OVAL includes a language used to encode system details, and an assortment of content repositories held throughout the community.
Each definition in the OVAL Repository determines whether a specified software vulnerability, configuration issue, program, or patch is present on a system.
The OVAL Language standardizes the three main steps of the assessment process: representing configuration information of systems for testing; analyzing the system for the presence of the specified machine state (vulnerability, configuration, patch state, etc.
It is not a fully functional scanning tool and has a simplistic user interface, but running the OVAL Interpreter will provide you with a list of result values for each evaluated definition.
The awards serve as public recognition of an organization’s support of the OVAL Repository and as an incentive to others to contribute.
Awards are granted to organizations that have made a significant contribution of new or modified content each quarter.