Database

CVE-Search makes use of multiple databases, these are:

  • MongoDB

  • Redis

MongoDB

The MongoDB database is (by default) called cvedb and has 11 collections:

  • cves (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure items) - source NVD NIST (API)

  • cpe (Common Platform Enumeration items) - source NVD NIST

  • cwe (Common Weakness Enumeration items) - source NVD NIST

  • capec (Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification) - source NVD NIST

  • ranking (ranking rules per group) - local cve-search

  • MITRE Reference Key/Maps - source MITRE reference Key/Maps

  • info (metadata of each collection like last-modified) - local cve-search

  • via4 VIA4CVE cross-references, and has 3 additional sources:

The initial setup of CVE-Search happens only once, at the installation. This consists of two steps and one optional step.

  • Populating the database

  • Optional: You can also run the “Other CPE Dictionary” script to help fill in the blanks

  • Updating the database

Connecting to MongoDB

MongoDB has two possible syntax for connecting to the database.

  • mongodb:// - Default

  • mongodb+srv://

The default syntax allows for connectivity to a single host or a replica set. The SRV syntax allows for connecting using a single DNS hostname which seeds multiple hosts in a replica set. The SRV DNS record contains all of the details required for connecting to any server contained in a replia set, even if one of the nodes is unavailable.

To enable the SRV scheme, set the variable DnsSrvRecord to True in the configuration.ini file. For more information, read MongoDB 3.6: Here to SRV you with easier replica set connections.

Note: MongoDB Atlas requires the use of the SRV syntax.

Database User Authentication

When passing a username and password, CVE-Search submits the values against the default admin database. If the authentication information is stored in a database other than admin, authentication attempts will fail.

To change the default authentiation database, set the variable AuthDB in the configuration.ini file.

Populating the database

For the initial run, populate the database by executing:

./sbin/db_updater.py -f

This fetches all existing Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) and Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data from the NVD NIST API. By default, it also includes additional external sources. Available additional sources include: CWE, CAPEC, VIA4 & EPSS. If you don’t need some of them, they can be disabled through sources.ini.

The initial import may take some time — depending on your system and network setup, it could exceed two hours. Please be patient.

This can also be run as a SystemD service. Example units are under _etc/systemd/system/: cvesearch.db_init.service & cvesearch.db_init.target.

sudo systemctl start --no-block cvesearch.db_init.target

The initialization target ensures conflicting services like cvesearch.web.service are stopped during this one-time operation.

Disabled sources can be updated one-shot with the -s (–sources) option, which takes a list of available sources, e.g.,

./sbin/db_updater.py -s cwe capec via4 epss

The VIA4 data are cross-references from NIST, Red Hat, and other vendors thanks to VIA4CVE:

Note: If you want to import your own JSON from VIA4CVE, replace the URL in sources.ini for the VIA4 attribute with file:///PATH/TO/VIA4CVE/VIA4CVE-feed.json.

Updating the database

An updater script helps keep the databases up-to-date and should be run regularly.

./sbin/db_updater.py

In case an update for a specific data source fails, you can ensure updates from the other sources by running them one at a time:

./sbin/db_updater.py -s cpe
./sbin/db_updater.py -s cve
./sbin/db_updater.py -s cwe
./sbin/db_updater.py -s capec
./sbin/db_updater.py -s via4
./sbin/db_updater.py -s epss

Alternatively, you can update groups of sources together:

./sbin/db_updater.py -s cpe cve
./sbin/db_updater.py -s cwe capec via4 epss

Since CVE-Search v5.0.2 (using CveXplore v0.3.28), updates use all sources more efficiently; only changed data is downloaded. For CPEs and CVEs, this means entries added or modified since the last update, and for other sources, CVE-Search checks if the file changed before downloading it. Therefore, it is safe to run this, for example, every hour.

Logging is done by default to log/update_populate.log.

These can also be run as a SystemD service and timer that automate regular updates. Example units are under _etc/systemd/system/: cvesearch.db_updater.target, cvesearch.db_updater@.service, cvesearch.db_updater.timer, and the ordering drop-in unit for the cve source: ordering.conf.

The target unit coordinates all updater instances, applying ordering constraints via this drop-in on the cve instance to ensure correct sequencing.

sudo systemctl start cvesearch.db_updater.timer
sudo systemctl enable cvesearch.db_updater.timer

In case some CVEs or CPEs are missing (only) during the last 1–120 days despite having performed regular updates, you can use the -d option with a value from 1 to 120 to avoid repopulating the entire database. This situation can occur due to temporary connectivity issues or other problems with the NVD API. For example, to manually trigger an update that fetches entries from the last 7 days from the NVD API:

./sbin/db_updater.py -d 7

Full option list is available with -h / –help.

Repopulating the database

Since CVE-Search v5.1.0, database repopulation is functionally identical to initialization.

To drop and re-populate all databases:

./sbin/db_updater.py -f

This will remove all existing external source data and reimport everything from scratch. Repopulation can take some time and is typically only required after changes to CVE-Search’s attribute parsing or data model.

This can also be run as a SystemD service. Example units are under _etc/systemd/system/: cvesearch.db_init.service & cvesearch.db_init.target.

(The legacy example units have been retired as duplicates: cvesearch.db_repopulate.service & cvesearch.db_repopulate.target.)

The initialization/repopulation target ensures conflicting services like cvesearch.web.service are stopped during the operation, preventing errors or incomplete data in the web GUI and API.

sudo systemctl start --no-block cvesearch.db_init.target

Redis

3 Redis databases are used:

  • Database number 10: The CPE (Common Platform Enumeration) cache - source MongoDB cvedb collection cpe

  • Database number 11: The notification database - source cve-search

  • Database number 12: The CVE reference database is a cross-reference database to CVE IDs against various vendors ID - source NVD NIST/MITRE

Enabling Redis caching

To enable Redis caching when populating or updating the database, add the -c flag to ./sbin/db_updater.py:

  • Full initialization or repopulation: ./sbin/db_updater.py -f -c

  • Updating all databases at once: ./sbin/db_updater.py -c

  • Updating only the CPE database (the only one supporting caching): ./sbin/db_updater.py -s cpe -c

SystemD drop-in support

The example SystemD units have drop-ins & units that enable Redis caching:

To enable regular CPE Redis cache updates:

sudo systemctl start cvesearch.db_updater.cpe.redis_cache.timer
sudo systemctl enable cvesearch.db_updater.cpe.redis_cache.timer