ServiceNow and XM Cyber: A New Model for Managing Risk

Security teams today live in two different realities. On one side, platforms like ServiceNow create order: every vulnerability has a ticket, every incident has a workflow, and everything ties back to the CMDB. On the other side, attackers create chaos. They don't follow workflows. They look for the easiest way in, chaining together whatever exposures they can find until they reach something valuable.

A vulnerability marked as "medium" in a ticketing system can still be the critical link in an attack path that leads straight to a company's crown jewels. In the ticketing system, the issue appears in isolation, yet attackers see how it connects to everything else. Without visibility into how exposures link together, teams risk wasting effort while the actual attack paths stay open.

This is where ServiceNow's integration with XM Cyber comes in. By layering attack graph analysis onto VR and SIR, the platform lets teams see each issue through an attacker's eyes. Tickets and incidents are no longer ranked only by severity. They are prioritized by how they could be used to compromise what matters most.

Extending ServiceNow with the Attacker's View

Security teams rely on ServiceNow to keep their heads above water. Vulnerability Response connects scanner findings to the CMDB, assigns ownership, and generates tickets that can be tracked until they're closed. Security Incident Response does the same for alerts, making sure every incident has a documented process, an owner, and a resolution.

The value is clear: issues don't slip through the cracks, IT and security stay aligned, and leaders get dashboards that show progress. It's a way to bring discipline to an environment where alerts never stop and the backlog never seems to shrink.

For a long time, though, one blind spot remained. ServiceNow could tell you what vulnerabilities existed, where they sat in the CMDB, and who owned the asset. What it couldn't show was how those issues connected in the real world. Attackers don't see a neatly ordered queue of tickets. They see stepping stones. A medium-severity flaw on a forgotten server might not look urgent in a dashboard, yet it could be the bridge that leads straight to a mission-critical system.

With its XM Cyber integration, ServiceNow adds this missing perspective. What was once just a list of issues to be worked down in order of severity is now enriched with the attacker's view - turning prioritization from guesswork into a true picture of risk.

Explainer: Attack Graphing

Attack graphing starts with a simple idea: attackers almost never rely on a single vulnerability. Instead, they string exposures together, moving step by step until they reach something of value. An attack graph makes that journey visible. It maps out misconfigurations, identity gaps, and vulnerabilities across the environment, then shows defenders how they could be combined into a path toward critical systems.

By continuously creating and updating attack graphs, XM Cyber reveals not just where weaknesses exist, but how they matter in context. A vulnerability flagged as low priority on its own may become urgent if it sits on the shortest path to a payment system or customer database.

For ServiceNow customers, this changes the conversation. With XM Cyber in the mix, tickets and incidents show how exposures connect across the environment and place assets at risk. That perspective introduces a new dimension in the way ServiceNow users can act on what matters most.

Adding the Fourth Dimension to ServiceNow

Vulnerability management in ServiceNow traditionally focused on three dimensions: severity, asset criticality, and exploitability. These dimensions provided a solid framework for ranking and addressing issues, yet they may not show how seemingly minor exposures can be chained together into a path toward critical assets. Conversely, they may give too much weight to seemingly critical issues, that in reality, don't lead to critical assets.

The integration with XM Cyber changes that. Attack graphing adds the missing fourth dimension: the real-world impact of exposures on business-critical assets. Now, ServiceNow tickets and incidents now show how issues connect across the environment, what they place at risk, and which fixes will actually block the paths that matter.

What does this look like in practice? ServiceNow uses XM Cyber to:

• Reveal the exposures behind incidents - Incidents in SIR are enriched with attack-graph context, giving analysts a clear view of impact from the start.
• Sharpen vulnerability tickets - VR tickets are enriched with XM Cyber risk scores, making it clear which fixes cut off attack paths and which can wait.
• Enrich the CMDB - The Service Graph Connector pulls in XM Cyber findings, giving every asset a richer risk profile.
• Inform posture control - Security Posture Control incorporates XM Cyber context. Exposures and assets are measured not only by technical severity but also by their place in attack paths.

The end result is a platform that moves beyond managing issues. With XM Cyber, ServiceNow manages risk itself - showing teams where to act first to stop attackers.

From Workflows to Real Risk Reduction

With XM Cyber adding attack-path context, ServiceNow enriches its foundation. It has long been the place where vulnerabilities and incidents are logged, assigned, and tracked with discipline. That foundation now extends into reducing risk.

As a result, teams using ServiceNow with XM Cyber can address the exposures that give attackers a path to critical systems rather than spending cycles on issues that look urgent but pose little danger. IT and security work more smoothly because tickets carry clear evidence of why a fix is needed and what business process it protects. Leaders measure progress by how exposures go down, not by how patching goes up.

This integration reshapes how ServiceNow is used. With XM Cyber's attack graphing embedded into VR and SIR, the platform infuses incident management with attack path-powered exposure management. The result is faster remediation, less wasted effort, and greater confidence that critical assets are protected. Together, ServiceNow and XM Cyber are defining a new model for managing risk.

About the Author: This article was written by Elad Niddam Nir, Posture Product Lead at XM Cyber. Elad is an experienced product leader with a background in network and cybersecurity. He previously worked at Check Point, where he managed the Security Posture product domain and strategic partnerships.