risk-based vulnerability management (RBVM)
What is RBVM?
RBVM stands for Risk-Based Vulnerability Management. It’s a smarter way to manage vulnerabilities by focusing on the ones that actually matter to your business. Instead of treating every security flaw as equally important, RBVM helps you prioritize based on real risk.
In traditional vulnerability management, you might be overwhelmed with thousands of issues - many of which don’t pose a real threat. RBVM combines technical details (like CVSS scores), business context, asset value, and threat intelligence to decide which vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited and cause harm.
RBVM vs Traditional Vulnerability Management
Traditional vulnerability management is usually based on severity scores alone. If something has a CVSS score of 9.8, it’s automatically considered critical. But this doesn’t tell you:
- Is the asset exposed to the internet?
- Is the vulnerability actually being exploited?
- Does the affected system store sensitive data?
RBVM answers these questions by combining severity with context. For example, a high-scoring vulnerability on a backup server might be less risky than a lower-scoring one on a public-facing login portal.
What is a RBVM solution?
RBVM tools help you:
- Identify and prioritize the most relevant risks
- Filter out noise and non-actionable findings
- Align vulnerability data with your business risk
Solutions like Intruder help teams adopt a RBVM approach by combining CVSS scores with exploitability data (like EPSS), and providing asset discovery with continuous scanning to find and highlight what actually needs your attention.
