CI Lookup Rules for identifying configuration items from Configuration Compliance third-party vulnerability integrations

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of CI Lookup Rules for identifying configuration items from Configuration Compliance third-party vulnerability integrations

    CI Lookup Rules in Configuration Compliance automatically identify configuration items (CIs) when importing data from third-party vulnerability integrations, primarily the Qualys Integration for Security Operations. These rules match imported host data against the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) to associate CIs with test result records, facilitating effective remediation.

    Show full answer Show less

    The lookup process prioritizes matching imported assets to previously discovered items via third-party IDs. If no exact match is found, additional host information is used to identify the CI. When no match is possible, an Unmatched CI placeholder is created and linked to a new discovered item.

    Key Features

    • Domain-separated and Source-specific Rules: CI lookup rules are domain-separated and source-specific, allowing multiple deployments per source (e.g., multiple Qualys Integration instances), with shared rules across deployments.
    • Matching Logic: The process starts with an exact vendor ID lookup, followed by evaluation of rules ordered by priority. Matching stops after the first unique CI is found. If a match is a low-level network component, the parent CI is returned instead.
    • System Property for Excluding CI Classes: Administrators can configure a system property to exclude specific CI classes from matching to optimize results and avoid irrelevant matches.
    • Tracking Matches: The CI lookup rule that identifies a CI is recorded in the discovered item’s record for transparency and troubleshooting.
    • Predefined Rules: The base system includes predefined lookup rules for integrations such as Qualys (e.g., HOST ID, FQDN, NetBIOS), Microsoft Defender (e.g., S3 Bucket Name, Resource Id), and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud (e.g., S3 Bucket Name, Resource Id).
    • Performance Considerations: Complex or poorly constructed CI lookup rules can impact instance performance. Testing custom or modified rules before deployment is recommended to prevent resource degradation and data issues such as duplicates or orphaned records.
    • Reapplying Updated Rules: After modifying CI lookup rules, administrators should use the “Apply Changes” action to reprocess discovered items. This ensures that test results and discovered items are updated if CI assignments change.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging CI Lookup Rules, ServiceNow customers can automate accurate association of vulnerability scan data to existing configuration items, enhancing vulnerability response and remediation workflows. Proper construction and maintenance of these rules are critical to maintain system performance and data integrity. Customers should routinely review and apply updates to CI lookup rules to ensure current and accurate CI mappings, directly supporting effective security operations.

    When data is imported from a third-party integration, Configuration Compliance automatically uses host data to search for matches in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). It does this using CI Lookup Rules. These rules are used to identify configuration items (CIs) and add them to the test result record to aid in remediation.

    As assets are imported, a lookup is performed first on the Discovered Items list using third-party IDs to find matches to configuration item (CIs) from prior imports. When a host ID match is found, it is used as the Configuration item field in the test result record.

    You can see how imported assets are mapped to CIs using the Discovered Items list. If a match is not found, or the cmdb_ci field is empty, the rules use the other host information to attempt to correctly identify the CI. If a match is still not found, a placeholder CI is created and is designated as an Unmatched CI. See Unmatched CIs for more information on how those CIs are handled.

    A new discovered item is created and mapped to this CI.

    Note:
    CI lookup rules are available only for the Qualys Integration for Security Operations.
    CI lookup rules can be domain separated and are source-specific. Each source can have multiple deployments. Qualys can have multiple deployments of the Qualys Integration. Each deployment has its own set of CI Lookup Rules.
    Note:
    CI lookup rules are shared by all deployments of the vulnerability integration. If a rule is deleted or modified, the deletion or changes affect all deployments of the vulnerability integration.
    When attempting a match, the first step is a vendor ID lookup for an exact match across source, source_instance, and vendor ID. Then, lookup rules are run in order, from lowest to highest and stop when a rule returns just a single CI as a match. If a rule is created in such a way that it returns more than one CI, only the first match is used.
    Note:
    To avoid matching on low-level networking elements, if a matched CI is one of dscy_switchport, cmdb_ci_network_adapter, cmdb_ci_nic, or cmdb_ci_ip_address, the parent CI is returned.

    A system property to exclude CI classes is available. This property is not available with upgrade. See Ignore CI classes for upgrade information and instructions on setting the property.

    To make it easier to find matching issues, when a match is found, the CI lookup rule used to find it is added to the Discovered Item record in the CI matching rule field. Lookup rules are evaluated by lowest Order value first.

    Some of the Qualys CI lookup rules shipped with the base system are:
    • QUALYS HOST ID
    • FQDN
    • NetBIOS
    • DNS
    • IP
    Some of the Microsoft Defender CI lookup rules shipped with the base system are:
    • S3 Bucket
    • Name
    • Resource Id
    Some of the Palo Alto Prisma Cloud CI lookup rules shipped with the base system are:
    • S3 Bucket
    • Name
    • Resource Id

    Importing test results data can be taxing on an instance and performance issues with resources can occur if rules are not carefully constructed. The logic used to iterate through and perform matching within the CMDB can result in lengthy processing times. To avoid any potential degradation of resources or performance complications, test any custom-written CI Lookup Rules or modifications to pre-defined CI Lookup Rules. See Steps to help prevent duplicate or orphaned records after running Vulnerability Response CI lookup rules for more information on preventing duplicate orphan records, deleting data, and cleaning up data.

    Reapplying updated CI lookup rules

    When you change a CI lookup rule, click Apply Changes on the CI Lookup Rules list page to rerun all the rules on the discovered items that:
    • Were matched by the updated rules
    • Are not matched by any rule
    If the configuration item (CI) changes after reapplying the lookup rules, the discovered items are updated with the new CI. The test results are also updated. For more information, see CI changes for discovered items for Configuration Compliance.