[FEATURE] [CRITICAL] Autonomous Security Vulnerability Management & Patching

[Suyashd999]

Security Vulnerability Management & Autonomous Patching

Problem

Security vulnerabilities in dependencies are the #1 attack vector for Linux systems. According to recent CVE data:

• 25,000+ new CVEs are published annually
• 60% of breaches exploit known, unpatched vulnerabilities
• Average time from CVE publication to exploit: 15 days
• Average enterprise patching cycle: 102 days ❌

Cortex Linux currently has zero automated security monitoring. Users must:

1. Manually check each of their 2,000+ installed packages
2. Cross-reference against CVE databases (NVD, OSV, etc.)
3. Determine which updates fix which vulnerabilities
4. Hope they don't miss a critical exploit

This is unacceptable for an AI-native package manager.

Real-World Impact

Vulnerability	Impact
Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228)	Organizations without automated scanning took weeks to identify affected systems
Heartbleed (CVE-2014-0160)	OpenSSL vulnerability affected 17% of "secure" web servers
Monthly kernel patches	Linux releases security updates monthly — missing one can expose the entire system

Current State

# Today: Manual, error-prone, incomplete
$ apt list --upgradable | grep security  # Doesn't show CVE severity
$ apt-cache policy openssl               # No vulnerability context

Users are flying blind.

---

Proposed Solution

Implement continuous vulnerability scanning with autonomous patching capabilities.

Core Features

Feature	Description
Vulnerability Scanner	Continuously monitor installed packages against CVE databases
Autonomous Patcher	Automatically patch vulnerabilities with safety controls
Security Scheduler	Monthly/weekly/daily automated security maintenance
Rollback Support	All patches tracked in history, fully reversible

Example Commands

# Scan all installed packages for vulnerabilities
cortex security scan --all

# Output:
# 🔍 Scanning: 2636/2636 (100%) | Vulnerabilities found: 47
# 
# 📊 Scan Results:
#   🔴 Critical: 3
#   🟠 High: 12
#   🟡 Medium: 24
#   🟢 Low: 8

# Scan specific package
cortex security scan --package openssl

# Show only critical vulnerabilities
cortex security scan --critical

# Autonomous patching (dry-run by default for safety)
cortex security patch --scan-and-patch --strategy critical_only

# Actually apply patches
cortex security patch --scan-and-patch --strategy critical_only --apply

# Set up monthly automated patching (Linux standard practice)
cortex security schedule create monthly-patch --frequency monthly --enable-patch
cortex security schedule install-timer monthly-patch

Safety Controls

Control	Description
Dry-run default	Shows what would be patched without making changes
Whitelist/Blacklist	Control which packages can be auto-patched
Severity filtering	Only patch above threshold (e.g., critical only)
Rollback support	All patches recorded in history, reversible
Systemd integration	Native Linux scheduling via timers

Data Sources

Source	Purpose	Speed
OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)	Primary database, comprehensive	Fast
NVD (National Vulnerability Database)	Fallback for critical packages	Slower
24-hour caching	Reduces API load	Instant (cached)

---

Why This Matters

For Cortex Linux

1. Differentiation: No other package manager offers AI-assisted security scanning + natural language patching
2. Enterprise requirement: Automated compliance for SOC2, ISO27001, HIPAA
3. User safety: Protect users from the 25,000+ CVEs published each year
4. Monthly Linux patching: Standard practice — we should make it effortless

Industry Statistics

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    THE PATCHING GAP                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│   CVE Published ──────────────────────────────────────────▶ │
│        │                                                    │
│        │  15 days   ┌─────────────────┐                     │
│        ├───────────▶│ Exploit Created │                     │
│        │            └─────────────────┘                     │
│        │                                                    │
│        │  102 days  ┌─────────────────┐                     │
│        └───────────▶│ Enterprise Patch│  ← TOO SLOW!        │
│                     └─────────────────┘                     │
│                                                             │
│   WITH CORTEX:                                              │
│        │  < 24 hrs  ┌─────────────────┐                     │
│        └───────────▶│ Auto-Detected   │  ← FIXED            │
│                     └─────────────────┘                     │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

Acceptance Criteria

• cortex security scan --all scans installed packages against CVE databases
• cortex security scan --package <name> scans specific package
• cortex security scan --critical shows only critical vulnerabilities
• cortex security patch --scan-and-patch creates patch plan (dry-run)
• cortex security patch --scan-and-patch --apply applies patches
• cortex security schedule create creates automated schedules
• cortex security schedule list lists all schedules
• cortex security schedule run <id> manually runs a schedule
• cortex security schedule install-timer installs systemd timer
• All patches recorded in installation history with rollback support
• Configurable whitelist/blacklist for packages
• Severity filtering (critical_only, high_and_above, automatic)
• Progress output during long scans
• Caching to avoid repeated API calls

---

Technical Implementation

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        CORTEX SECURITY                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  ┌──────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌───────────┐ │
│  │ Vulnerability    │───▶│ Autonomous       │───▶│ Security  │ │
│  │ Scanner          │    │ Patcher          │    │ Scheduler │ │
│  └────────┬─────────┘    └────────┬─────────┘    └─────┬─────┘ │
│           │                       │                     │       │
│           ▼                       ▼                     ▼       │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │                    Installation History                   │  │
│  │                    (Rollback Support)                     │  │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
              ┌───────────────────────────────┐
              │     External CVE Databases    │
              │  • OSV (Open Source Vulns)    │
              │  • NVD (National Vuln DB)     │
              └───────────────────────────────┘

Files

File	Purpose
cortex/vulnerability_scanner.py	Scans packages against CVE databases
cortex/autonomous_patcher.py	Applies patches with safety controls
cortex/security_scheduler.py	Manages scheduled scans/patches
cortex/cli.py	CLI integration (cortex security ...)

Configuration

Settings stored in ~/.cortex/patcher_config.json:

{
  "whitelist": ["nginx", "openssl"],
  "blacklist": ["linux-image-generic"],
  "min_severity": "medium"
}

---

Priority

🔴 Critical

References

• OSV API Documentation
• NVD API Documentation
• CVSS v3.1 Specification
• Linux Security Updates Best Practices