--- title: State synchronization between change requests and remediation tasks description: There is a synchronized relationship between the State fields of remediation tasks \(VULs\) and the State fields of change requests \(CHG\) in the Vulnerability Response product. As a change request moves through its life cycle, it also moves the state of any related remediation tasks automatically. locale: en-US canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/security-management/vulnerability-response/vuln\_change\_mgmnt\_state\_synch.html release: australia product: Vulnerability Response classification: vulnerability-response topic_type: concept last_updated: "2026-03-12" reading_time_minutes: 5 breadcrumb: [Change Management tasks for Vulnerability Response, Vulnerability Response remediation overview, Vulnerability Response, Unified Security Exposure Management, Security Operations] --- # State synchronization between change requests and remediation tasks There is a synchronized relationship between the State fields of remediation tasks \(VULs\) and the State fields of change requests \(CHG\) in the Vulnerability Response product. As a change request moves through its life cycle, it also moves the state of any related remediation tasks automatically. ## State synchronization The remediation task record is referred to as a VUL in the following sections. In previous versions of Vulnerability Response, remediation tasks were called, vulnerability groups \(VG\). In the following images, VG= remediation task, or a VUL record. State synchronization is enabled by a system property \(sn\_vul.cr\_state\_synch\) by default in your instance when you download the Vulnerability Response application. When state synchronization is enabled, the CHG State field changes the remediation task State field automatically in the following cases: - When a new CHG is created for a remediation task \(VUL\), if it is not in `Awaiting Implementation`, the VUL state moves forward to `Awaiting Implementation`. - When an existing CHG is associated to a VUL, if it is not in `Awaiting Implementation`, the VUL state moves forward to `Awaiting Implementation`. - After the tasks on a CHG are completed \(`Implemented`\), and the CHG is moved to the `Review` state, the VUL moves forward to `Resolved`. For more information and examples of state synchronization, see the following sections. **Note:** You can still manually move CHGs and VULs through the states of their life cycles on their respective records with state synchronization enabled, but when the system registers that a CHG has changed its state, or you add a CHG or remove it from a VUL, state synchronization potentially can override your manual intervention. However, change requests states do not automatically move the VUL from the `Closed` or `Deferred` states. ## Forward state synchronization The following image illustrates how CHG states automatically move VUL states in a forward life cycle, that is, from `Open` to `Resolved`. \[Omitted image "vg\_cr\_synch.png"\] Alt text: How CR states drive VG states. You can create new change requests for any remediation task in a state other than `Closed`. State synchronization automatically moves the VUL bi-directionally through the `Open`, `Under Investigation`, `Awaiting Implementation`, and `Resolved` states. This movement is based on certain values of the state field on the change request. State synchronization between the change request and the remediation task is invoked automatically unless the check box \(`Add CIs to CR`\) is displayed on a form and you choose to clear the check box. The VUL does not move forward to `Resolved` when a CHG is in its open states. Any CHG in states prior to `Review` in its life cycle such as, `New`, `Assess`, `Authorize`, `Scheduled` or `Implement` as shown in the preceding figure are considered open states for the CHG. Open states do not move the state field on the VUL, because investigations or tasks on the CHG are not completed. State synchronization is invoked when a CHG is created for, or associated to, the VUL, or the state of an existing relationship changes on the CHG. The completed CHG states are `Review` and successfully `Closed`. When a CHG is closed successfully, its closed codes are: `Successful`, or `Successful with issues`, in which case the VUL moves forward to `Resolved`. ## Backward state synchronization As a CHG is processed during its life cycle, it may be canceled at some point. In this case, if the CHG is `Cancelled`, or `Closed` \(with a close code of `Unsuccessful`\), the VUL automatically moves back to `Under Investigation`. The VUL moves back to `Under Investigation`, because there is no active plan to remediate the vulnerability. If a VUL is in a `Resolved` state​, and you create a new CHG or associate it to an existing CHG in one of the initial open states​, the VUL automatically transitions back to `Awaiting Implementation`​. The VUL moves back to this state, because more work is now assigned to the CHG. ## VULs with more than one CHG If a VUL in `Awaiting Implementation` has more than one CHG associated with it, state synchronization is based on the status of the CHG in the earliest state of its life cycle. For example, a VUL has four CHGs associated with it, CHG1, CHG2, CHG3, and CHG4 as shown in the following table. |CHG number|CHG state| |----------|---------| |1|Implement| |2|Canceled| |3|Closed \(close code of `Unsuccessful`\)| |4|Closed \(close code `Successful`\)| State synchronization between the CHG and the VUL in this case is based on CHG1, which is in the earliest state of the four CHGs, \(`Implement`\). In this case, the VUL remains in `Awaiting Implementation`. In another example, if a VUL is in the `Resolved` state and has an existing CHG that has been implemented and is in the `Review` state, and a new CHG is created, the VUL moves back from `Resolved` to `Awaiting Implementation`. State synchronization is based on the CHG in the `New` state, which is the CHG in the earliest state. |CHG number|CHG state| |----------|---------| |1|Review| |2|New| Additionally, when VULs have more than one CHG, the state of the VUL transitions automatically in the following cases: - When a CHG moves forward to `Review`, if all other CHGs associated with the VUL are in `Review` or `Closed` states \(with a successful close code\), ​the VUL automatically transitions to `Resolved`​. Any other related CHGs that are canceled or closed unsuccessfully are ignored. - When a CHG moves to `Cancelled` or ​`Closed` \(close code of `Unsuccessful`\), if all other CHGs associated with the VUL are in the same state, then the VUL automatically transitions back to `Under Investigation​`. For more information about remediation task states and what you can do in each state, see [Vulnerability Response remediation task and vulnerable item states](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/security-management/vulnerability-response/vulnerabillity-states.md).