Ghost Assets in Vulnerability Management: How Identification, Merging and Asset History Eliminate Anomalies in MaxPatrol VM
Positive Technologies experts explain how infrastructure changes create duplicate, merged and phantom assets that distort vulnerability management. The article details three core mechanisms inside MaxPatrol VM: unique asset identification across scan sources, non-destructive merging of new and existing data, and full lifecycle history with configurable aging policies. It describes how the system distinguishes assets using prioritized keys such as system ID, FQDN, MAC address and VM ID, then applies recursive merging rules that respect multiple data sources. Policies allow teams to set freshness and obsolescence thresholds, automatically hiding assets after 90 days while preserving historical snapshots for PDQL queries. The piece also covers practical cloning and partial-scan scenarios that can produce misleading duplicates or lingering collections.
HabrOct 9, 2026Translated from Russian