CI lookup rules for identifying configuration items from Vulnerability Response third-party vulnerability integrations

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI lookup rules for identifying configuration items from Vulnerability Response third-party vulnerability integrations

    In ServiceNow Vulnerability Response, CI Lookup Rules automatically match imported host data from third-party vulnerability integrations to Configuration Items (CIs) in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). This process helps to accurately associate vulnerabilities with the correct CIs, facilitating effective remediation.

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    The lookup process first attempts to match using host IDs and then other host information. If no match is found, a placeholder “Unmatched CI” is created. CI lookup rules are domain-separated and specific to each vulnerability data source, and they are shared across all deployments of that source integration.

    CI Lookup Process and Rules

    • Matching starts with an exact vendor ID lookup across source, sourceinstance, and vendor ID.
    • Lookup rules are evaluated in order of their assigned priority (lowest order value first) and stop once a single CI match is found.
    • If a matched CI is a low-level networking element (e.g., switchport, network adapter, NIC, or IP address), the parent CI is returned instead.
    • A system property exists to exclude specific CI classes from matching to improve accuracy.
    • The CI lookup rule used for each matched discovered item is recorded on the Discovered Item record.
    • Examples of shipped CI lookup rules by integration:
      • Qualys: Host ID, FQDN, NetBIOS, DNS, IP
      • Rapid7: MacAddress, FQDN, HostName, IP
      • Tenable.io: FQDN, NETBIOS, HOSTNAME, MacAddress, DNS (prioritizes network interface values)
      • Tenable.sc: MacAddress, FQDN, NETBIOS

    Best Practices and Considerations

    • Do not delete CI lookup rules; deactivate them instead to preserve configuration and history.
    • Custom or modified rules should be tested carefully to avoid performance degradation or creation of duplicate/orphaned records.
    • After modifying CI lookup rules, use the “Apply Changes” function to reprocess discovered items so updates propagate to vulnerable items and detections.
    • Assets that remain unmatched after processing are classified as “Unmatched CIs” or “unclassed hardware” and are listed in the Discovered Items module for review.
    • For cleanup and performance optimization, follow recommended procedures to prevent duplicates and orphaned records when running or updating lookup rules.

    When data is imported from a third-party integration, Vulnerability Response 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 vulnerable item record to aid in remediation.

    Starting with version 19.0, navigate to Security Operations > CMDB > Lookup Rules to locate the list in your instance.

    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 vulnerable item record.

    You can see how imported assets are mapped to CIs using the Discovered Items list. If a match is not found, or the host ID 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.

    CI lookup rules can be domain separated and are source-specific. Each source can have multiple deployments.
    Note:
    CI lookup rules are shared by all deployments of the vulnerability source 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.

    The CI lookup rules are shipped with their corresponding integration plugins.

    Some of the Qualys CI lookup rules are:
    • QUALYS HOST ID
    • FQDN
    • NetBIOS
    • DNS
    • IP
    Some of the Rapid7 CI lookup rules are:
    • MacAddress
    • FQDN
    • HostName
    • IP
    Some of the Tenable.io CI lookup rules are:
    • FQDN
    • NETBIOS
    • HOSTNAME
    • MacAddress
    • DNS
    Note:
    The Tenable.io CI lookup rules prioritize and populate the non-empty network interface values (FDQN, IPV4, and MacAddress) over the regular FDQN, IPV4, and MacAddress values for a discovered item. When these network interface values are empty, the regular FDQN, IPV4, and MacAddress values are populated for a discovered item.
    Some of the Tenable.sc CI lookup rules are:
    • MacAddress
    • FQDN
    • NETBIOS
    Note:
    Rules, once removed, cannot be recovered. Rather than removing existing rules, deactivate them when creating new ones.

    Importing vulnerability 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.

    Note:
    For information on CI matching, see KB0998706.

    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 impacted detections and vulnerable items are also updated. For more information, see Reapply CI lookup rules on selected discovered items.