Free Vulnerability Management Policy Builder

1. Purpose

We need to find and fix security vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. This policy keeps our systems secure and satisfies SOC 2 requirements for vulnerability management.

2. Scope

Covers all production systems, applications, network devices, endpoints, and cloud infrastructure. This includes web applications, APIs, databases, servers, containers, and any system processing or storing customer data.

3. Roles

• Security Lead – owns this policy, oversees vulnerability management program, approves exceptions
• Security Team – runs vulnerability scans, analyzes results, coordinates remediation
• Engineering Teams – remediate vulnerabilities in their systems within defined SLAs
• DevOps/SRE – apply infrastructure patches, manage scanning tools
• Third-Party Vendor – conducts annual penetration tests (optional)

4. Core Principles

• Continuous scanning – automated vulnerability scans run regularly
• Risk-based prioritization – critical and high vulnerabilities patched first
• Defense in depth – multiple layers of security controls
• Timely remediation – vulnerabilities fixed within defined SLAs based on severity

5. Vulnerability Scanning

• Automated vulnerability scans run at minimum:
  • Weekly for production systems
  • Monthly for non-production systems
  • Before each production deployment for application code
• Scanning tools are updated with the latest vulnerability signatures before each scan.
• Scanning includes:
  • Network vulnerability scanning
  • Application security scanning (SAST/DAST)
  • Container and dependency scanning
  • Cloud infrastructure configuration scanning
• Scan results are reviewed within 48 hours by Security Team.
• Vulnerabilities are imported into the vulnerability tracking system automatically.

6. Penetration Testing

• Annual penetration testing is conducted on production systems and applications.
• Penetration tests are performed by qualified security professionals (internal or third-party).
• Testing scope includes:
  • External-facing web applications and APIs
  • Network perimeter and internet-facing services
  • Cloud infrastructure configurations
  • Authentication and authorization mechanisms
• Penetration test reports are reviewed with Engineering leadership within 2 weeks.
• Findings are tracked to remediation in the vulnerability management system.

7. Vulnerability Severity and SLAs

Remediation timelines are based on CVSS score or tool severity rating:

Severity	CVSS Score	Remediation SLA
Critical	9.0 - 10.0	7 days
High	7.0 - 8.9	30 days
Medium	4.0 - 6.9	90 days
Low	0.1 - 3.9	Best effort

• Publicly exploitable vulnerabilities are elevated to Critical severity regardless of CVSS score.
• SLA clock starts when vulnerability is confirmed by Security Team (not auto-scan).
• Engineering teams receive automated notifications when vulnerabilities are assigned.

8. Patch Management

• Security patches for operating systems and critical software are applied:
  • Critical patches: within 7 days of release
  • High-priority patches: within 30 days of release
  • Regular patches: during monthly maintenance windows
• Emergency patches for actively exploited vulnerabilities are applied immediately (within 24-48 hours).
• Patches are tested in non-production environments before production deployment when possible.
• End-of-life (EOL) software is identified and decommissioned within 90 days of EOL date.
• A documented decommission plan is required for any EOL software that must remain in service.

9. Antivirus and Malware Protection

• Enterprise antivirus/EDR is deployed on all endpoints (laptops, desktops, servers).
• Antivirus definitions are updated automatically (daily minimum).
• Real-time scanning is enabled on all protected systems.
• Malware detections trigger alerts to Security Team within 15 minutes.
• Infected systems are isolated from network pending investigation and remediation.
• Cloud workloads use cloud-native threat detection services (AWS GuardDuty, Azure Defender, etc.).

10. Vulnerability Tracking and Reporting

• All identified vulnerabilities are tracked in the vulnerability management system.
• Each vulnerability record includes:
  • Vulnerability ID and description
  • Affected system/application
  • Severity rating
  • Discovery date
  • Assigned owner
  • Remediation due date
  • Status (open, in progress, remediated, accepted risk)
• Security Team provides monthly vulnerability metrics to leadership including:
  • Total vulnerabilities by severity
  • SLA compliance rate
  • Mean time to remediate (MTTR)
  • Overdue vulnerabilities

11. Risk Acceptance

• Vulnerabilities that cannot be remediated within SLA require a risk acceptance.
• Risk acceptance must document:
  • Business justification for not remediating
  • Compensating controls in place
  • Acceptance period (with expiry date)
  • Plan for eventual remediation
• Critical vulnerabilities require approval from CISO or equivalent executive.
• High vulnerabilities require approval from Security Lead.
• All risk acceptances are reviewed quarterly.

12. Exceptions

Need to bypass a remediation SLA? Security Lead must pre-approve with documented risk acceptance and compensating controls.

13. Enforcement

Repeated failure to remediate vulnerabilities within SLA may result in system isolation or escalation per the Incident Response Plan.

14. References

• SOC 2 – CC3.2, CC4.1, CC6.8, CC7.1, P6.3, P6.6, P8.1
• [Your Company] Information Security Policy
• [Your Company] Patch Management Procedure
• [Your Company] Incident Response Plan
• CVSS Scoring System (cvss.org)

15. Revision History

Date	Version	Author	Description
[Date]	1.0	Security Lead	Initial release