CI lookup rules for identifying configuration items from Vulnerability Response third-party vulnerability integrations

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of CI lookup rules for identifying configuration items from Vulnerability Response third-party vulnerability integrations

    Vulnerability Response in ServiceNow automatically identifies and maps configuration items (CIs) from third-party vulnerability integration data imports by usingCI Lookup Rules. These rules help link imported host data to corresponding CIs in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), enabling accurate vulnerability remediation.

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    Starting from version 19.0, CI Lookup Rules are accessible under Security Operations > CMDB > Lookup Rules. The lookup process first checks the Discovered Items list using third-party host IDs. If no exact match is found, the rules use other host details to find CIs. Failing that, an Unmatched CI placeholder is created for that asset.

    Key Features

    • Domain separation and source specificity: CI lookup rules can be domain separated and are specific to each vulnerability source integration, but rules are shared across all deployments of a source.
    • Matching process: Begins with vendor ID exact match, then proceeds through ordered lookup rules until one unique CI match is found. If multiple matches occur, only the first is used.
    • Parent CI substitution: To avoid matching low-level network components (e.g., switchports, network adapters), the parent CI is returned instead.
    • System property to exclude CI classes: Allows excluding certain CI classes from matching to optimize performance and relevance.
    • CI lookup rules shipped with integrations: Each integration plugin (e.g., Qualys, Rapid7, Tenable.io, Tenable.sc) includes preconfigured lookup rules based on identifiers like FQDN, IP, MacAddress, NetBIOS, Hostname, and DNS.
    • Modification and Deactivation: Rules should be deactivated rather than deleted to preserve history. Custom rules require careful testing to avoid performance degradation and duplicate or orphaned records.
    • Reapplying rules: After updating a CI lookup rule, clicking Apply Changes reruns the rules and updates discovered items and vulnerable records accordingly.

    Key Outcomes

    • Imported vulnerability data is accurately matched to existing CIs or flagged as unmatched, improving remediation accuracy.
    • Performance is maintained by carefully designed CI lookup rules and exclusion capabilities.
    • Unmatched or unclassed hardware items are identified, enabling further investigation or classification.
    • Visibility into which CI lookup rule matched a discovered item enhances troubleshooting and rule refinement.
    • Consistent and up-to-date linkage between vulnerability data and CMDB items supports effective security operations and asset management.

    When data is imported from a third-party integration, Vulnerability Response 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 vulnerable item record to aid in remediation.

    Starting with version 19.0, navigate to Security Operations > CMDB > Lookup Rules to locate the list in your instance.

    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 vulnerable item record.

    You can see how imported assets are mapped to CIs using the Discovered Items list. If a match is not found, or the host ID 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.

    CI lookup rules can be domain separated and are source-specific. Each source can have multiple deployments.
    Note:
    CI lookup rules are shared by all deployments of the vulnerability source 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.

    The CI lookup rules are shipped with their corresponding integration plugins.

    Some of the Qualys CI lookup rules are:
    • QUALYS HOST ID
    • FQDN
    • NetBIOS
    • DNS
    • IP
    Some of the Rapid7 CI lookup rules are:
    • MacAddress
    • FQDN
    • HostName
    • IP
    Some of the Tenable.io CI lookup rules are:
    • FQDN
    • NETBIOS
    • HOSTNAME
    • MacAddress
    • DNS
    Note:
    The Tenable.io CI lookup rules prioritize and populate the non-empty network interface values (FDQN, IPV4, and MacAddress) over the regular FDQN, IPV4, and MacAddress values for a discovered item. When these network interface values are empty, the regular FDQN, IPV4, and MacAddress values are populated for a discovered item.
    Some of the Tenable.sc CI lookup rules are:
    • MacAddress
    • FQDN
    • NETBIOS
    Note:
    Rules, once removed, cannot be recovered. Rather than removing existing rules, deactivate them when creating new ones.

    Importing vulnerability 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.

    Note:
    For information on CI matching, see KB0998706.

    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 impacted detections and vulnerable items are also updated. For more information, see Reapply CI lookup rules on selected discovered items.