Vulnerability Management System

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 09 Issue: 09 | Sep 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2022, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 976
Vulnerability Management System
Pravin P. Kharat1, Prof. Pramila M. Chawan2
1M. Tech Student, Dept of Computer Engineering and IT, VJTI College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
2Associate Professor, Dept of Computer Engineering and IT, VJTI College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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Abstract - In simple terms, a vulnerability in cyber security
refers to any fault or flaw, or weakness in an information
system, internal controls, or system processes of an
organization. It can also be defined as a flaw or a fault in the
source code design which determines the application
malfunctions. Therefore, a good Vulnerability Management
plan should be implemented to avoid attacks on the system or
to minimize the damages produced by a cyberattack.Toavoid
such damages manual source code inspections or security
audits are performed, which requires highly trained cyber
security engineers, and it requiresmoretime, which isproneto
errors. For this reason, there is a need to automate such
processes to discover vulnerabilities. This results in the
implementation of the Vulnerability Management System,
which will automate security testing for the identification of
vulnerabilities caused in the software products.
Key Words: Vulnerability, Vulnerability Management
System, Algorithm, Software testing, Web based
application.
1. INTRODUCTION
Many organizations have embraced the technologiessuchas
software applications, web applications, software products,
and many more to explore their new business opportunities
and few organizations are beingforcedtoadopte-commerce
due to advancementsinsoftwaretechnologies,customers,or
competitors. Software applications and web applications
have been gaining popularity day by day, and these
applications come up with different components which are
highly complex and written bydifferentsoftwaredevelopers
in different smaller chunks. Most of these applications failto
give proper output due to untreated cases or flaws.
Therefore, the software application or Operating system
which contains untreated cases, flaws, or weaknesses are
known as software vulnerabilities. Later, the flaws in the
source code of the application can be exemplifiedasanentry
point for the hacker and can be treated as a software
vulnerability.
Despite all the security measures, the number of
vulnerabilities discovered continues to grow as the number
of users using the internet has increased. Any device which
contains software functions can tend to have source code
errors, logical errors, and flaws. Thus, the existence of
detection techniquesismandatoryforsoftwarevulnerability
remediation as well as prevention.
To avoid such situations manual testing, security audits, or
code inspections are to be performed by highly skilled cyber
security engineers or experts. But as it is labour intensive
and expensive and prone to errors; automating the above
steps to discover respective vulnerabilities for the software
applications is required.
1.1 Software Vulnerabilities
An error or a flaw or a weakness of the application's
source code that an attacker or a hacker can take advantage
of is known as software vulnerability. These errors tend to
make the system function abnormally and undesirable
actions. These flaws or errors in code may arise due to the
lack of knowledge of the developer or programmer who is
developing the software application. These flawsmayleadto
system crashes, loss of data, reputational damage, major
damage to the targeted system, loss of customers, personal
data being exposed, etc.
1.2 Types of Vulnerabilities
The common security goals i.e., confidentiality, availability,
integrity, non-repudiation, and usability, can be affected by
the software vulnerabilities.
Following listed below are cyberattacks associated with
software vulnerabilities:
Phishing: Phishing is a cyberattack that attempts to steal
sensitive information.Thissensitiveinformationcanbelogin
credentials and credit card details. This attack can also be a
form of social engineering where an attackertriestomislead
the user into clicking a maliciouslink created bytheattacker,
downloading some malicious attachments, or revealing
sensitive data.
DDoS Attacks: Distributed denial of service attack is an
attempt to spoil an online service or a website or a server or
network by making it unavailable by sending many access
requests that it cannot manage.
Computer Viruses: Computer code or a program that
modifies the way a computer behaves is known as Viruses.
They are meant to spread through contaminated data, files,
and insecure networks. And once it enters the system, it can
replicate and spread from one programtoanotherandinfect
other computer systems also.

Attack Vectors: Attack vector is a malicious term used to
discover system vulnerability points, launchcyberattacksor
install malicious software. Following are the four important
attack vectors: Drive-by, Zero-day attack, MITM (man in the
middle), SQL Injection.
Vulnerability Management System is not only intended to
identify and evaluate vulnerability, but it will alsogeneratea
detail report which will report of the vulnerability point
found in the software application which will be tested.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
In thissection summarization oftheexistingresearchworkis
done. A new vulnerable management system will be created
based on the existing work with additional functionality.
Mădălina Aldea.[1] The author in this paper has introduceda
new vulnerability management system i.e., SV – IMS –
Software Vulnerability Integrated Management System.This
system can perform security tests to detect software
vulnerabilities and the result of this test can be viewed upon
a dedicated platform. It also gives defines the CVSS i.e.,
Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which is an
international scoring system that describes how severe a
vulnerability is.
