Validate a VEX document in four layers: check that it conforms to its declared format, resolve its product and component references against the SBOM, assess each vulnerability status and rationale for the exact product version, and verify the document’s freshness and provenance. A file that parses correctly can still describe the wrong product—or be too untrustworthy to use to suppress a scanner finding.
Identify the VEX format before validating it
VEX communicates whether a product is affected by a vulnerability and why; an SBOM inventories software components. The two documents are related, but they do not necessarily share a single structure or a mandatory direct link. CISA describes VEX as an advisory that provides context about potential vulnerabilities, and says it may use SBOM identifiers to relate that context to components without requiring that pairing in every format.
Determine whether the document is OpenVEX, a CSAF advisory using the VEX profile, or CycloneDX VEX before applying rules. CISA lists these among the VEX formats; CycloneDX can carry VEX information with a BOM or provide it separately. Do not apply one format’s field names or requirements to another.
| Format | What to validate | How it relates to an SBOM |
|---|---|---|
| OpenVEX | Standalone JSON-LD document with required metadata and vulnerability statements. | SBOM-agnostic: it can refer to products and subcomponents in SPDX or CycloneDX SBOMs. |
| CSAF VEX | CSAF advisory conforming to the VEX profile, including a product tree and vulnerability information. | Resolve its product references against the relevant SBOM; do not assume a separate direct link is required. |
| CycloneDX VEX | CycloneDX VEX data, whether carried with BOM data or provided externally. | An external VEX can reference a specific BOM component by its bom-ref. |
These distinctions follow the OpenVEX specification, the OASIS CSAF VEX profile, and CycloneDX guidance. CycloneDX recommends keeping dynamic VEX information separate from the typically more static BOM when that makes updates easier, while preserving component linkage.
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Check the document structure and required fields
First confirm that the document is parseable and conforms to the declared format or profile. Then inspect its required metadata and statements; successful parsing alone does not establish that the vulnerability assertions are complete or meaningful.
OpenVEX
- Check document context and identity, author, issue timestamp, version, and statements. The OpenVEX specification requires an issue timestamp and says a valid statement must identify a product.
- For each statement, confirm that it identifies a vulnerability and product and supplies a status. OpenVEX statuses express whether the product is affected, not affected, under investigation, or fixed.
- Check the expected JSON-LD structure and UTF-8 encoding. If the VEX is embedded in another document, account for that enclosing format rather than treating it as an ordinary standalone file.
CSAF VEX
- Validate the CSAF Base requirements as well as the VEX profile requirements, including a product tree, vulnerability entries, product status values permitted by the profile, a CVE or other vulnerability identifier, and notes.
- For a product declared not affected, check for an impact statement. The profile calls for a machine-readable flag or an impact threat explaining why the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
CycloneDX VEX
Validate the document as CycloneDX data in the applicable structure, and identify whether the VEX is embedded in a BOM or external to it. For an external VEX, check that any referenced bom-ref resolves to the intended component in the BOM. Do not treat a reference that fails to resolve as a confirmed match.
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Match the VEX product and components to the SBOM
Resolve the product named in each relevant VEX statement to the product root or release represented by the SBOM. Then resolve any affected or otherwise relevant subcomponent references to component entries. OpenVEX recommends software identifiers, especially package URLs (purls), and says referenced subcomponents should also appear in the product SBOM.
- Compare stable identifiers first. Match purls or other machine-readable identifiers where available. In CycloneDX, use an exact
bom-refwhen the external VEX refers to one. - Check version and release scope. Confirm that the product and component versions in the statement apply to the SBOM being evaluated. A matching component name does not prove that two differently versioned products are the same target.
- Use corroborating data carefully. Hashes and additional identifiers can strengthen a match. Display names alone are not enough to establish identity.
- Record unresolved cases. If the documents omit identifiers, disagree on versions, or point to multiple plausible entries, mark the association ambiguous and send it for manual triage instead of silently choosing a match.
There are two valid workflow shapes: a format may link VEX data directly to BOM components, or a validator may independently resolve VEX product identifiers against an SBOM. Keep that distinction explicit. CISA’s guidance does not make direct SBOM pairing a universal VEX requirement.
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Review vulnerability status and rationale
For every statement that matches the product and component scope, check the vulnerability identifier, status, and explanation together. The status answers whether the product is affected; the explanation should support that conclusion for the version under review.
- Not affected: Look for the required or applicable justification. OpenVEX examples include the component being absent, vulnerable code being absent, the code not being in the execution path, or attacker control not being possible. In CSAF VEX, each known-not-affected product needs the profile’s impact statement.
- Under investigation: Treat this as unresolved, not as a finding cleared for suppression. The document says the impact is still being assessed.
- Affected or fixed: Confirm that the status applies to the exact product and version in the SBOM. Do not transfer a conclusion from one product release to another without a statement whose scope supports it.
Do not infer that a product is safe just because a component appears absent under one spelling, or because a different product version has a not-affected statement. An identity mismatch is a validation exception, not evidence that the vulnerability is irrelevant.
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Verify freshness, issuer, and provenance
Check who issued the VEX, when it was issued, and which product release or SBOM it addresses. For OpenVEX, the issue timestamp is required, and the version must change when document content changes. Compare those details with the release being assessed so that a structurally valid but stale statement is not applied to newer or different inventory.
Where signatures or attestations are available, verify them through the applicable workflow. They provide evidence about origin or binding, but they are distinct from schema validation. Microsoft’s HVE Core documentation illustrates this distinction by documenting verification of VEX artifact provenance separately from a VEX attestation bound to a dependency SBOM. That is an implementation example, not a requirement for every VEX workflow.
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Decide what may be passed to a scanner
Pass VEX data to a scanner only after format, statement, identity, and trust checks are complete. Scanner support and flags differ by tool and version, so check the current documentation for the exact combination of format, SBOM type, and scanner release in use.
Microsoft HVE Core documents one workflow pairing an OpenVEX file with an SPDX SBOM in Trivy and Grype; in that documented setup, the scanner usage filters findings marked not_affected or fixed. That example should not be generalized to other versions, formats, or flag syntax. Keep unmatched, stale, unauthenticated, and under-investigation statements visible for investigation rather than using them to suppress findings.
Keep an auditable validation record
For each VEX-to-SBOM association, retain the format and profile checked, the product and component identifiers compared, the vulnerability status and rationale reviewed, and the issuer, timestamp, version, and provenance result. Record exceptions separately, including missing identifiers, version conflicts, invalid or incomplete statements, and failed signature or attestation checks. This makes the disposition reproducible and gives reviewers a clear path to revisit records when either the BOM or VEX changes.
When evaluating a validator or workflow, assess its format coverage, identifier matching (including version variants), treatment of unmatched products, status and justification checks, freshness controls, signature or attestation support, scanner integration, and visibility of unresolved mismatches. These are meaningful checks because no single cross-format validator specification or comparative tool evaluation is established here.
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