Cortex XDR Connector

The following is not supported in Tenable FedRAMP Moderate environments. For more information, see the Tenable FedRAMP Product Offering.

Cortex XDR is a detection and response app that natively integrates network, endpoint, and cloud data to stop sophisticated attacks. It accurately detects threats with behavioral analytics and reveals the root cause to speed up investigations.

Tip: For more information on how third-party integrations work, see Connectors.

Connector Details

Details Description

Supported products

Cortex XDR

Category

Endpoint Security

Ingested data

Assets and Findings

Ingested Asset Classes

Devices

Integration type

UNI directional (data is transferred from the Connector to Tenable Exposure Management in one direction)

Supported version and type

SaaS (latest)

Prerequisites and User Permissions

Before you begin configuring the connector, make sure to:

  • Have Cortex XDR Pro license per endpoint

Add a Connector

To add a new connector:

  1. In the left navigation menu, click Connectors.

    The Connectors page appears.

  2. In the upper-right corner, click Add new connector.

    The Connector Library appears.

  3. In the search box, type the name of the connector.

  4. On the tile for the connector, click Connect.

    The connector configuration options appear.

Configure the Connector

To configure the connector:

  1. (Optional) In the Connector's Name text box, type a descriptive name for the connector.

  2. (Optional) To use a preconfigured on-prem connector to connect to this connector, from the Gateway drop-down, select the on-prem connector you want to use for the connector. Otherwise, select Don't use gateway.

    Note: For information about configuring a gateway, see Tenable On-Prem Connector.

  3. Paste the FQDN, API Key, and API ID values you generated in Cortex XDR.

  4. Data pulling configuration: This configuration has dynamic settings tailored to the specific connector and integration type. Below are the configurations relevant to this connector.

    • In the Asset Retention text box, type the number of days after which you want assets to be removed from Tenable Exposure Management. If an asset has not been detected or updated within the specified number of days, it is automatically removed from the application, ensuring your asset inventory is current and relevant.

      Tip: For more information, see Asset Retention.

    • For the Immediately remove assets when their status is option, choose to automatically remove assets that reach a certain asset status, for example, LOST.

  1. Click the Test Connectivity button to verify that Tenable Exposure Management can connect to your Cortex XDR instance.

    • In the Test connectivity section, click the Test Connectivity button to verify that Tenable Exposure Management can connect to your connector instance.

      • A successful connectivity test confirms that the platform can connect to the connector instance. It does not, however, guarantee that the synchronization process will succeed, as additional syncing or processing issues may arise.

      • If the connectivity test fails, an error message with details about the issue appears. Click Show tests for more information about the exact error.

  2. In the Connector scheduling section, configure the time and day(s) on which you want connector syncs to occur.

    Tip: For more information, see Connector Scheduling.

  3. Click Create. Tenable Exposure Management begins syncing the connector. The sync can take some time to complete.

  4. To confirm the sync is complete, do the following:

Locate Connector Assets in Tenable Exposure Management

As the connector discovers assets, Tenable Exposure Management ingests those devices for reporting.

To view assets by connector:

  1. In Tenable Exposure Management, navigate to the Assets page.

  2. In the Filters section, under 3rd Party Connectors, click the connector name for which you want to view assets.

    The asset list updates to show only assets from the selected connector.

  3. Click on any asset to view Asset Details.

Locate Connector Weaknesses in Tenable Exposure Management

As the connector discovers weaknesses, Tenable Exposure Management ingests those weaknesses for reporting.

To view weaknesses by connector: 

  1. In Tenable Exposure Management, navigate to the Weaknesses page.

  2. In the Filters section, under 3rd Party Connectors, click the connector name for which you want to view weaknesses.

    The weaknesses list updates to show only weaknesses from the selected connector.

  3. Click on any weakness to view Weakness Details.

Locate Connector Findings in Tenable Exposure Management

As the connector discovers individual findings, Tenable Exposure Management ingests those findings for reporting.

To view findings by connector:

  1. In Tenable Exposure Management, navigate to the Findings page.

  2. In the Filters section, under 3rd Party Connectors, click the connector name for which you want to view findings

    The findings list updates to show only assets from the selected connector.

  3. Click on any asset to view Finding Details.

Data Mapping

Exposure Management integrates with the connector via API to retrieve relevant weakness and asset data, which is then mapped into the Exposure Management system. The following tables outline how fields and their values are mapped from the connector to Exposure Management.

