Article 12Coordinated vulnerability disclosure and a European vulnerability database
1. Each Member State shall designate one of its CSIRTs as a coordinator for the purposes of coordinated vulnerability disclosure. The CSIRT designated as coordinator shall act as a trusted intermediary, facilitating, where necessary, the interaction between the natural or legal person reporting a vulnerability and the manufacturer or provider of the potentially vulnerable ICT products or ICT services, upon the request of either party. The tasks of the CSIRT designated as coordinator shall include:
(a) identifying and contacting the entities concerned;
(b) assisting the natural or legal persons reporting a vulnerability; and
(c) negotiating disclosure timelines and managing vulnerabilities that affect multiple entities.
Member States shall ensure that natural or legal persons are able to report, anonymously where they so request, a vulnerability to the CSIRT designated as coordinator. The CSIRT designated as coordinator shall ensure that diligent follow-up action is carried out with regard to the reported vulnerability and shall ensure the anonymity of the natural or legal person reporting the vulnerability. Where a reported vulnerability could have a significant impact on entities in more than one Member State, the CSIRT designated as coordinator of each Member State concerned shall, where appropriate, cooperate with other CSIRTs designated as coordinators within the CSIRTs network.
2. ENISA shall develop and maintain, after consulting the Cooperation Group, a European vulnerability database. To that end, ENISA shall establish and maintain the appropriate information systems, policies and procedures, and shall adopt the necessary technical and organisational measures to ensure the security and integrity of the European vulnerability database, with a view in particular to enabling entities, regardless of whether they fall within the scope of this Directive, and their suppliers of network and information systems, to disclose and register, on a voluntary basis, publicly known vulnerabilities in ICT products or ICT services. All stakeholders shall be provided access to the information about the vulnerabilities contained in the European vulnerability database. That database shall include:
(a) information describing the vulnerability;
(b) the affected ICT products or ICT services and the severity of the vulnerability in terms of the circumstances under which it may be exploited;
(c) the availability of related patches and, in the absence of available patches, guidance provided by the competent authorities or the CSIRTs addressed to users of vulnerable ICT products and ICT services as to how the risks resulting from disclosed vulnerabilities can be mitigated.
NIS2, the European Union directive on network and information security, Article 12
Coordinated vulnerability disclosure, with a named owner. Each Member State designates one of its CSIRTs as coordinator, acting as a trusted intermediary between whoever reports a vulnerability and the manufacturer or provider of the ICT product or service, where either party asks. The coordinator identifies and contacts the entities concerned, assists the reporter, and negotiates disclosure timelines and manages vulnerabilities affecting several entities. Member States must ensure a person can report anonymously on request, with diligent follow-up and anonymity ensured by the coordinator. Where a vulnerability could significantly affect entities in more than one Member State, the coordinators cooperate within the CSIRTs network.
ENISA, after consulting the Cooperation Group, maintains a European vulnerability database. Entities, whether or not in scope, and their suppliers may disclose and register publicly known vulnerabilities there on a voluntary basis. All stakeholders have access to it.
Two practical points. If you publish software or devices, a national coordinator may contact you on a researcher’s behalf, so a published disclosure route is useful. If you run affected products, the database is one source your vulnerability handling under Article 21(2)(e) can use.
Text: Directive (EU) 2022/2555, OJ L 333, 27.12.2022, p. 80, as corrected by Corrigendum OJ L, 2023/90206, 22.12.2023 (Article 19(1): “by 17 January 2025”, replacing “on”), from EUR-Lex. Only the Official Journal text is authentic.