CI Lookup Rules for identifying configuration items from Configuration Compliance third-party vulnerability integrations

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI Lookup Rules for identifying configuration items from Configuration Compliance third-party vulnerability integrations

    CI Lookup Rules in Configuration Compliance automate the identification of configuration items (CIs) when importing data from third-party vulnerability integrations, primarily for the Qualys Integration for Security Operations. These rules help map imported host data to existing CIs in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), facilitating effective remediation by associating vulnerability test results with the correct assets.

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    How CI Lookup Rules Work

    • Imported assets are first matched against the Discovered Items list using third-party IDs to find pre-existing CIs.
    • If no exact match is found, additional host information is used through ordered lookup rules to identify a CI.
    • If no CI match occurs, a placeholder called an Unmatched CI is created, and a new discovered item is mapped to it.
    • Lookup rules are vendor and source specific; multiple deployments per source (e.g., multiple Qualys deployments) each have their own set of lookup rules.
    • Rules are evaluated sequentially by order value, stopping at the first single CI match; if multiple matches exist, only the first is used.
    • Low-level networking elements (such as switch ports or IP addresses) return their parent CI to avoid irrelevant matches.
    • The CI lookup rule that yields a match is recorded on the Discovered Item for traceability.

    Predefined CI Lookup Rules

    • Qualys Integration: Host ID, FQDN, NetBIOS, DNS, IP
    • Microsoft Defender: S3 Bucket Name, Resource Id
    • Palo Alto Prisma Cloud: S3 Bucket Name, Resource Id

    Performance and Maintenance Considerations

    • Complex or inefficient CI Lookup Rules can cause performance degradation due to intensive CMDB matching operations.
    • It is important to carefully test any custom or modified lookup rules to avoid duplicate or orphaned records.
    • System properties exist to exclude certain CI classes from matching to optimize performance.
    • After modifying CI Lookup Rules, use the “Apply Changes” function to reprocess discovered items and update CIs and test results accordingly.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Automates the association of vulnerability data with accurate CIs, improving remediation workflows.
    • Enables visibility into how assets are matched via the Discovered Items list and the specific lookup rules applied.
    • Supports domain separation and multiple deployment configurations, providing flexibility for large environments.
    • Helps maintain CMDB accuracy by managing unmatched assets and preventing duplication or orphaned records.

    When data is imported from a third-party integration, Configuration Compliance automatically uses host data to search for matches in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). It does this using CI Lookup Rules. These rules are used to identify configuration items (CIs) and add them to the test result record to aid in remediation.

    As assets are imported, a lookup is performed first on the Discovered Items list using third-party IDs to find matches to configuration item (CIs) from prior imports. When a host ID match is found, it is used as the Configuration item field in the test result record.

    You can see how imported assets are mapped to CIs using the Discovered Items list. If a match is not found, or the cmdb_ci field is empty, the rules use the other host information to attempt to correctly identify the CI. If a match is still not found, a placeholder CI is created and is designated as an Unmatched CI. See Unmatched CIs for more information on how those CIs are handled.

    A new discovered item is created and mapped to this CI.

    Note:
    CI lookup rules are available only for the Qualys Integration for Security Operations.
    CI lookup rules can be domain separated and are source-specific. Each source can have multiple deployments. Qualys can have multiple deployments of the Qualys Integration. Each deployment has its own set of CI Lookup Rules.
    Note:
    CI lookup rules are shared by all deployments of the vulnerability integration. If a rule is deleted or modified, the deletion or changes affect all deployments of the vulnerability integration.
    When attempting a match, the first step is a vendor ID lookup for an exact match across source, source_instance, and vendor ID. Then, lookup rules are run in order, from lowest to highest and stop when a rule returns just a single CI as a match. If a rule is created in such a way that it returns more than one CI, only the first match is used.
    Note:
    To avoid matching on low-level networking elements, if a matched CI is one of dscy_switchport, cmdb_ci_network_adapter, cmdb_ci_nic, or cmdb_ci_ip_address, the parent CI is returned.

    A system property to exclude CI classes is available. This property is not available with upgrade. See Ignore CI classes for upgrade information and instructions on setting the property.

    To make it easier to find matching issues, when a match is found, the CI lookup rule used to find it is added to the Discovered Item record in the CI matching rule field. Lookup rules are evaluated by lowest Order value first.

    Some of the Qualys CI lookup rules shipped with the base system are:
    • QUALYS HOST ID
    • FQDN
    • NetBIOS
    • DNS
    • IP
    Some of the Microsoft Defender CI lookup rules shipped with the base system are:
    • S3 Bucket
    • Name
    • Resource Id
    Some of the Palo Alto Prisma Cloud CI lookup rules shipped with the base system are:
    • S3 Bucket
    • Name
    • Resource Id

    Importing test results data can be taxing on an instance and performance issues with resources can occur if rules are not carefully constructed. The logic used to iterate through and perform matching within the CMDB can result in lengthy processing times. To avoid any potential degradation of resources or performance complications, test any custom-written CI Lookup Rules or modifications to pre-defined CI Lookup Rules. See Steps to help prevent duplicate or orphaned records after running Vulnerability Response CI lookup rules for more information on preventing duplicate orphan records, deleting data, and cleaning up data.

    Reapplying updated CI lookup rules

    When you change a CI lookup rule, click Apply Changes on the CI Lookup Rules list page to rerun all the rules on the discovered items that:
    • Were matched by the updated rules
    • Are not matched by any rule
    If the configuration item (CI) changes after reapplying the lookup rules, the discovered items are updated with the new CI. The test results are also updated. For more information, see CI changes for discovered items for Configuration Compliance.