Vulnerability profile for linux

Abstract

A system with efficient security tools is not secured if its operating system is vulnerable. Various security enhancements for operating systems provide different security levels and profiles. Administrators have to choose the appropriate level or profile of protection for their systems. Our work attempts to systematically quantify the level of vulnerability for operating systems with a profiling scheme based on the severity of the attack as listed in the CVE. Linux, due to its open source nature, is used as a case study. Vanilla Linux, Linux with hardening, and Linux with LSM enhancement, are profiled and compared. © 2005 IEEE.