# NVD CVE Search | CVSS & Source Evidence (`peerless_columbine/independent-nvd-cve-search`) Actor

Search official NVD CVEs by keyword, ID, CPE, severity and publication date. Export normalized scores with source hashes, coverage limits and severity/year summaries.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/peerless_columbine/independent-nvd-cve-search.md
- **Developed by:** [tingyou333 zhuang](https://apify.com/peerless_columbine) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 delivered cves

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## NVD CVE Search with Source Evidence

Search the official NVD vulnerability API by keyword, CVE ID, product CPE, CVSS v3 severity, and publication date. Export one normalized row per CVE plus a coverage report and source evidence for each delivered page.

**This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.**

The NVD API itself is free. This Actor packages pagination, date windows, normalized exports, source provenance, and explicit delivery limits for scheduled vulnerability research and data pipelines.

### Start a search

Omitted input uses `keywordSearch: "log4j"`, `pubStartDate: "2026-01-01"`, `keywordExactMatch: false`, and `maxResults: 100`. The end date is the current UTC date. The default is a fixed publication-date query, not a moving update monitor.

For historical Log4Shell records:

```json
{"keywordSearch":"log4j","pubStartDate":"2021-12-01","pubEndDate":"2021-12-31","maxResults":100}
```

For a direct lookup:

```json
{"cveId":"CVE-2021-44228"}
```

A CVE ID takes precedence over keyword, date, CPE, severity, and exact-match controls. Ignored controls are listed in the report.

For a product and severity query, clear the keyword explicitly:

```json
{"keywordSearch":"","cpeName":"cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j","cvssV3Severity":"CRITICAL","pubStartDate":"2021-12-01","pubEndDate":"2021-12-31","maxResults":100}
```

### Inputs

| Input | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `keywordSearch` | NVD English-description keyword query. Empty string clears the default. |
| `cveId` | One `CVE-YYYY-NNNN...` identifier. Uses direct ID lookup. |
| `cpeName` | CPE 2.3 product prefix or exact version. Product prefixes use the official `virtualMatchString` filter; specified versions use `cpeName`, padded with wildcard attributes when abbreviated. |
| `cvssV3Severity` | `LOW`, `MEDIUM`, `HIGH`, or `CRITICAL`. This is the NVD v3 filter; output scoring follows the selection policy below. |
| `pubStartDate` | Inclusive `YYYY-MM-DD`; default `2026-01-01`. Empty string disables the date filter. |
| `pubEndDate` | Inclusive `YYYY-MM-DD`; default current UTC date when a start date exists. For an end-only range starting at `1970-01-01`, explicitly set `pubStartDate: ""`; omitting it retains the default start date. |
| `keywordExactMatch` | Exact phrase flag; requires a nonempty keyword. Default false. |
| `maxResults` | Maximum distinct delivered CVEs, 1–10,000. Default 100. |
| `batchSize` | Records requested per source page, 1–2,000. Default 100. |
| `maxRequests` | Maximum attempted source requests. Default 1,000; maximum 10,000. |
| `maxRunSeconds` | Stop admitting new requests or data writes after this time budget. Default 3,600; maximum 7,200. Platform run timeouts also apply. |

Dates use full calendar-day bounds. Longer ranges are divided into contiguous windows of at most 120 calendar days. Pages advance by source offset. Requests wait at least 6.5 seconds after the previous response, without a key or proxy. There are no automatic source retries.

### Dataset and evidence

Every row includes these 18 fields:

| Fields | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `cveId`, `description`, `status` | CVE identity, English description, and NVD analysis status. |
| `published`, `lastModified` | Source calendar dates as `YYYY-MM-DD`. Full timestamps remain in page evidence. |
| `cvssScore`, `severity`, `cvssVector` | Score, severity, and vector from the same selected assessment. |
| `attackVector`, `attackComplexity`, `privilegesRequired`, `userInteraction` | CVSS v3.1 dimensions; null for a selected v2 assessment. |
| `exploitabilityScore`, `impactScore` | Original selected subscores, without clamping to a different CVSS version's range. |
| `weaknesses` | Stable, deduplicated CWE codes, excluding NVD placeholder codes. |
| `references` | First ten source reference URLs, preserving order and duplicate positions. No linked content is fetched. |
| `sourceIdentifier`, `extractedAt` | Source organization and collection time in UTC. |

Select Primary CVSS v3.1, otherwise the first v3.1 assessment; then fall back to Primary v2 or first v2. CVSS v3.0/v4 assessments do not replace this policy. Their presence is disclosed in provenance. Missing optional values are null; explicitly empty collections remain empty. V2 access/authentication values are kept in provenance and are not relabeled as v3 dimensions. A missing score does not mean a vulnerability is harmless.