Robert A. Martin.[2] The author in this research paper
describes Common Vulnerability Exposure (CVE) and Open
Vulnerability Assessment Language (OVAL) which are a pair
of international, community-based efforts amongstindustry,
government, and academia. Where CVE is aimed to create a
means for making vulnerability alerts more applicable to
individual enterprises and OVAL is aimed to provide the
means for standardized vulnerability assessment and result
in uniform and standardized information assurance
parameters for systems.
GeonLyang Kim.[3] The author of this research paper has
introduced a new method for constructing and managing
Vulnerabilities by creating a vulnerability database. In this
research work,a new National VulnerabilityDatabase(NDV)
system is created which can be used by various enterprises.
While referring a new vulnerability found can also be
registered in the NVD system.
Manoj Kumar.[4] In this author proposed a framework that
uses a knowledge base and inference engine. Using this the
vulnerability management automatically takes required
actions, classifies, prioritizes,and mitigatesthevulnerability.
The proposed system reduces the threats, security risks,and
reputational and Monterey loss.
Chee-Wooi Ten.[5] This Author has proposed a Vulnerability
assessment framework that evaluatesthevulnerabilityofthe
SCADA system. This is done at three levels – System,
Scenarios, and access points. This framework is based on the
system which has firewall and password models. This
proposed framework also evaluates the impact of the attack
launched and countermeasures are identified for
improvement of cyber security.
Jan-Min Chen.[6] In this paper, the author has implemented
an automated vulnerability scanner that identifies the
injection attack vulnerabilities. This system automatically
examines the website to find the XSS and SQL injection
vulnerabilities. The proposed system also uses NVD i.e.,
National Vulnerability Database.
Andrey Fedorchenko.[7] In this research paper, the author
has proposed the process of integrating a vulnerability
database system. Thisintegrateddatabasecanbeusedforthe
further application of security systems. In this paper, the
structureof the vulnerabilities databaseissuggested,andthe
process of vulnerabilities database generation is suggested.
3. PROPOSED SYSTEM
3.1 Problem Statement
To developa VulnerabilityManagement System(VMS)which
will detect vulnerability using source code and Binary code
analysis of the software product and also analyze the
intensity of the vulnerability found.
3.2 Proposed Methodology
A hybrid algorithm is developed which automates the
process of scanning software applications. The majorgoal of
the proposed algorithm is to automate and increase the
accuracy of vulnerability detection. Although theaccuracyis
not achieved at 100% but an effort is made to put up the
proposed system above the existing systems. The proposed
hybrid algorithm is similar to the existing algorithms. The
OWASP results are considered with the output for better
reasoning andunderstanding.OWASPresultsareupdatedon
the regular basis to avoid any inconvenience.
The proposed system’s hybrid algorithm is mainly based on
the concept of combining different features which are of
different components. This will result in the new algorithm
which will give more impactful results on the respective
scans. Therefore, the combination of such features from
different components has been done based on optimization
and sophistication among other componentswiththegoal of
increasing the accuracy or efficiency ofthehybridalgorithm.
The Hybrid algorithm mainly consists of five phases i.e.,
Inspection, Scanning, Attack Detection, Analysis, and
Reporting. The inspection which can also be called crawling,
mainly focuses on fetching information about the
application. The more informationgatheredinthisphasethe
more successful the entire executed scan will be.Afterphase
1, phase 2 consists of scanning. Scanning is the process in
which the algorithm will identify the weaknessofthesystem
on which the scan is been initiated. Once the scanning

process is completed, the next step will be to identify the
attacks or vulnerabilities and perform an analysistoidentify
the vulnerability definition and remediation methods. Later
Reporting phase is initiated to generate a well informative
report for the scan which was performed.
Fig -1: Component of VMS
A detailed description of the flow for the developed Hybrid
algorithm:
Fig -2: Flowchart for VMS
The initial stage accordingtothephasediagramisinspection
which can be called as requirementorinformationgathering
stage. After phase 1, the next process involves mainly
crawling and parsing, and identifying new vulnerabilities.
Phase 2 is repeated until all the vulnerabilities of the
applications are not discovered. A further step includes
analysis of the vulnerabilities found to identify proper
definitions according to the OWASP and getting proper
remediation for the same. Further, this analysis is
summarized, and the final report is generated as an end
result.
Input: Input is mainly provided by the user who is going to
initiate the scanning. This input can be an IP address or the
URL for the application which needs to be scanned by the
VMS.
Processing: This step mainly involves fuzzing, crawling the
pages, and identifyingthe weakness,andlatervulnerabilities
are identified based on the weaknesses identified.
Output: Output will be generated after the proper analysis
process is done.
