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The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) is a U.S. government repository maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It organizes standards-based vulnerability-management information to support security automation, measurement, and compliance. Its records add useful analysis to published CVE vulnerability entries, but an NVD severity score alone does not tell an organization how much risk a flaw poses or how urgently to fix it.
What is the National Vulnerability Database?
NVD is NIST’s repository of vulnerability-management data. It includes information about publicly known software flaws, security misconfigurations, product names, impact metrics, security checklist references, and other data used to identify and assess vulnerabilities. NIST describes NVD as supporting automation of vulnerability management, security measurement, and compliance.
Established in 2005, NVD uses standards-based data to help systems and security teams exchange and process vulnerability information. It is a reference and enrichment source—not a complete inventory of an organization’s systems or a substitute for evaluating how a vulnerability affects those systems.
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How NVD relates to CVE
CVE identifiers provide a shared label for publicly known vulnerabilities. The CVE Program’s authorized CVE Numbering Authorities (CNAs) publish CVE records, including their descriptions and references. NVD associates its records with those identifiers and can add analysis and structured fields that make the information easier to use in vulnerability-management workflows.
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That distinction matters: a CVE record identifies and describes a vulnerability, while an NVD record may provide additional context. NVD displays CVE descriptions and reference links maintained by the responsible CNA; it does not take over authorship of those CVE details.
What information an NVD vulnerability record can contain
- Severity metrics: Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) information, including CVSS v4.0 and v3.1 metrics listed by NIST.
- Weakness mapping: Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) information that can describe the underlying type of software weakness.
- Affected-product applicability: Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) statements and, in newer data, affected-product information aligned with the CVE Record Format.
- References and tags: Links and reference classifications associated with the vulnerability record.
- Exploitation information: A Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) section when the vulnerability is included in CISA’s KEV Catalog.
NIST said its NVD API and feeds began carrying SSVC information and CVE affected data on June 17, 2026. The SSVC data comes from the CISA-Authorized Data Publisher. These additions provide more structured context, but they do not by themselves establish whether a particular organization is exposed.
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How to interpret CVSS and NVD data
CVSS communicates vulnerability severity; NIST explicitly cautions that “CVSS is not a measure of risk.” A score can help compare technical severity, but it cannot account for every factor that determines organizational risk, such as whether an affected product is deployed, exposed, configured in a particular way, or protected by compensating controls.
Use an NVD record as an input to triage rather than as an automatic priority order. Check the affected-product details against your asset inventory, consider whether the vulnerability is known to be exploited, and apply your organization’s exposure and impact context. A high score does not prove a system is vulnerable, and a lower score does not prove the issue is safe to defer.
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What changed in NVD operations
As of NIST’s April 15, 2026 announcement, NVD uses a risk-based enrichment model. CVEs remain listed, but records that do not meet NIST’s stated criteria may be classified as lowest priority and not enriched immediately. That means an NVD entry may not yet have the additional analysis or fields a workflow expects; the presence of a CVE and the completeness or timing of NVD enrichment are separate matters.
NIST reported that CVE submissions increased 263% from 2020 to 2025. It enriched nearly 42,000 CVEs in 2025—45% more than in any prior year, according to NIST’s 2026 figures. These counts describe NIST’s reported workload and output, not a guarantee that every new CVE will receive enrichment on a particular schedule.
NIST also reported a correction to calculated CVSS v4.0 scores: approximately 4,500 records, representing 19% of records with a v4.0 score, had scores higher than correct, while fewer than 30 had scores lower than correct. NIST said it planned to update affected records on April 28, 2026, and document the changes in audit entries. For a record whose score is important to a decision, check its current NVD entry and audit history rather than relying on an older export.
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NVD is useful when teams need a consistent source of structured vulnerability data for security analysis, automation, and compliance workflows. Its standardized identifiers and enrichment can help connect vulnerability records to product inventories and remediation processes.
It does not determine an organization’s actual exposure, guarantee immediate enrichment for every CVE, or replace asset discovery and local risk decisions. The NVD website and API were reported operational on October 7, 2026; operational availability does not mean every record contains the same level of analysis.
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Official NVD references
- NIST glossary definition of NVD
- NVD CVE FAQs and enrichment workflow
- NVD guidance on vulnerability detail pages and CVSS
- NIST NVD status and update information
- NIST’s 2013 NVD overview
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