How DeviceTotal Eliminated False Positives from an NVD CPE Mismatch Before the Fix Went Live
When NVD misattributes CVEs to the wrong firmware, security teams waste time and resources chasing non-existent risks. A customer running Cisco IOS 15.6(3)M9 was flagged for eight SNMP-related CVEs (CVE-2025-20169 through CVE-2025-20176) that Cisco’s own advisory confirms only affect IOS 15.9(3)M2/M3 and later. DeviceTotal identified the mismatch instantly, suppressing all eight false positives before they triggered unnecessary remediation.
The DeviceTotal Advantage
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Without DeviceTotal
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With DeviceTotal
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The Security Gap
- Device in Use: 2911 Integrated Services Router, firmware version IOS 15.6(3)M9
- Source of Vulnerability Feed: NVD CPE mapping — cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios:15.6(3)m9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- Result: NVD data linked multiple CVEs to IOS 15.6(3)M9, including CVE-2025-20174, CVE-2025-20175, and CVE-2025-20176.
- However, according to Cisco’s own PSIRT advisory, these issues only affected IOS 15.9(3)M3 and newer.
The Reality Found by DeviceTotal
The official advisory “Multiple Vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software” confirms:
- The minimum impacted versions are IOS 15.9(3)M2/M3 and newer, not 15.6(3)M9.
- Cisco Security Advisory
Outcome
By cross-referencing Cisco’s official advisory with NVD data, DeviceTotal confirmed that IOS 15.6 was never in the affected range — the vulnerabilities began with the 15.9M train.
This precision prevented the client from:
- Chasing false positives caused by inaccurate CPE mapping in the NVD
- Triggering unnecessary patch cycles for unaffected firmware
- Diverting analyst time away from genuine, high-priority vulnerabilities
- Eroding trust in internal security posture reporting
Instead, the security team focused resources on verified risks backed by vendor-confirmed intelligence, avoiding costly remediation cycles and compliance escalations.
Why It Matters?
DeviceTotal’s intelligence engine monitors not only NVD, but:
- Official vendor advisories
- Non-reporting vendors
- Zero-day alerts
- Enriched private and classified feeds
This enables full-spectrum coverage with:
- Daily intelligence updates
- Risk scoring matched to specific firmware versions
- Visibility across IoT, OT, network, and security devices
- Mitigation paths even when NVD is incomplete or incorrect
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How DeviceTotal Eliminated False Positives from an NVD CPE Mismatch Before the Fix Went Live
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