Skill v1.0.0
currentAutomated scan100/100name: implementing-vulnerability-sla-breach-alerting description: Build an automated SLA breach alerting system for vulnerability remediation, including a database schema for SLA tracking, breach detection logic, notification dispatch, a scheduled check runner, and a KPI/compliance metrics dashboard. Use when implementing severity-based SLA timelines (critical/high/medium/low), detecting and escalating SLA breaches, or building vulnerability remediation compliance reporting. domain: cybersecurity subdomain: vulnerability-management tags:
- vulnerability-sla
- remediation-tracking
- alerting
- compliance
- sla-breach
- vulnerability-management
- escalation
version: '1.0' author: mahipal license: Apache-2.0 nist_csf:
- ID.RA-01
- ID.RA-02
- ID.IM-02
- ID.RA-06
mitre_attack:
- T1190
- T1203
- T1068
Implementing Vulnerability SLA Breach Alerting
Overview
Vulnerability remediation SLAs define maximum timeframes for addressing security findings based on severity. This skill covers building an automated alerting system that tracks remediation timelines, detects SLA breaches, sends escalation notifications, and generates compliance reports. Industry-standard SLA targets are: Critical (24-48 hours), High (15-30 days), Medium (60 days), Low (90 days).
When to Use
- When deploying or configuring implementing vulnerability sla breach alerting capabilities in your environment
- When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
- When building or improving security architecture for this domain
- When conducting security assessments that require this implementation
Prerequisites
- Python 3.9+ with
requests,pandas,jinja2,smtpliblibraries - Vulnerability management platform with API access (DefectDojo, Qualys, Tenable)
- SMTP server or webhook endpoint (Slack, Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty)
- Database for SLA tracking (PostgreSQL or SQLite)
SLA Policy Definition
Standard SLA Tiers
| Severity | Remediation SLA | Grace Period | Escalation Level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical (CVSS 9.0-10.0) | 48 hours | 12 hours | VP Engineering + CISO | |
| High (CVSS 7.0-8.9) | 15 days | 5 days | Director of Engineering | |
| Medium (CVSS 4.0-6.9) | 60 days | 14 days | Team Lead | |
| Low (CVSS 0.1-3.9) | 90 days | 30 days | Asset Owner |
SLA Configuration File
# sla_policy.yamlsla_tiers:critical:cvss_min: 9.0cvss_max: 10.0remediation_days: 2grace_period_days: 0.5escalation_contacts:- ciso@company.com- vp-engineering@company.compagerduty_severity: criticalhigh:cvss_min: 7.0cvss_max: 8.9remediation_days: 15grace_period_days: 5escalation_contacts:- security-director@company.compagerduty_severity: highmedium:cvss_min: 4.0cvss_max: 6.9remediation_days: 60grace_period_days: 14escalation_contacts:- team-lead@company.compagerduty_severity: warninglow:cvss_min: 0.1cvss_max: 3.9remediation_days: 90grace_period_days: 30escalation_contacts:- asset-owner@company.compagerduty_severity: infonotification_channels:slack:webhook_url: "${SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL}"channel: "#vulnerability-alerts"email:smtp_host: smtp.company.comsmtp_port: 587from_address: vuln-alerts@company.compagerduty:api_key: "${PAGERDUTY_API_KEY}"service_id: "${PAGERDUTY_SERVICE_ID}"alert_schedules:approaching_breach:percentage_elapsed: 80frequency_hours: 24at_breach:notification: immediateescalation: truepost_breach:frequency_hours: 12escalation_increase: true
Workflow
Step 1: Database Schema for SLA Tracking
CREATE TABLE vulnerability_sla (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,cve_id VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,finding_id VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,asset_hostname VARCHAR(255),severity VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,cvss_score DECIMAL(3,1),discovered_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,sla_deadline TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,remediated_at TIMESTAMP,status VARCHAR(20) DEFAULT 'open',owner_email VARCHAR(255),escalation_level INTEGER DEFAULT 0,last_alert_sent TIMESTAMP,created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);CREATE INDEX idx_sla_status ON vulnerability_sla(status);CREATE INDEX idx_sla_deadline ON vulnerability_sla(sla_deadline);CREATE INDEX idx_sla_severity ON vulnerability_sla(severity);
Step 2: SLA Breach Detection Logic
