IP Library Granted Patent US 12706939
Granted Patent B2
US 12706939 · App. 18/151,827 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

Prioritizing vulnerability based on application security context

Inventors: Ashutosh Kulshreshtha (Cupertino, CA); Walter T. Hulick, Jr. (Pearland, TX); Dhruv Hitesh Raithatha (San Francisco, CA); Randall Edgar Birdsall (Laurel, MD)
Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
H04L63/1433H04L63/1416
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12706939
App. No.
18/151,827
Granted
Aug 11, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to some embodiments, a method includes determining a plurality of business transactions for a plurality of services provided by an application. The method further includes calculating a vulnerability score for each determined business transaction. Each vulnerability score is based on one or more application context factors of a plurality of application context factors. The method further includes displaying a graphical user interface. The graphical user interface includes a list of the determined business transactions and the calculated vulnerability score for each determined business transaction in the list.

Claims (94)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

one or more memory units; and

one or more computer processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memory units and configured to:

access a plurality of application context factors stored in the one or more memory units, wherein the plurality of application context factors is associated with a plurality of weights, respectively;

determine a plurality of business transactions for a plurality of services provided by an application;

determine a subset of the plurality of application context factors applicable to each of the plurality of business transactions;

determine a further subset of the plurality of application context factors dependent on a status of the application, wherein the subset of the plurality of application context factors dynamically change according to a state of the application;

determine, based on the further subset of the plurality of application context factors, an associated subset of the plurality of weights for each of the plurality of business transactions;

calculate a vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions using the respective subset of the plurality of weights; and

display a graphical user interface comprising:

an ordered list of the plurality of business transactions, where the plurality of business transactions is listed in descending order based on each business transaction's respective calculated vulnerability score; and

the vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions in the ordered list.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of business transactions is a processing path used to fulfill a request for a particular service of the plurality of services provided by the application.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of application context factors are input using the graphical user interface.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of business transactions are determined automatically in real time.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of application context factors comprises:

whether the application is Internet facing;

a quantity of server ports open to read;

a sensitivity of each of the plurality of business transactions;

a value of data being stored;

a significance of the application to a business;

a number of admin users;

whether a firewall is present;

an encryption method used;

whether disk encryption is used;

how heavily the application is used;

an amount of revenue the application is generating; and

whether an application runtime behavior has changed.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein calculating the vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions comprises:

calculating a context score using one or more of the plurality of application context factors;

determining a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score; and

calculating the vulnerability score using the context score and the CVSS score.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein determining the plurality of business transactions comprises analyzing a plurality of transaction identifications and a plurality of business transaction identifications associated with a plurality of transactions.

8 . A method by a computing system, the method comprising:

Determining a plurality of business transactions for a plurality of services provided by an application;

determining a plurality of application context factors, wherein the plurality of application context factors is associated with a plurality of weights, respectively;

determining a subset of the plurality of application context factors applicable to each of the plurality of business transactions;

determining a further subset of the plurality of application context factors dependent on a status of the application, wherein the subset of the plurality of application context factors dynamically change according to a state of the application;

determining, based on the further subset of the plurality of application context factors, an associated subset of the plurality of weights for each of the plurality of business transactions;

calculating a vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions using the respective subset of the plurality of weights; and

displaying a graphical user interface comprising:

an ordered list of the plurality of business transactions, where the plurality of business transactions is listed in descending order based on each business transaction's respective calculated vulnerability score; and

the vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions in the ordered list.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of business transactions is a processing path used to fulfill a request for a particular service of the plurality of services provided by the application.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of application context factors is input using the graphical user interface.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of business transactions is determined automatically in real time.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of application context factors comprises:

whether the application is Internet facing;

a quantity of server ports open to read;

a sensitivity of each of the plurality of business transactions;

a value of data being stored;

a significance of the application to a business;

a number of admin users;

whether a firewall is present;

an encryption method used;

whether disk encryption is used;

how heavily the application is used;

an amount of revenue the application is generating; and

whether an application runtime behavior has changed.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein calculating the vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions comprises:

calculating a context score using one or more of the plurality of application context factors;

determining a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score; and

calculating the vulnerability score using the context score and the CVSS score.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the plurality of business transactions comprises analyzing a plurality of transaction identifications and a plurality of business transaction identifications associated with a plurality of transactions.

15 . One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining a plurality of business transactions for a plurality of services provided by an application;

determining a plurality of application context factors, wherein the plurality of application context factors is associated with a plurality of weights, respectively;

determining a subset of the plurality of application context factors applicable to each of the plurality of business transactions;

determine a further subset of the plurality of application context factors dependent on a status of the application, wherein the subset of the plurality of application context factors dynamically change according to a state of the application;

determining, based on the further subset of the plurality of application context factors, an associated subset of the plurality of weights for each of the plurality of business transactions;

calculating a vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions using the respective subset of the plurality of weights; and

displaying a graphical user interface comprising:

an ordered list of the plurality of business transactions, where the plurality of business transactions is listed in descending order based on each business transaction's respective calculated vulnerability score; and

the vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions in the ordered list.

16 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of business transactions is a processing path used to fulfill a request for a particular service of the plurality of services provided by the application.

17 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of application context factors is input using the graphical user interface.

18 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of business transactions is determined automatically in real time.

19 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage claim 15 , wherein the plurality of application context factors comprises:

whether the application is Internet facing;

a quantity of server ports open to read;

a sensitivity of each of the plurality of business transactions;

a value of data being stored;

a significance of the application to a business;

a number of admin users;

whether a firewall is present;

an encryption method used;

whether disk encryption is used;

how heavily the application is used;

an amount of revenue the application is generating; and

whether an application runtime behavior has changed.

20 . The one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media of claim 15 , wherein calculating the vulnerability score for each of the plurality of business transactions comprises:

calculating a context score using one or more of the plurality of application context factors;

determining a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score; and

calculating the vulnerability score using the context score and the CVSS score.