Monthly Vulnerability Insights

February 2025 Vulnerability Insights

Key Trends

• Total Advisories: 967 (↑ from 781 last month)
• Unique Vendors: 87 (↑ from 79)
• Unique Products: 351 (↑ from 320)
• Unique CVEs Reported: 2,699 (↑ from 2,393)
• Threat-Scored Advisories: 551 (↑ from 460)
• Rejected Advisories: 185 – Often due to weak exploitation potential or requiring security misconfigurations.
• Advisories Without CVE: 21 – With CVSS scores ranging from 9.8 to 4.8.

Notable Observations

• Networking-related vulnerabilities: Avaya, F5, and Cisco account for 75%+ of all networking advisories.
• Critical threats: High-impact vulnerabilities affect Linux distributions (except Linux Foundation), as well as Microsoft, IBM, Google, Dell, Apple, and Avaya.
• Linux Foundation: Continues to produce high-volume, low-risk vulnerabilities requiring significant validation effort.

Highlighted Vulnerabilities

1. Microsoft Windows Server 2012

• CVSS: 8.8 | Threat Score: 99 | Zero-Day: Yes
• Impact: System access, DoS, privilege escalation, security bypass.
• Fix: Apply security updates (KB5051987 / KB5052105).

1. Palo Alto PAN-OS Web Interface

• CVSS: 7.1 | Threat Score: 99 | Zero-Day: No
• Impact: Data exposure, security bypass, manipulation of data.
• Fix: Update to latest PAN-OS patches.

Final Thoughts

A sharp rise in advisories this month underscores the need for proactive vulnerability management, especially for networking and critical infrastructure. Stay ahead by prioritizing patching based on risk impact.

January 2025 Vulnerability Review – Key Takeaways

Overview

• 781 security advisories published, marking the lowest count in 12 months.
• Third consecutive month of decline, breaking the historical trend of increased January advisories.
• 16 advisories lacked CVE IDs, affecting vendors like Trend Micro, Suse Linux, Red Hat, and CA.

Notable Exploited Vulnerabilities

• Fortinet (CVE-2024-55591): Zero-day authentication bypass, granting super-admin privileges. Exploited since November 2024. Update to version 7.0.17.
• Ivanti Connect Secure (CVE-2025-0282 & CVE-2025-0283): Remote code execution and privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Limited active exploitation confirmed. Update to version 22.7R2.5.
• Microsoft Patch Tuesday: 159 vulnerabilities patched, including 8 zero-days and 3 actively exploited flaws.

Trends and Key Insights

• Linux Foundation continues reporting a high volume of low-risk vulnerabilities, requiring significant validation efforts.
• Out of 114 Linux Foundation advisories analyzed, 77 were rejected, and 37 were marked Not Critical.
• 460 advisories carried a significant threat score, emphasizing the need for risk-based prioritization.

Recommendations for Security Teams

• Focus on real-world exploitability rather than just CVSS scores.
• Apply patches for high-risk vulnerabilities without delay.
• Use automated threat intelligence to reduce response times and improve risk management.

While the number of vulnerabilities has decreased, the risk remains high. A proactive approach to vulnerability management is critical in addressing emerging threats.

How is your organization prioritizing remediation in 2025?

Monthly Summary for December 2024

Total advisories: 881 (last month: 1,100)

Important conclusions from this month report are:

• Significant Patching Requirement: With 62.32% of advisories providing a vendor patch, and over 6,000 vulnerabilities needing attention each month, there's a clear demand for robust patch management strategies.
• High Volume of Critical Vulnerabilities: Over 44% of advisories scored in the high CVSS3 range, indicating a substantial presence of severe vulnerabilities that require immediate attention.
• Prevalence of Remote Attack Vectors: More than 43% of advisories relate to vulnerabilities exploitable remotely, underscoring the persistent threat of remote cyber-attacks.
• Threat Intelligence Importance: Nearly half (49.72%) of the advisories carried a positive threat score, with many linked to malware, ransomware, and cyber exploits, demonstrating the critical role of threat intelligence in prioritizing vulnerabilities.
• Exploitation and Testing Links: Nearly half (45.40%) of advisories involve vulnerabilities used in penetration testing tools, suggesting these vulnerabilities are well-understood by attackers, likely making them prime targets for exploitation.
• 10 advisories without CVE reference: including ManageEngine Password Manager, Foxit PDF reader, Pega Platform, XnView and Hashbrown Borsh.