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezoneimport yamldef load_sla_policy(policy_path="sla_policy.yaml"):with open(policy_path, "r") as f:return yaml.safe_load(f)def get_sla_tier(cvss_score, policy):for tier_name, tier in policy["sla_tiers"].items():if tier["cvss_min"] <= cvss_score <= tier["cvss_max"]:return tier_name, tierreturn "low", policy["sla_tiers"]["low"]def calculate_sla_deadline(discovered_at, cvss_score, policy):tier_name, tier = get_sla_tier(cvss_score, policy)deadline = discovered_at + timedelta(days=tier["remediation_days"])return deadline, tier_namedef check_sla_status(discovered_at, sla_deadline, remediated_at=None):now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)if remediated_at:if remediated_at <= sla_deadline:return "remediated_within_sla"return "remediated_breach"if now > sla_deadline:overdue_days = (now - sla_deadline).daysreturn f"breached_{overdue_days}d_overdue"remaining = sla_deadline - nowtotal_sla = sla_deadline - discovered_atpct_elapsed = ((total_sla - remaining) / total_sla) * 100if pct_elapsed >= 80:return "approaching_breach"return "within_sla"
Step 3: Notification Dispatch
import requestsimport jsonimport smtplibfrom email.mime.text import MIMETextfrom email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipartdef send_slack_alert(webhook_url, vuln_data, sla_status):color = {"breached": "#FF0000", "approaching_breach": "#FFA500", "within_sla": "#36A64F"}status_color = color.get("breached" if "breached" in sla_status else sla_status, "#808080")payload = {"attachments": [{"color": status_color,"title": f"Vulnerability SLA Alert: {vuln_data['cve_id']}","fields": [{"title": "Severity", "value": vuln_data["severity"], "short": True},{"title": "CVSS", "value": str(vuln_data["cvss_score"]), "short": True},{"title": "Asset", "value": vuln_data["asset_hostname"], "short": True},{"title": "SLA Status", "value": sla_status, "short": True},{"title": "Deadline", "value": vuln_data["sla_deadline"].strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M UTC"), "short": True},{"title": "Owner", "value": vuln_data.get("owner_email", "Unassigned"), "short": True},],}]}requests.post(webhook_url, json=payload, timeout=10)def send_pagerduty_alert(api_key, service_id, vuln_data, severity):payload = {"routing_key": api_key,"event_action": "trigger","payload": {"summary": f"SLA Breach: {vuln_data['cve_id']} on {vuln_data['asset_hostname']}","severity": severity,"source": vuln_data["asset_hostname"],"custom_details": {"cve_id": vuln_data["cve_id"],"cvss_score": vuln_data["cvss_score"],"sla_deadline": vuln_data["sla_deadline"].isoformat(),}}}requests.post("https://events.pagerduty.com/v2/enqueue",json=payload, timeout=10)def send_email_alert(smtp_config, to_addresses, vuln_data, sla_status):msg = MIMEMultipart("alternative")msg["Subject"] = f"[SLA {sla_status.upper()}] {vuln_data['cve_id']} - {vuln_data['severity']}"msg["From"] = smtp_config["from_address"]msg["To"] = ", ".join(to_addresses)body = f"""Vulnerability SLA AlertCVE: {vuln_data['cve_id']}Severity: {vuln_data['severity']} (CVSS {vuln_data['cvss_score']})Asset: {vuln_data['asset_hostname']}SLA Deadline: {vuln_data['sla_deadline'].strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M UTC')}Status: {sla_status}Owner: {vuln_data.get('owner_email', 'Unassigned')}Please take immediate action to remediate this vulnerability."""msg.attach(MIMEText(body, "plain"))with smtplib.SMTP(smtp_config["smtp_host"], smtp_config["smtp_port"]) as server:server.starttls()server.send_message(msg)
Step 4: Scheduled SLA Check Runner
# Run SLA breach check every hour via cronecho "0 * * * * cd /opt/vuln-sla && python3 scripts/process.py --check-sla" | crontab -# Manual checkpython3 scripts/process.py --check-sla --policy sla_policy.yaml# Generate SLA compliance reportpython3 scripts/process.py --report --period monthly --output sla_report.html
SLA Metrics Dashboard
Key Performance Indicators
def calculate_sla_metrics(db_connection, period_start, period_end):metrics = {"total_findings": 0,"remediated_within_sla": 0,"sla_breach_count": 0,"mean_time_to_remediate": {},"sla_compliance_rate": 0.0,"current_overdue": 0,}# Query findings in period grouped by severityquery = """SELECT severity, COUNT(*) as total,SUM(CASE WHEN remediated_at <= sla_deadline THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) as within_sla,AVG(EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM (COALESCE(remediated_at, NOW()) - discovered_at))/86400) as avg_daysFROM vulnerability_slaWHERE discovered_at BETWEEN %s AND %sGROUP BY severity"""return metrics