CVD (Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure)

Also known as: Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure, Responsible Disclosure

CVD is the process by which vulnerability researchers, affected vendors and, when relevant, coordinators (CSIRTs, GSMA T-ISAC, national authorities) work together to fix a vulnerability and disclose it in a way that minimises risk to users. In telecom, CVD typically covers signaling stack flaws, RAN and core network products, and is increasingly required by regulation such as NIS2 and product security schemes like NESAS.

Categories: Threats and AttacksInternet and Routing

CVD in context

Telecom threats range from opportunistic SMS phishing and SIM swap to nation-state grade location tracking and lawful-interception abuse. The common thread is that most attacks exploit the inherited trust model of legacy signaling. SS7 and Diameter were designed for a closed operator community that no longer exists.

Telecom networks depend on Internet-style routing (BGP, DNS, MPLS) for interconnect, transport and application delivery. Route hijacks and DNS abuse can degrade or intercept signaling as easily as any application-layer attack, which is why RPKI and DNSSEC are now standard hardening for carrier networks.

To place CVD in the wider telecom-security picture, review CSIRT, CVE, Exposure Mapping, LAN, A5/2 and IDS.

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