FixV2W: Correcting Invalid CVE-CWE Mappings with Knowledge Graph Embeddings

TL;DR

FixV2W is a knowledge graph embedding-based method that enhances the accuracy of CVE to CWE mappings in the NVD, aiding vulnerability management.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach leveraging hierarchical relationships and historical trends to improve CVE-CWE mapping accuracy.

Findings

FixV2W predicts correct CWE mappings for 69% of exploited vulnerabilities with previous invalid CWEs.

It significantly improves ML model performance, increasing MRR from 0.174 to 0.608.

The approach effectively identifies and prevents emerging security threats.

Abstract

Accurate mapping between Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) and Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entries is critical for effective vulnerability management and risk assessment. However, public databases, such as the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), suffer from inconsistent and incomplete CVE to CWE mappings, complicating automated analysis and remediation. We introduce FixV2W, a lightweight approach that leverages knowledge graph embeddings and longitudinal trends to improve mapping accuracy of the NVD. FixV2W systematically analyzes historical remapping patterns and leverages hierarchical relationships within NVD and CWE data to predict more precise CWE mappings for vulnerabilities linked to Prohibited or Discouraged categories. We run extensive experimental evaluation of FixV2W, based on test data set collected between August 2021 and December 2024. Considering the Top 10 ranked predictions, the results show that FixV2W predicts the correct CWE mappings for 69% of exploited vulnerabilities that had invalid CWEs before they were exploited. We also show that FixV2W significantly improves the performance of ML models relying on NVD data. For instance, for a model geared at uncovering unknown CVE-CWE mappings, FixV2W improves the Mean Reciprocal Rank (MRR) from 0.174 to 0.608. These results show that FixV2W is a promising approach to identify and thwart emerging threats.