building-vulnerability-scanning-workflow

Building Vulnerability Scanning Workflow

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• SOC teams need to establish or improve recurring vulnerability scanning programs
• Scan results require prioritization beyond raw CVSS scores using asset context and threat intelligence
• Vulnerability data must be integrated into SIEM for correlation with exploitation attempts
• Remediation tracking needs formalization with SLA-based dashboards and reporting

Do not use for penetration testing or active exploitation — vulnerability scanning identifies weaknesses, penetration testing validates exploitability.

Prerequisites

• Vulnerability scanner (Tenable Nessus Professional, Qualys VMDR, or OpenVAS/Greenbone)
• Asset inventory with criticality classifications (business-critical, standard, development)
• Network access from scanner to all target segments (agent-based or network scan)
• SIEM integration for scan result ingestion and correlation
• Patch management system (WSUS, SCCM, Intune) for remediation tracking

Workflow

Step 1: Define Scan Scope and Scheduling

Create scan policies covering all asset types:

Nessus Scan Configuration (API):

import requests

nessus_url = "https://nessus.company.com:8834"
headers = {"X-ApiKeys": f"accessKey={access_key};secretKey={secret_key}"}

# Create scan policy
policy = {
    "uuid": "advanced",
    "settings": {
        "name": "SOC Weekly Infrastructure Scan",
        "description": "Weekly credentialed scan of all server and workstation segments",
        "scanner_id": 1,
        "policy_id": 0,
        "text_targets": "10.0.0.0/16, 172.16.0.0/12",
        "launch": "WEEKLY",
        "starttime": "20240315T020000",
        "rrules": "FREQ=WEEKLY;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=SA",
        "enabled": True
    },
    "credentials": {
        "add": {
            "Host": {
                "Windows": [{
                    "domain": "company.local",
                    "username": "nessus_svc",
                    "password": "SCAN_SERVICE_PASSWORD",
                    "auth_method": "Password"
                }],
                "SSH": [{
                    "username": "nessus_svc",
                    "private_key": "/path/to/nessus_key",
                    "auth_method": "public key"
                }]
            }
        }
    }
}

response = requests.post(f"{nessus_url}/scans", headers=headers, json=policy,
                         verify=not os.environ.get("SKIP_TLS_VERIFY", "").lower() == "true")  # Set SKIP_TLS_VERIFY=true for self-signed certs in lab environments
scan_id = response.json()["scan"]["id"]
print(f"Scan created: ID {scan_id}")