Fig -3: Flowchart for XSS

Many different scanning methodsareusedinVMSalgorithm,
considering one following method is used for Cross Site
Scripting:
1. For each URL in the list of the visited URLs
a) Identify all parameters
b) Push the parameters in the list.
c) For each of the parameter in the list
i) give input as a XSS test case or script to the
parameter and pass the request.
ii) verify the respective response
2. Report the Vulnerability
3.3 Tools
These experiments or practical were performed by running
different methods/tool with its respective scripts. These
methods were installedand executedonVirtual machine and
have the similar configurations and resources.
1. Nmap:
For probing computer networks, Nmap offers several
functions, including host discovery, service detection, and
operating system detection. Scripts that offer more
sophisticated service discovery, vulnerability detection, and
other features can extend these features. During a scan,
Nmap can adjust to changing network conditions, such as
latency and congestion.
2. Dirbuster:
DirBuster is an application with a GUI interfacedeveloped in
Java. It is used to find concealed files and directories by
brute-forcing files & directorieswiththeaimofgainingsome
significant information that could help in cyber-attacks. A
wordlist could influence how effective such a tool is; the
more effective the wordlist, the more effective the
instrument.
3. Xsser:
Cross-Site "Scripter" (also known as XSSer) is an automatic
framework for finding, using andreporting XSSflawsinweb-
based applications. There are numerous ways to attempt to
get around particular filters, as well as numerous unique
code injection strategies.
4. Dnswalk:
A DNS (Domain Name System) debugger is called Dnswalk.
Dnswalk carries out zone transfers for specified domains
and executes precise database integritychecksina variety of
ways.
5. whois:
A query and response protocol i.e., WHOIS, which is
pronounced "who is," is frequently used for accessing
databases that list the registered users or assignees of
Internet resources like domain names, blocks of IP
addresses, and autonomous systems. On most UNIX
systems, the command-line utility used to do WHOIS
protocol searches is called whois. Additionally, Referral
Whois is a sibling protocol of WHOIS (RWhois).
6. Nikto:
Nikto is a free command-line vulnerabilityscannerthatlooks
for unsafe files/CGIs, out-of-date server software, and other
issues on web servers. Checks are run on both generic and
server-specific levels. Any cookies that are received are also
recorded and printed. The data files used by Nikto to runthe
program are not free software, but the Nikto code itself is.
Nikto can identify more than 6700 potentially harmful files
and CGIs, as well as version-specific issuesonmorethan270
servers and obsolete versions on more than 1250 servers.
Nikto can also identify installed web servers and software
and checks for server configuration elements.
7. Dnsmap:
Dnsmap uses an internal or external wordlist to search a
domain for common subdomains (if specified using -w
option). There are about 1000 words in both English and
Spanish on the internal wordlist, including ns1, firewall
services, and smtp. Therefore, an automatic search for
smtp.example.com within example.comwill beavailable.For
additional processing, results can be saved in CSV and
human-readable formats. Dnsmap should not be executed
with root privileges for security reasons because it does not
need them to function.
9. Uniscan:
An open-source program called Uniscan can check web
applications for serious flaws including cross-site scripting,
blind SQL injection, remote file inclusion, web shell
vulnerabilities, and hidden backdoors, among others. In
addition to assessing vulnerabilities, Uniscan has the ability
to search Google and Bing for domains using shared IP
addresses.
3.4 Resources required for the VMS tool
Operating System: Kali Linux or Ubuntu OS or System
configured with Virtual Machine with same OS. The system
and virtual machines specifications are as - processor, 2.6
GHZ Core i5, 2 GB RAM, 100 GB HDD and OS as above
mentioned.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fig -4: Screenshot for web app of VMS tool
Fig -5: Screenshot of VMS URL input
Fig -6: Screenshot of VMS tool output
Vulnerability Management System generated better and
faster results overall. It can automate the VA and PT process
till particular instance. Also, it is able to identify the present
vulnerabilities and specific remediation based on the
vulnerability found and generate report with severity levels
accordingly. The sole disadvantage is that, according to
reports, it takes more time to scan than the majority of the
web scanners utilized in this study. Although its
performance is not perfect, compared to other tools, it has a
larger capacity to detect more flaws.
5. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusion
The proposed Vulnerability Management System based on
the hybrid algorithm extensively work to identify
vulnerabilities basedonsoftware-basedapplications.Testing
of such applicationsisdoneforsafeguardingit.Thesuggested
hybrid method presents additional vulnerabilities and does
so in a professional manner when reporting those that have
been found. However, because not all of the current
vulnerabilities were completely scanned by the suggested
hybrid approach. To make sure that "deep" crawling was
carried out, thealgorithm'scrawlingcomponentneededtobe
increased. The resultsalsoindicatethattheproposedmethod
needs to be improved in order to complete the scanning
quickly. To create an algorithm with the ability to identify
more vulnerabilities, more study and research is required.
