CVE, CWE, and CVSS Scoring
Understand vulnerability identifiers, weakness classifications, and severity scoring with real examples.
What is a CVE?
CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a standardized identifier for publicly known vulnerabilities. Each CVE has a unique ID (e.g., CVE-2021-44228), a description, and references to patches and advisories.
CVE ID Structure
CVE IDs follow the format CVE-YEAR-NUMBER. The number portion has no leading zeros and can be 4+ digits. MITRE assigns CVE IDs; the NVD enriches them with severity scores.
# Famous examples:
CVE-2021-44228 # Log4Shell (Log4j)
CVE-2017-0144 # EternalBlue (MS17-010)
CVE-2014-0160 # Heartbleed (OpenSSL)
CVE-2021-34527 # PrintNightmare