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The CISO’s Guide to Vulnerability Intelligence (VI) in 2025: Solving the CVE Gap and Prioritization Crisis
Vulnerability Intelligence (VI) is the critical foundation for any effective Vulnerability Management Program (VMP). In 2025, security teams struggle with three key VI challenges: the missing 30% of risks not reported by CVEs, slow prioritization, and inaccurate severity scoring. Flashpoint addresses these issues by providing a comprehensive, timely, and actionable source of VI that bridges the intelligence gap, enabling effective prioritization and remediation for critical vulnerabilities.
Table Of Contents
Vulnerability Management is the Top CISO Priority in 2025
In today’s interconnected digital landscape, where data breaches and ransomware loom large, a robust Vulnerability Management Program (VMP) is critical. Unauthorized access to systems and services accounts for over 60% of data breaches, often stemming from unaddressed system vulnerabilities.
It’s no surprise that a recent Booz Allen Hamilton survey identifies vulnerability management as the top initiative CISOs are prioritizing in 2024. Building a truly effective VMP demands a comprehensive, timely, and actionable source of Vulnerability Intelligence (VI).
Three Critical Challenges in Modern Vulnerability Intelligence (VI)
At the heart of all VM processes and challenges is one critical element—Vulnerability Intelligence (VI). We created The Buyer’s Guide to Vulnerability Intelligence to help security, IT, and C-level professionals identify if their current VI solution is up to the task.
The guide tackles the most common VI challenges that plague security teams:
Challenge 1: Missing Over 30% of Known Vulnerability Risks
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) database, while standard, fails to report over 100,000 vulnerabilities. Relying solely on CVEs exposes organizations to significant, unaddressed risks that threat actors are actively discussing and exploiting in closed communities. Your VI vendor must look beyond public sources to bridge this gap.
Challenge 2: Ineffective Prioritization and Lack of Context
Security teams don’t have enough context to effectively prioritize or fix all threats. Flashpoint’s research found that nearly 42% of all 10.0 vulnerabilities in 2023 are scored incorrectly—often being a 9.0 or less. This over-prioritization wastes valuable resources and means truly critical vulnerabilities remain unpatched. Last year, the average organization left 45% of critical CVEs unpatched.
Challenge 3: The Need for Timeliness and Actionability
Cybersecurity teams and threat actors are racing against the clock. An effective source of VI must be comprehensive, timely, and actionable. It should notify you of all relevant, newly disclosed vulnerabilities as soon as possible with enough contextual information to make an immediate, risk-based decision. You simply don’t have enough time to wait.
The Flashpoint Solution: Bridging the Intelligence Gap
Using The Buyer’s Guide to Vulnerability Intelligence, organizations will be able to:
- Bridge Intelligence Gaps: Learn how your current strategy may be leaving you exposed and how to identify and rectify these gaps by moving beyond the CVE database.
- Master the Art of Data: Delve into what best-in-class data means for your organization, and vendor differentiators (like Flashpoint) that will elevate your VMP.
- Embrace Fortune 500 Best Practices: Elevate your teams by adopting the proven practices of top organizations and the included self-assessment checklist.
- Centralize Your Defense: Empower your teams with a unified source of truth, bringing cohesion to your organization’s approach to vulnerability management.
“Flashpoint, a transformative leader and catalyst, shapes its corporate culture by harnessing purpose and mission to protect what matters most to fuel innovation. The company’s extensive knowledge is reflected in its offerings; its solutions are definitively superior to those of its competitors.”
Security Advisory Practice at Frost & Sullivan
Vulnerability Intelligence (VI) FAQs
Q: What is the main challenge with relying only on CVEs for Vulnerability Intelligence (VI)?
A: The main challenge is the CVE Gap. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) database, while a standard reference, is known to miss over 100,000 known vulnerabilities. Relying only on CVEs leaves organizations exposed to approximately 30% or more of known risks that are being actively discussed by threat actors in closed, fringe sources.
Q: How does Flashpoint address the prioritization crisis in Vulnerability Intelligence?
A: Flashpoint addresses the prioritization crisis by providing real-world context and intelligence to correct inflated severity scores. Flashpoint found that nearly 42% of 10.0-rated vulnerabilities in 2023 were incorrectly scored, leading to wasted time. By providing the context of threat actor activity, Flashpoint helps security teams prioritize the vulnerabilities that are truly being exploited in the wild.
Q: What is a key differentiator that makes Flashpoint’s VI solutions superior?
A: According to the Security Advisory Practice at Frost & Sullivan, a key differentiator is Flashpoint’s extensive, mission-driven knowledge, stating: “The company’s extensive knowledge is reflected in its offerings; its solutions are definitively superior to those of its competitors.” This superiority stems from combining best-in-class data, coverage beyond the CVE scope, and real-world threat actor context.