Threat Advisory: Mitre's CVE Contract Renewed Last Minute
Foundational security organisation MITRE announced on the 15th April that the funding it received to maintain the CVE and CWE program would not be renewed. This was important, because MITRE, along with NIST and the CISA, are a huge contributor to the CVE program.
The announcement came abruptly, with the funding organisation DHS declining to comment on the reason at this time, however they provided the following statement:
"Although CISA's contract with the MITRE Corporation will lapse after April 16th, we are urgently working to mitigate impact and to maintain CVE services on which global stakeholders rely."
This meant that after 16th April 2025, the CVE database, which is critical for tracking and understanding vulnerabilities, might experience disruption. This meant that vulnerabilities discovered after this time would not likely be tracked and published until a resolution is found (this is not thought to affect CVE records dating before the 16th).
All cybersecurity tools and processes rely on the CVE database to track and respond to newly discovered vulnerabilities across the environment. A disruption in this service, even temporary, would have affected the visibility of emerging threats and delayed the publication of official CVE records. This, in turn, could have impacted the accuracy of vulnerability scans, the speed of detection, and the prioritisation of response actions.
Integrity360 learned that on the morning (EST) of the 16th, the U.S. Government had (at the last minute) extended it's funding for the program, buying more time for a more long-term approach to be agreed.
Integrity360 is monitoring the situation and will provide more updates as they arise.
Below is the original MITRE letter that was circulated on the 15th April, explaining the halting of the service.