5.2 Recommendations
i) Improve crawling capabilities:
The proposed hybrid algorithm requires more methods and
functions for crawling mechanisms so that VMS will be able
to scan all the contents of any URL or a web application,
without skipping any content of the webpage.
ii) Improve Analysis and Reporting:
VMS algorithms need to improve the accuracy so that the
identified vulnerability can be stated with the severity level.
To obtain high-end accuracy more sophisticated methods
must be used during the scanning processwhichwill require
more research and practical implementation of the
algorithm. VMS system can be upgraded for analysis and
reporting in such a way that the vulnerabilities can be
visualized and can be shown in a representablemannerwith
the severity levels.
iii) Reducing scanning time:
There need to be proper results which is generated in short
time frame with better accuracy and reporting. It needs to
improve overall scanning method using more scripts and
identification of more vulnerabilities.
REFERENCES
[1] Mădălina Aldea, Daniel Gheorghică, Victor Croitoru,
“Software Vulnerabilities Integrated Management
System”, 2020 13th International Conference on
Communications (COMM), IEEE, 2020: pp. 97 - 102, doi:
10.1109/COMM48946.2020.9141970
[2] Robert A. Martin, “IntegratingYourInformationSecurity
Vulnerability Management Capabilities Through
Industry Standards (CVE & OVAL)”, 2003 IEEE
International Conference on Systems, Man and
Cybernetics. Conference Theme - System Security and
Assurance, pp. 1528 – 1533), doi:
10.1109/ICSMC.2003.1244628
[3] GeonLyang Kim, JinTae Oh, DongI Seo, JeongNyeo Kim,
“The Design of Vulnerability Management System”,
IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and
Network Security, VOL.13 No.4, April 2013: pp. 19 – 24
[4] Manoj Kumar, Arun Sharma, “An integrated framework
for software vulnerability detection, analysis and
mitigation: an autonomic system”, Indian Academy of
Sciences Sadhana Vol. 42, No. 9, September 2017, pp.
1481–1493, doi: 10.1007/s12046-017-0696-7

1’st
Author
Photo
[5] Chee-Wooi Ten, Chen-Ching Liu, Govindarasu
Manimaran, “Vulnerability AssessmentofCybersecurity
for SCADA Systems”, IEEE Transactions on Power
Systems, Vol. 23, no. 4, November 2008, pp. 1836-1846,
doi: 10.1109/TPWRS.2008.2002298
[6] Jan-Min Chen, Chia-Lun Wu, “An automated
vulnerability scanner for injection attack based on
injection point”, 2010 International Computer
Symposium (ICS2010), 16-18 Dec. 2010, pp. 113 – 118,
doi: 10.1109/COMPSYM.2010.5685537
[7] Andrey Fedorchenko, Igor Kotenko, Andrey Chechulin,
“Design of Integrated Vulnerabilities Database for
Computer Networks Security Analysis”, 2015 23rd
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Distributed, and Network-Based Processing, 4-6 March
2015, pp. 559-566, doi: 10.1109/PDP.2015.38
[8] Armold; Hyla, Rowe, “Automatically Building an
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[9] Ching-Huang Lin, Chih-Hao Chen, Chi-Sung Laih, “A
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Nov 2021
BIOGRAPHIES
Pravin P. Kharat
M Tech. Dept. of Computer
Engineering – NIMS, VJTI,
Mumbai
Prof. Pramila M. Chawan, is
working as an Associate Professor
in the Computer Engineering
Department of VJTI, Mumbai. She
has done her B.E. (Computer
Engineering) and M.E. (Computer
Engineering) from VJTI College of
Engineering, Mumbai University.
She has 28 years of teaching experienceandhasguided
85+ M. Tech. projects and 130+ B. Tech. projects. She
has published 143 papers in the International Journals,
20 papers in the National/International Conferences/
Symposiums. She has worked as an Organizing
Committee member for 25 International Conferences
and 5 ICTE/MHRD sponsored
Workshops/STTPs/FDPs. She has participated in 16
National/International Conferences. Worked as
Consulting Editor on – JEECER, JETR, JETMS,
Technology Today, JAM&AER Engg. Today, The Tech.
World Editor – Journals of ADR Reviewer -IJEF, Inters
cience She has worked as NBA Coordinator of the
Computer Engineering Department of VJTI for 5 years.
She had written a proposal under TEQIP-I in June2004
for ‘Creating Central Computing Facility at VJTI’. Rs.
Eight Crore were sanctioned by the World Bank under
TEQIP-I on this proposal. Central Computing Facility
was set up at VJTI through this fund which has playeda
key role in improving the teaching learning process at
VJTI. warded by SIESRP with Innovative & Dedicated
Educationalist Award Specialization: Computer
Engineering & I.T. in 2020 AD Scientific Index Ranking
(World Scientist and University Ranking 2022) – 2nd
Rank- Best Scientist, VJTI Computer Science domain
1138th Rank- Best Scientist, Computer Science, India.

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