Understanding the Importance of Exploitability Triage

Oct 13, 2025 by talynt.org 15 views

Understanding the Importance of Exploitability Triage

Exploitability triage is a crucial process in the vulnerability management lifecycle. It involves assessing the potential impact of a vulnerability on a software project, determining whether it affects the project branch, and providing a clear understanding of the vulnerability's severity. In this article, we will delve into the process of exploitability triage for CVE-12345-45656, a hypothetical vulnerability, and explore the VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability Exchange) data that will be published as a result of this process.

Triage Instructions

If you are an authorized maintainer of the project, you can comment on this issue to signal the vexflow client how to move forward. The first step in the triage process is to determine whether the vulnerability affects the project branch. To do this, you need to gather information about the vulnerability, including its ID, repository, branch, and component.

Vulnerability	CVE-12345-45656
Repository	github.com/protobom/protobom
Branch	main
Component	pkg:golang/x/net@3.3.3

Once you have gathered this information, you can register your assessment by adding a slash command in a comment to generate the appropriate VEX statement.

Not Affected

If the vulnerability does not impact the software project branch, you can issue a not_affected statement. This statement is used to indicate that the vulnerability does not affect the project branch. You can use one of the following VEX justification labels to justify your assessment:

/not_affected:component_not_present
/not_affected:vulnerable_code_not_present
/not_affected:vulnerable_code_not_in_execute_path
/not_affected:vulnerable_code_cannot_be_controlled_by_adversary
/not_affected:inline_mitigations_already_exist

Here is an example comment that uses the /not_affected:inline_mitigations_already_exist label:

/not_affected:inline_mitigations_already_exist

The released artifacts have been patched with a custom fix, the vulnerability Is no longer present.

Affected

If the project is affected by the vulnerability, you can issue an affected statement. Any text after the slash command will be treated as the action_statement to be published along with the status:

/affected

Here is an example comment that uses the /affected label:

/affected

The product is affected by CVE-1234-5678, it is recommended to firewall port 9000 while a patch is issued a new version is released.

Fixed

For completeness' sake, you can issue a fixed statement. This statement is used to indicate that the vulnerability has been fixed and is no longer present in the code. However, for normal development flows, this is not required as vulnerabilities will no longer show up in the code when dependencies are updated.

/fixed

Here is an example comment that uses the /fixed label:

/fixed

Handling This Issue

Closing this issue will stop the triage process. Once closed, vexflow will not start a new triage process for the same vulnerability for the same branch+component.

VEXFLOW Data

This issue's body contains hidden machine-readable data to keep track of the triage process. Don't modify this message.

### VEXFLOW==DATA ###
{"branch_id":"github.com/protobom/protobom@main","backend_id":"","vulnerability":{"id":"CVE-12345-45656","aliases":null,"component":{"Type":"","Name":"net","Version":"3.3.3","Purl":"pkg:golang/x/net@3.3.3"}},"branch":{"repo":"github.com/protobom/protobom","name":"main"},"status":"NEW"}
### VEXFLOW==DATA ###

Frequently Asked Questions

In this article, we will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the CVE-12345-45656: VEX Exploitability Triage process.

Q: What is exploitability triage?

A: Exploitability triage is a process used to assess the potential impact of a vulnerability on a software project. It involves determining whether the vulnerability affects the project branch and providing a clear understanding of the vulnerability's severity.

Q: Who is responsible for performing exploitability triage?

A: Authorized maintainers of the project are responsible for performing exploitability triage. They will comment on this issue to signal the vexflow client how to move forward.

Q: What information do I need to gather to perform exploitability triage?

A: To perform exploitability triage, you need to gather information about the vulnerability, including its ID, repository, branch, and component.

Vulnerability	CVE-12345-45656
Repository	github.com/protobom/protobom
Branch	main
Component	pkg:golang/x/net@3.3.3

Q: How do I register my assessment?

A: You can register your assessment by adding a slash command in a comment to generate the appropriate VEX statement.

Q: What are the different VEX statements I can use?

A: There are several VEX statements you can use, including:

/not_affected:component_not_present
/not_affected:vulnerable_code_not_present
/not_affected:vulnerable_code_not_in_execute_path
/not_affected:vulnerable_code_cannot_be_controlled_by_adversary
/not_affected:inline_mitigations_already_exist
/affected
/fixed

Q: What happens when I close this issue?

A: Closing this issue will stop the triage process. Once closed, vexflow will not start a new triage process for the same vulnerability for the same branch+component.

Q: What is the purpose of the VEXFLOW data?

A: The VEXFLOW data is used to keep track of the triage process. It contains machine-readable data that is used to determine the status of the vulnerability.

Q: Can I modify the VEXFLOW data?

A: No, you should not modify the VEXFLOW data. It is used to keep track of the triage process and should be left unchanged.

Q: What is the impact of this vulnerability on my project?

A: The impact of this vulnerability on your project will depend on the results of the exploitability triage process. If the vulnerability affects your project, you will need to take steps to address it.

Q: How can I get more information about the CVE-12345-45656 vulnerability?

A: You can get more information about the CVE-12345-45656 vulnerability by visiting the official CVE website or by contacting the project maintainers.

Q: What is the next step in the exploitability triage process?

A: The next step in the exploitability triage process is to determine the severity of the vulnerability and to develop a plan to address it.

Q: Who can I contact for more information about the exploitability triage process?

A: You can contact the project maintainers or the vexflow client for more information about the exploitability triage process.