Question 1

Does a sealed patch need to go through a full change-advisory review?

Accepted Answer

No. A sealed artifact is a drop-in replacement for the version you already run: same major version, same API, same behavior, and a diff that averages around six lines. Your change-control board reviews a security patch rather than a platform migration, which is what makes it schedulable.

Question 2

Can Seal patch libraries our vendor stopped maintaining?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Seal backports the security fix regardless of upstream support status, including end-of-life release lines with no active maintainer. That covers the legacy and acquired systems common in banking, where "no patch available" would otherwise be recorded as an accepted risk.

Question 3

What evidence do we get for examiners and internal audit?

Accepted Answer

Every fix carries a signed record: the CVE, the upstream commit the fix came from, the patched version, the deployment date, and the diff. It exports for DORA Article 25 testing evidence, PCI DSS 6.3.3 patch logs, FFIEC and OCC examination requests, and SOX ITGC change records.

Question 4

How fast does Seal remediate new vulnerabilities?

Accepted Answer

Seal backports each security fix as soon as it lands upstream, so sealed versions ship before the CVE, and before a fixed version is released. That gives vulnerability management a predictable schedule instead of a queue that only moves when the next upgrade window opens, which is the kind of timely, risk-based remediation NYDFS Part 500.7 expects you to demonstrate.

Question 5

Does patching in place satisfy PCI DSS 4.0 requirement 6.3.3?

Accepted Answer

Requirement 6.3.3 gives you one month to install critical patches. Because Seal backports the fix onto your current version, a patch exists the day the CVE is public rather than when the next major release ships, and the patch logs map directly to 6.3.3 evidence. Seal is not a GRC tool; it is the control that makes that remediation line true.

Question 6

How does Seal support DORA Article 25 resilience testing?

Accepted Answer

DORA Article 25 and the RTS on ICT risk require vulnerability assessment, open-source analysis and remediation as part of digital operational resilience testing, plus oversight of third-party software. Seal closes those findings on third-party code inside your own SLA and produces a per-CVE remediation record suitable for competent-authority review.

Question 7

Do we have to share our dependency manifests or CVE list to start?

Accepted Answer

No. The first step asks for none of it. We can sign your MNDA first and walk through the architecture using our environment rather than yours, or run a coverage check against Seal's public patch catalog from nothing more specific than ecosystems and rough version ranges, for example "Spring 4.x, .NET Framework, RHEL 7". No package names required.

Question 8

A critical CVE needs a major version upgrade, but we're in a change freeze. What do banks do?

Accepted Answer

Most banks separate the security fix from the upgrade. The options are a time-boxed risk exception backed by compensating controls (WAF rules, network isolation, disabling the vulnerable feature), an emergency change for the full upgrade, or applying only the security fix to the version already in production. Seal does the last: it backports the upstream fix onto your current version and ships it as a signed drop-in package, so the emergency change is a patch rather than a migration. PCI DSS 6.3.3 still expects critical patches within one month, so any exception should carry an expiry date.

Question 9

What should a bank do when no patch is available for a critical open source vulnerability?

Accepted Answer

First confirm exposure (is the component deployed, reachable, and listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog), then contain it and record a dated risk acceptance with an owner. "No patch available" usually means no fix for the version you run, or the project is end-of-life, even though a fix exists upstream in a newer release. Seal backports that upstream fix to your version, and where no community fix exists, Seal's researchers write one. Examiners expect a remediation plan, not an open-ended exception.

Question 10

Is marking an open source vulnerability "not reachable" enough for PCI DSS auditors and bank examiners?

Accepted Answer

Reachability is useful for prioritizing, but it is rarely accepted as a closure on its own. A "not exploitable" disposition only holds if your QSA or examiner accepts the evidence, and accepted risks still need an owner, compensating controls and an expiry date. Remediating removes the argument: a sealed package removes the vulnerable code from the version you run, the scanner finding closes, and you keep a signed attestation and VEX record as evidence.

Question 11

Our applications run on Java 8 and an end-of-life Spring version. How do we keep fixing CVEs without a migration?

Accepted Answer

The usual options are paid extended support for the framework or runtime, an internal fork, or overriding only the vulnerable dependency where a compatible fixed version exists. Seal covers the gap those leave: it backports fixes onto the exact versions you run, end-of-life or not. For example, spring-beans 4.3.30 is affected by Spring4Shell and the only upstream fix is Spring 5; Seal ships spring-beans 4.3.30+sp1 with just the security fix.

Question 12

How do we fix a vulnerable package across hundreds of repositories without chasing every app team?

Accepted Answer

Fix it once, centrally. With Seal, one Sealing Rule applies a sealed version to every project that uses the package, delivered through the Seal CLI in CI or through JFrog Artifactory or Sonatype Nexus, so the fix lands on each repository's next build with no code change and no upgrade pull request. This is how platform and DevSecOps teams hold a remediation SLA when the fix would otherwise depend on dozens of application teams.

Question 13

Our containers run on CentOS 7 and migrating the OS is a big project. What can we do now?

Accepted Answer

The options are rebasing onto a supported distribution, buying extended OS support, or reducing exposure with slimmer images and runtime hardening while you migrate. Seal OS seals the Linux packages in place: it installs patched packages on the CentOS 7 image you already run, with no rebase, so legacy services that break on a newer base OS keep running while their CVEs close.

Framework	Requirement	What Seal provides
DORAArt. 25, RTS on ICT risk	Vulnerability assessments, open-source analysis and remediation as part of digital operational resilience testing; oversight of third-party software.	Closes findings on third-party code within the entity's own SLA, with per-CVE remediation records suitable for competent-authority review.
PCI DSS 4.0Req. 6.3.1, 6.3.3	Identify vulnerabilities in bespoke and third-party software; install critical patches within one month of release.	A patch exists on day one, not when the next major version ships. Patch logs map directly to 6.3.3 evidence.
NYDFS Part 500500.7, 500.16	Vulnerability management with timely remediation based on risk; documented risk assessment.	Timely remediation by design: sealed versions ship before the CVE, and before a fixed version is released, so patching becomes a predictable process rather than a constant firefighting exercise.
FFIEC / OCCIT Handbook, Third-Party Risk	Patch management for internally developed and vendor-supplied software; evidence for examination.	Examination-ready inventory of which CVEs were fixed, how, and when, across in-house and vendor-delivered applications.
SOX ITGCChange management	Controlled, documented changes to systems supporting financial reporting.	A version-preserving patch is a minimal, reviewable change. Diff and signature are attached to every sealed package.

Fix open-source vulnerabilities without touching the platforms that move money

The patch exists upstream. Seal brings it to the version you run.

What banks need that developer-first tools can't provide.

No forced upgrade

End-of-life coverage

Audit evidence

Where Seal lands on the frameworks your examiners use

What Seal has already closed.

Nothing about your environment leaves your building.

Frequently asked questions