Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
a list of publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system, originally Common Vulnerability Enumeration, provides a reference method for publicly known information-security vulnerabilities and exposures. The United States' Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute FFRDC, operated by The MITRE Corporation, maintains the system, with funding from the US National Cyber Security Division of the US Department of Homeland Security. The system was officially launched for the public in September 1999.
The Security Content Automation Protocol uses CVE, and CVE IDs are listed on MITRE's system as well as the basis for the US National Vulnerability Database.
CVE identifiers
MITRE Corporation's documentation defines CVE Identifiers (also called "CVE names", "CVE numbers", "CVE-IDs", and "CVEs") as unique, common identifiers for publicly known information-security vulnerabilities in publicly released software packages. Historically, CVE identifiers originally had a status of "candidate" ("CAN-") and could then be promoted to entries ("CVE-"), but this practice was ended in 2005 and all identifiers are now assigned as CVEs. The assignment of a CVE number is not a guarantee that it will become an official CVE entry (e.g., a CVE may be improperly assigned to an issue which is not a security vulnerability, or which duplicates an existing entry). If found not to meet criteria, MITRE or a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) can summarily place the entry into REJECTED status.
CVEs are assigned by a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA). While some vendors acted as a CNA before, the name and designation was not created until 1 February 2005.
“Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures” enters the record as a list of publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Common, Vulnerabilities and Exposures can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Common, Vulnerabilities and Exposures provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q94950995. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999 and 2005.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.