`OUTPUT` and `RUN_REPORT` contain coverage status, stop reason, acknowledged delivery count, source totals and drift, severity/publication-year summaries, billing bookkeeping, and page evidence keys. `source-page-NNNNN` artifacts contain observed rows, raw-body and canonical-record SHA-256 hashes, scoring version/source, and full source timestamps. An evidence artifact records observations and intended delivery; it is not proof that the Dataset write completed.

Export Dataset rows through Apify's JSON, CSV, or Excel downloads and API. Platform schedules, webhooks, and integrations can repeat the same input. This Actor has no persistent update watermark or asset-exposure assessment.

### Limits, failures, and fees

**$0.001 per delivered CVE ($1 per 1,000)**, with zero startup, empty-result, duplicate, or separate Dataset event fee. Use Apify's maximum total charge setting to cap event fees; source requests are bounded separately. Platform run usage is included in this tariff. Downloading, exporting, retaining, or accessing data outside the run may have separate platform charges under your Apify plan.

`complete: true` means all requested date windows and pages were exhausted. A result, request, fee, or time limit that leaves requested coverage unfinished produces `complete: false` with a reason. If the last page exhausts the last requested window exactly at the result cap, `complete: true` is still correct. A valid empty NVD response is distinct from 403, 429, timeout, invalid JSON, or changed source structure. Source failures fail the run and retain earlier acknowledged rows. If a repeated CVE changes during a scan, collection stops and reports the changed ID instead of silently discarding its update.

If a storage or charge acknowledgment is unknown, the Actor stops without replaying that mutation. Partial writes and SDK bookkeeping must be reconciled against the Dataset and platform run charges. Existing run reports prevent automatic resumption within the same run. A fresh run is a separate scan and may incur new charges.

Collection is not an atomic database snapshot. NVD counts and records can change during pagination. CPE matches do not establish that a particular asset/version is affected; reference links are not verified patch or exploit evidence. Responses must be JSON with identity encoding and at most 16 MiB. Redirects are rejected. No API key, login, arbitrary source URL, or advisory downloads are accepted.

Cloud runs require a finite platform timeout. Source requests and pacing stop admitting work at that deadline, including during any platform shutdown window; earlier Dataset rows remain saved. The runtime rejects disabled or enlarged Python integer-parsing limits and disables redirects for SDK writes, so a redirected write is never automatically replayed.

Official references: [NVD vulnerability API](https://nvd.nist.gov/developers/vulnerabilities), [NVD developer guidance](https://nvd.nist.gov/developers/start-here), [NIST reuse notices](https://www.nist.gov/copyrights-disclaimers).

# Actor input Schema

## `keywordSearch` (type: `string`):

Empty string clears the default keyword. Multiple words follow NVD keyword semantics.

## `cveId` (type: `string`):

One CVE ID. Overrides keyword, date, CPE, severity and exact-match controls; ignored inputs are reported.

## `cpeName` (type: `string`):

Product prefixes use virtualMatchString; specified versions use cpeName. Example cpe:2.3:a:apache:log4j.

## `cvssV3Severity` (type: `string`):

Optional NVD v3 severity filter. Omit to include all severities.

## `pubStartDate` (type: `string`):

Inclusive YYYY-MM-DD. Empty string disables dates. Fixed default, not a rolling update watermark.

## `pubEndDate` (type: `string`):

Inclusive YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to current UTC date when a start date exists. End-only starts in1970.

## `keywordExactMatch` (type: `boolean`):

Requires nonempty keyword. Uses the official exact-phrase flag.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Delivery cap; hitting it does not mean source exhaustion.

## `batchSize` (type: `integer`):

API page size, independently bounded by remaining result and fee capacity.

## `maxRequests` (type: `integer`):

No source retries. Limits all date windows and duplicate-only pages.

## `maxRunSeconds` (type: `integer`):

Stops admitting new requests or Dataset writes; status persistence may finish afterwards. Platform timeout also applies.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywordSearch": "log4j",
  "pubStartDate": "2026-01-01",
  "keywordExactMatch": false,
  "maxResults": 100,
  "batchSize": 100,
  "maxRequests": 1000,
  "maxRunSeconds": 3600
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywordSearch": "log4j",
    "pubStartDate": "2026-01-01"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("peerless_columbine/independent-nvd-cve-search").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "keywordSearch": "log4j",
    "pubStartDate": "2026-01-01",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("peerless_columbine/independent-nvd-cve-search").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywordSearch": "log4j",
  "pubStartDate": "2026-01-01"
}' |
apify call peerless_columbine/independent-nvd-cve-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,peerless_columbine/independent-nvd-cve-search"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/0MFGdxozMY3F8GaLU/builds/5SwXCXtLd3WK2toZU/openapi.json