GLOSSARY · 39 TERMS
Asset inventory glossary: CAASM, CMDB and the terms vendors use
SHORT ANSWER
Plain definitions of 39 terms used in asset inventory and cyber asset attack surface management, from adapters and correlation to configuration items, passive discovery and the CISA KEV catalog. Where a term comes from a public catalog or standard, the definition links to it. Where a vendor uses its own term, we say so.
By The Inventory Desk · CAASM Finder · Published 2026-10-11
Desk research from public vendor pages read on 27 September and 11 October 2026. Profiles follow our published method; we did not run the products.
A
- Action Center
- Axonius's name for the place where enforcement sets and actions are configured, such as creating or updating records in other tools. A vendor term.
Source: Axonius documentation · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Axonius
- Adapter
- A connector that reads asset data from one tool through its API. Axonius uses the word for its connectors and its adapter directory lists 1,306 of them; other vendors say integration or connector.
Source: Axonius adapter directory · Read 11 Oct 2026
Related: Caasm aggregation
- Agent
- A small program installed on a device that reports what is on it, such as hardware, software and configuration, and keeps reporting when the device leaves the office network.
Related: Agent based inventory
- Agentless discovery
- Finding and profiling devices without installing software on them, by scanning the network, listening to traffic or reading other systems.
Related: Agent based inventory
- Asset
- Anything an organisation owns or runs that could be attacked or needs managing: devices, servers, cloud workloads, SaaS apps, identities, OT and IoT devices, domains and IP addresses.
Related: Approach
- Asset census
- This site's name for its comparison table of vendor facts. Not an industry term.
Related: Asset census
- Asset inventory
- A list of the assets an organisation has, with enough detail (owner, location, state, controls) to manage and secure them.
Related: Approach
- Attack surface
- Everything an attacker could reach and try to use, inside and outside the network.
Related: External attack surface
B
- Blast radius
- How far damage could spread from one compromised asset, worked out from the relationships between assets. JupiterOne describes blast-radius views on its graph.
Source: JupiterOne platform · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Jupiterone
C
- CAASM
- Cyber asset attack surface management: tools that connect to the security and IT systems you already run, merge their asset records into one inventory and show coverage gaps.
Related: Caasm aggregation
- CMDB
- Configuration management database: a system of record for configuration items and their relationships, which IT service management processes read and write.
Related: Cmdb centred
- CMDB reconciliation
- Comparing a CMDB with other sources to find records that are missing, stale or wrong, and correcting them. Axonius described a CMDB Reconciliation Workspace in July 2026.
Source: Axonius blog: Asset Cloud enhanced with an AI-ready data foundation · Read 27 Sep 2026
- Configuration item (CI)
- One record in a CMDB, such as a server, application or network device, together with its attributes and relationships.
Related: Cmdb centred
- Correlation
- Working out which records from different tools describe the same asset, and merging them into one record with every source's view attached.
- Coverage gap
- An asset that lacks something it should have, such as an EDR agent, a patch, an owner or a CMDB record. Finding coverage gaps is the main job of a CAASM query.
Related: Asking which devices lack a control
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System, maintained by FIRST: a numerical score for the severity of a vulnerability, with ratings from low to critical. It measures severity, not likelihood of exploitation.
Source: FIRST: Common Vulnerability Scoring System · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Exposure management
D
- Deduplication
- Removing duplicate records of the same asset. Lansweeper documents deduplication on MAC address, serial number and hostname.
Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
- Dependency mapping
- Recording which applications and services depend on which infrastructure, so a change shows what it affects. Device42 describes dependency mapping from mainframes to cloud containers.
Source: Device42 homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Device42
- Discovery cycle
- One full pass in which an inventory tool collects data from its sources. Axonius documents discovery cycles; freshness depends on how often they run.
Source: Axonius documentation · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Caasm aggregation
E
- EASM
- External attack surface management: finding the internet-facing assets an organisation exposes, including ones nobody listed, by looking from the outside.
Related: External attack surface
- EDR
- Endpoint detection and response: security software with an agent on each device that detects and responds to threats. Its console is one of the main sources a CAASM platform reads.
Related: Asking which devices lack a control
- Enforcement action
- An automated step an inventory platform takes when a condition is met, such as opening a ticket or updating a record in another tool. Axonius documents enforcement actions for ServiceNow.
Source: Axonius docs: ServiceNow adapter · Read 11 Oct 2026
Related: Axonius
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System, from FIRST: an estimate from 0 to 1 of the probability that a published vulnerability will be exploited in the next 30 days, published daily.
Source: FIRST: Exploit Prediction Scoring System · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Exposure management
- Exposure management
- Combining asset, vulnerability and threat data to decide which exposures to fix first and route the work to owners.
Related: Exposure management
I
- Identity (as an asset)
- A human or non-human account, such as a user, service account, API key or automation identity, tracked in the inventory like a device. Axonius describes discovering human and non-human identities.
Source: Axonius: identities · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Saas apps and identities as assets
- IoT
- Internet of things: connected devices such as cameras, printers, sensors and building systems, often unable to run an agent.
- ITSM
- IT service management: the processes and tools for incidents, changes, problems and requests. ServiceNow describes ITSM consolidated on one CMDB.
Source: ServiceNow IT Service Management · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Servicenow
K
- KEV catalog
- CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: vulnerabilities with a CVE ID, reliable evidence of active exploitation and a clear remediation action.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Exposure management
M
- MCP server
- A Model Context Protocol server lets AI tools query a system's data. Axonius announced an MCP server for its asset data in July 2026 (early access).
Source: Axonius blog: MCP server and AI agent · Read 27 Sep 2026
- MDM
- Mobile device management: software that enrols and manages laptops and phones, and a common source of device data for an inventory.
Related: Caasm aggregation
N
- Non-human identity
- An account used by software rather than a person, such as a service account, API key or automation identity.
Source: Axonius: identities · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Saas apps and identities as assets
O
- OT
- Operational technology: systems that run physical processes, such as industrial controllers and plant equipment, which are often fragile and should not be actively scanned.
P
- Passive discovery
- Identifying devices by listening to network traffic rather than sending probes, used for fragile OT and medical devices. runZero, Armis and Lansweeper describe passive discovery.
Source: runZero platform · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Agent based inventory
S
- Seed
- A starting point given to an external discovery tool, such as a domain, IP range or organisation name. Censys and Microsoft Defender EASM discover from seeds.
Source: Censys docs: seed your attack surface · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: External attack surface
- Service Graph Connector
- ServiceNow's name for certified connectors that bring third-party data into its CMDB. A vendor term.
Source: ServiceNow CMDB · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Servicenow
- Shadow IT
- Technology used without IT's knowledge or approval, such as an unsanctioned SaaS app or an unregistered cloud account.
Source: Axonius: SaaS applications · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Saas apps and identities as assets
- Source of truth
- The system whose record wins when sources disagree. For IT workflows it is often the CMDB; for security coverage it may be a correlated inventory.
- System of record
- The system an organisation treats as authoritative for a type of data. ServiceNow describes its CMDB as a single, trusted system of record for configuration item data.
Source: ServiceNow CMDB · Read 27 Sep 2026
Related: Cmdb centred
U
- Unmanaged device
- A device with no management or security agent, which agent-based tools cannot see and which often only network discovery or another source reveals.
Related: Agent based inventory