Key Takeaways from the Report:

1. Vulnerability Growth Trends
2. Zero-Day Vulnerabilities and Exploits
3. Threat Intelligence Insights
4. Patch Management Effectiveness
5. Final Thought for 2024

Why Read This Article?

This article equips IT leaders, CISOs, and security professionals with the insights ,data and strategies they need to:

• Improve threat prioritization.
• Streamline patch deployment.
• Build resilience against emerging attack patterns.

November 2024 Vulnerability Review: A Data-Driven Approach to Shrinking Risk Windows

Flexera ’s latest Monthly Vulnerability Review, powered by Secunia Research, delivers essential insights to help organizations tackle the evolving challenge of software vulnerabilities. With over 1,100 advisories analyzed across 93 vendors and 333 products, the report provides actionable intelligence for improving security posture.

Key Highlights:

▪️ Threat Intelligence: Over 52% of advisories were tied to vulnerabilities likely to be exploited. Medium-severity vulnerabilities remain a critical blind spot for many organizations.

▪️ Rapid Patching: 66% of vulnerabilities were patched within 24 hours of disclosure, showcasing improved vendor responsiveness.

▪️ Escalating Risks: Remote exploit vulnerabilities increased to 45%, highlighting the growing need for robust defenses against external threats.

▪️ Year-to-Date Trends: Vulnerability disclosures in 2024 have already surged by 30% compared to 2023, underscoring the need for proactive and efficient vulnerability management.

Traditional resources like the NVD often fall short, delaying critical insights and leaving gaps in prioritization. Flexera’s solutions, backed by Secunia Research, offer a reliable alternative to streamline patch management and reduce the time between vulnerability awareness and remediation.

October Monthly Vulnerability Insights

Total advisories: 1,217 ↑ (last month: 1,000)

Important conclusions from this month’s report:

• With 1,217 advisories, we continue the trend of high volume, averaging over 1,000 advisories per month this year (last year averaged ~730). This represents a 35.8% YTD increase (last month +38%).
• 18 (last month: 14) advisories do not have a CVE assigned, including 1 rated highly critical (Gentoo).
• Less than half (40.6%) of all vulnerabilities reported this month have a “Remote Attack Vector” (last month: 43%).
• The Secunia Research Team reported 7 extremely critical advisories this month (last month: 0), highlighting Microsoft as a key vendor impacted.
• Threat intelligence continues to show that moderately critical vulnerabilities are often targeted by hackers, with fewer links to recent cyber exploits.
  • 160 advisories (last month: 108) contain at least one vulnerability linked to a recent cyber exploit.
  • 351 advisories (last month: 340) are linked to historical cyber exploits.
• More than half of all advisories are from these usual (Linux) suspect vendors: Linux, Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu.
  • Interestingly, these vendors also have the highest number of rejected advisories, with 160 of 333 rejections coming from Linux, Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu.
  • The trend continues with the Linux Foundation producing a high volume of “vulnerabilities,” many with low threat or risk, yet requiring significant validation effort.
• Cisco accounted for half of all networking-related advisories this month.
• Last month, 54.4% of Secunia Advisories had a threat (exploits, malware, ransomware, etc.) linked to them, and this month the percentage remains steady.

NVD Challenges: The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) continues to experience a substantial backlog, with over 19,000 vulnerabilities still awaiting analysis. These delays impact organizations relying solely on NVD data by creating significant gaps in risk assessment and timely patching. Flexera’s Secunia Research, unaffected by these delays, remains committed to delivering real-time, validated vulnerability intelligence to help our clients stay ahead.

Total advisories:  1,000 ↑ (last month: 975)

