- Patch Management: Continuously apply security patches and updates, ensuring no critical vulnerabilities remain unpatched.
- Remediation Follow-ups: Address newly identified vulnerabilities promptly, prioritizing based on risk and impact.
- Policy Review and Updates: Periodically review the Vulnerability Management Policy to ensure it aligns with the latest security best practices and organizational needs.
- Audit and Compliance: Conduct internal audits to ensure compliance with the vulnerability management policy and external regulations.
- Ongoing Communication with Stakeholders: Maintain open communication with teams responsible for remediation, ensuring efficient coordination.
By maintaining an active vulnerability management process, organizations can stay ahead of emerging threats and ensure long-term security resilience.
