US Cuts to CVE: When Digital Security Becomes a Bargaining Chip

The US funding for the CVE list has been stopped with immediate effect—potentially dramatic consequences for global IT security. Why Europe must now prove its digital sovereignty.

A Wake-Up Call for IT Security Leaders in Europe

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list forms the backbone of coordinated IT security measures worldwide. It is not just a technical standard but a strategic tool for collective cyber defense. Now it faces an end—at least in its current form. The US government has halted funding for the project. And this with immediate effect.

What may initially seem like an American administrative issue has direct implications for companies, operators of critical infrastructures, and IT security leaders worldwide—including here in Europe.

What is CVE—and Why is it So Important?

Since 1999, the nonprofit MITRE Corporation has managed the CVE list on behalf of the US government. It contains uniquely referenceable identifiers for reported vulnerabilities in software, hardware, and IT services. CVEs enable:

• Standardized communication between security research, software vendors, system integrators, and users
• Automation of security processes, such as in patch management and SIEM systems
• Risk assessments, e.g., via CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System)
• Linkage with NVD, the National Vulnerability Database, which enriches CVEs with threat details and recommendations

In short, CVEs are the link between technical reality and organizational action capability in cybersecurity.

What Happened?

Funding from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was not renewed. Specifically, the current contract—endowed with around 28 million US dollars—ends today, according to MITRE, although official US websites cite the coming Wednesday as the end date.

Consequences according to MITRE:

• CVE assignment will be halted—new vulnerabilities will no longer be added
• Automated systems of Numbering Authorities will only function temporarily
• NVD faces disintegration, as it fully relies on CVE data
• CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) is also affected

Who is Affected?

Why This is a European Problem

Europe’s dependency on US security structures is systemic and dangerous. If CVE and NVD collapse, it will directly affect European companies—not just operationally, but also in terms of compliance, such as under the NIS2 Directive or during TISAX/ISO27001 audits.

The question now arises: How sovereign is our digital security really?

Strategic Lessons for Europe

1. Building Our Own Security Infrastructure Europe needs its own resilient ecosystem for vulnerability management. An EU-funded counterpart to the CVE/NVD infrastructure could be conceivable—ideally open, interoperable, and based on Open Source.

2. Stronger Support for European Initiatives Initiatives like the OpenSSF, OSV, or the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) Vulnerability Coordination Team must be strengthened—financially, organizationally, and politically.

3. Mandate for Redundancy in Security Operations Security leaders should no longer view CVE feeds as a Single Point of Truth. Alternative sources like OSV.dev, VulDB, Exploit-DB, or OpenCVE.io should be part of the toolbox.

4. Establishing Our Own CVE Numbering Authorities in Europe More European CVE Numbering Authorities (CNAs) are needed so that critical industries and research institutions can operate even in emergency mode.

Conclusion: Being Digitally Sovereign Means Being Prepared

The potential shutdown of the CVE infrastructure by the US government is more than a budget issue. It is a structural warning signal for anyone who not only consumes IT security but also is responsible for it. We must no longer outsource our security.

At ayedo, we are working to make digital sovereignty tangible—in IT modernization, vulnerability management, and security architecture. The current situation is an opportunity: for new, resilient, European approaches in cybersecurity.