Device Mapping

Tenable Exposure Management UI Field

Cortex XDR Field
Unique Identifier endpoint_id

Asset - External Identifier or

Asset - Provider Identifier

 endpoint_id
Asset - Name endpoint_name

Asset - IPv4 Addresses

Asset - IPv6 Addresses

 id
Asset - Operating Systems operating_system
Asset - Host Fully Qualified DNS domain
Asset - MAC Addresses mac_address
Asset - First Observation Date first_seen
Asset - Last Observed At last_seen

Asset - External Tags

tags

Asset Custom Attributes

os_version

os_type

users

Finding Mapping

Tenable Exposure Management UI Field

Cortex XDR Field
Unique Identifier endpoint_name + cve_id
Finding Name name
CVEs name
Severity Driver severity_score
Description description

Finding Severity Mapping

Tenable Exposure Management Severity

Cortex XDR Score

Critical

Severity: Critical

High

Severity: High

Medium

Severity: Medium

Low

Severity:Low

Note:For Cortex XDR, Tenable uses the severity_score field to determine severity.

Finding Status Mapping

Tenable Exposure Management Status

Cortex XDR Status

Active

vulnerable

Status Update Mechanisms

Every day, Tenable Exposure Management syncs with the vendor's platform to receive updates on existing findings and assets and to retrieve new ones (if any were added).

The table below describes how the status update mechanism works in the connector for findings and assets ingested into Tenable Exposure Management.

Update Type in Exposure Management

Mechanism (When?)

Archiving Assets

  • Asset that appears in Tenable Exposure Management and isn't returned on the next connector sync

  • Asset not seen for X days according to "Last Seen". See Asset Retention]

Change a Finding status from "Active" to "Fixed"

  • Finding no longer appears in the scan findings
Note: Updates on the vendor side are reflected in Tenable Exposure Management only when the next scheduled connector sync time is complete (once a day).

Uniqueness Criteria

Tenable Exposure Management uses defined uniqueness criteria to determine whether an ingested asset or finding should be recognized as a distinct record. These criteria help define how assets and findings are identified and counted from each connector.

Tip:  Read all about Third-Party Data Deduplication in Tenable Exposure Management .

The uniqueness criteria for this connector are as follows:

Data

Uniqueness Criteria

Asset

endpoint_id

Finding endpoint_name + cve_id

API Endpoints in Use

API version: v1.0
Required Permissions

https://api-amadeus-sas.xdr.eu.paloaltonetworks.com/public_api/v1/endpoints/get_endpoint

 Cortex XDR Pro license per endpoint

https://api-amadeus-sas.xdr.eu.paloaltonetworks.com/public_api/v1/xql/start_xql_query

Detections

 Cortex XDR Pro license per endpoint

Support Limitations and Expected Behavior

This section outlines any irregularities, expected behaviors, or limitations related to integration of the connector and Exposure Management. It also highlights details about ingested and non-ingested data to clarify data handling and functionality within this integration.

Currently, the integration does not support environments with more than 1,000 endpoints.

If a sync is attempted in an environment exceeding this limit, the process will fail. A corresponding error message will appear in the logs, indicating that the endpoint count exceeded the supported threshold.

Data Validation

This section shows how to validate and compare data between Tenable Exposure Management and the CONNECTORX platform.

Asset Data Validation

Objective: Ensure that the number of endpoints in Cortex XDR matches the number of devices displayed in Exposure Management.

In Cortex XDR:

  1. Navigate to the All Endpoints view.



  2. Review the total number of endpoints displayed at the top of the All Endpoints page.

In Tenable Exposure Management:

  1. Locate your connector assets.

  2. Compare the total number of assets between Cortex XDR and Tenable Exposure Management.

Expected outcome: The total numbers returned in Cortex XDR and Exposure Management should match.

Important! Cortex XDR may include multiple endpoints with the same name. These are treated as distinct assets and will appear as separate entries in Exposure Management.

If an asset is not visible in Exposure Management, check the following conditions:

  • The asset was archived because it did not return in the connector’s most recent sync.

  • The asset was archived based on its Last Seen timestamp, according to the configured retention period.

    Tip: To learn more on how assets and findings change status, see Status Update Mechanisms.

Finding Data Validation

Objective: Ensure that the number of active findings in Cortex XDR matches the findings displayed in Exposure Management.

In Cortex XDR:

  1. Navigate to Assets > Vulnerability Assessment.

  2. Each row represents a vulnerability assessment.

  3. Use the Affected Endpoints field to view the number of findings associated with each vulnerability.

  4. To validate the total number of findings, sum the Affected Endpoints values across all assessments. This total should match the number of active findings in Exposure Management.

In Tenable Exposure Management:

  1. Locate your connector findings.

  2. Compare the total number of findings between Cortex XDR and Tenable Exposure Management.

Expected outcome: The total number of active findings in Tenable Exposure Management should match the combined count of affected endpoints across all vulnerability assessments in Cortex XDR.

If a finding is missing from Exposure Management or no longer active, check the following conditions:

  • The finding is marked as Fixed and appears under the Fixed state on the Findings screen

  • The finding no longer appears because its related asset was archived.

    Tip: To learn more on how assets and findings are archived or change status, see Status Update Mechanisms.