• With 1,000 advisories, we’re keeping the high pace with an average over 1,000 advisories per month. (last year ~730)
• This means a serious increase in the number of advisories: + 35.8% YTD (last month +38%)
• 21 (last month:14) Advisories do not have a CVE assigned to it including 1 highly critical (Gentoo)  see below more info:
• Less than half (43%)  of all vulnerabilities reported in this month have a “Remote Attack Vector ” (last month 53.29%)  
• The Secunia Research Team reported 1 Extremely critical advisories this month (Last month: 8)  for Microsoft.
• Threat Intelligence indicates again that Moderately Critical Vulnerabilities are targeted by hackers.
• Threat Intel also indicates lower number of links to Cyber Exploits:
  • 108 (last month:130) advisories contain at least one vulnerability linked to a Recent Cyber Exploit
  • 349 (last month:340) advisories contained at least one vulnerability linked to a Historical Cyber Exploit.
• More than half of all advisories are disclosed by these 4 usual (Linux) suspect vendors (Linux, Red Hat,SUSE and Ubuntu)
• Interestingly among these vendors are also the ones with the most rejected advisories:
  • Linux, RedHat, Ubuntu and SUSE reported 160 out of 248 advisories were rejected.
• The trend is continuing with Linux Foundation bombarding the community with many “vulnerabilities”, most of them without any threat or risk, nevertheless, researchers need to test and validate the information which is a lot of effort.
• Cisco contributed to half of all Networking related Advisories this month
• Last month we reported that 52.21%of all Secunia Advisories had a Threat (exploits, malware, ransomware, etc.) associated with them, this month the number has been LOWER to 54.40%

Using Threat Intelligence is going to help you with prioritizing what needs to be patched immediately.

 August Vulnerability Insights Report: Must-Know Highlights

Total advisories: 975 ↓ (last month: 1014)

This month's report is packed with critical insights that you can't afford to miss:

• High Advisory Volume: We're seeing a consistent trend with 975 advisories this month, keeping up with an average of over 1,000 per month. That's a 38% increase YTD—a clear sign of the growing threat landscape.

   

• Remote Attack Risk: More than half (53.29%) of this month's vulnerabilities are exploitable remotely. The risk to networked environments is real—make sure you're prepared.

   

• High-Impact Alerts: Secunia Research flagged 8 extremely critical advisories this month for Google and Microsoft. That’s a jump from 5 last month—be sure these are on your radar.

   

• Moderate Vulnerabilities, Major Threats: Hackers are increasingly targeting moderately critical vulnerabilities. Despite a slight dip, 470 advisories are linked to cyber exploits, both recent and historical.

   

• Linux Dominance: Over 50% of all advisories came from Linux, Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu. However, these vendors also lead in rejected advisories, with 156 out of 245 dismissed—a reminder to focus on quality, not just quantity.

   

• Networking Focus: Cisco and F5 are in the spotlight, contributing to a whopping 78% of all networking-related advisories this month. Networking teams, take note.

   

• Threat Intel is Key: With a slight decrease in advisories linked to active threats (52.21% this month), using Threat Intelligence to prioritize patches is more important than ever.

Stay ahead of the curve—focus on vulnerabilities linked to recent exploits and remote attack vectors. Let’s keep our systems secure!

This month's report highlights a significant increase in vulnerabilities, returning to over 1,000 advisories, similar to the counts in March, April, and May. Key points include:

• Total Advisories: 1,014 (up from 880 last month).
• Year-to-Date Increase: 42% more advisories compared to 2023
• Unassigned CVEs: the Secunia Research team identified and reported 10 vulnerabilities that lack CVE assignments, including 2 highly critical ones affecting Gentoo Linux and SAS Viya 3.x.
• Remote Attack Vector: 52.68% of reported vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely (up from 42.73% last month).
• Extremely Critical Advisories: 5 extremely critical advisories related to Microsoft zero-days were reported (up from 0 last month).
• Moderately Critical Vulnerabilities: Remain a target for hackers.
• Cyber Exploits Links:
  • 139 advisories are linked to recent cyber exploits (up from 38 last month).
  • 382 advisories are linked to historical cyber exploits (up from 51 last month).
• Top Vendors: Linux, Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu disclosed over half of all advisories. These vendors also had the most rejected advisories, with 116 out of 183 being rejected.
• Rejection Rate: The number of rejected advisories is decreasing over the past three months, possibly indicating that the Linux Foundation is addressing community feedback.
• Networking Advisories: Avaya and Cisco contributed to more than half of all networking-related advisories.
• Threat Association: 59.57% of Secunia advisories this month have an associated threat, up from 40.34% last month.

Utilizing Threat Intelligence remains crucial for prioritizing patches and addressing vulnerabilities effectively.

 Flexera's Commitment:

Despite the challenges faced by the NVD, Flexera's Software Vulnerability Research remains unaffected, providing timely and accurate vulnerability intelligence to ensure robust cybersecurity strategies for our clients.

Stay informed and prioritize your cybersecurity measures effectively with insights from our July report. Read the full report now to delve into the detailed analysis and stay one step ahead in protecting your assets.