NIST Releases SP 800-231, Bugs Framework (BF): Formalizing Cybersecurity Weaknesses and Vulnerabilities

NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-231, Bugs Framework (BF): Formalizing Cybersecurity Weaknesses and Vulnerabilities, is now available. It presents an overview of the Bugs Framework (BF) systematic approach and methodologies for the classification of bugs and faults per orthogonal by operation software and hardware execution phases, formal specification of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, definition of secure coding principles, generation of comprehensively labeled weakness and vulnerability datasets and vulnerability classifications, and development of BF-based algorithms and systems.

The current state of the art in describing security weaknesses and vulnerabilities are the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE). However, the CWE and CVE use a one-dimensional list approach to organizing the entries and natural language descriptions. They do not exhibit methodologies for systematic comprehensive labeling of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, tracking the weaknesses underlying a vulnerability, or root cause identification from a security failure. 

SP 800-231 presents the BF formal system (and methods) that comprises:

• Bugs models of distinct execution phases with orthogonal sets of operations in which specific bugs and faults could occur
• Structured, multidimensional, orthogonal, and context-free weakness taxonomies 
• Vulnerability state and specification models as chains of weaknesses toward failures
• A formal language for the unambiguous causal specification of weaknesses and vulnerabilities
• Tools that facilitate the generation of CWE2BF and CVE2BF mappings and formal weakness and vulnerability specifications and their graphical representations

The BF formalism guarantees precise descriptions with clear causality of weaknesses (including CWE) and vulnerabilities (including CVE) and complete, orthogonal, and context-free weakness-type coverage. It forms the basis for the formal definition of secure coding principles, such as memory safety. It also enables the creation of comprehensively labeled weakness and vulnerability datasets, vulnerability classifications, and BF-based bug identification and vulnerability detection, analysis, and resolution or mitigation systems.

Visit the Bugs Framework site at https://usnistgov.github.io/BF/.

NIST Cybersecurity and Privacy Program
Questions/Comments about this notice: bf@nist.gov
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