Retrieves the CVEs for a given year

get_cves_by_year.py

def fetch_cves_by_year(year, max_results=None, delay=6):
    """
    Fetch CVEs from the NVD API for a specific year.
    
    Args:
        year (int): The year to fetch CVEs for
        max_results (int, optional): Maximum number of results to return. If None, fetch all.
        delay (int, optional): Delay between API requests in seconds to respect rate limits
    
    Returns:
        list: List of CVE items
    """    
    current_date = datetime.now()
    current_year = datetime.now().year
    now = current_date.isoformat()

    # Create date range parameters for the specified year
    start_date = f"{year}-01-01T00:00:00.000"

    if year == current_year:
        end_date = current_date.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.000Z")
        print(f"End date set to: {end_date}")
    else:
        end_date = now
    
    # Initial parameters
    params = {
        "pubStartDate": start_date,
        "pubEndDate": end_date,
        "resultsPerPage": 2000  # Maximum allowed by the API
    }
    
    all_cves = []
    total_retrieved = 0
    
    print(f"Fetching CVEs for {year}...")
    
    while True:
        try:
            # Add a user-agent header to avoid being blocked
            headers = {
                "User-Agent": "NVD-CVE-Fetcher/1.0"
            }
            
            response = requests.get(base_url, params=params)
            print(f"URL: {response.url}")
            
            # Check if request was successful
            if response.status_code == 200:
                data = response.json()
                
                # Extract results
                vulnerabilities = data.get('vulnerabilities', [])
                
                # Get result metadata
                total_results = data.get('totalResults', 0)
                results_per_page = data.get('resultsPerPage', 0)
                start_index = data.get('startIndex', 0)
                
                # Add to our collection
                all_cves.extend(vulnerabilities)
                total_retrieved += len(vulnerabilities)
                
                print(f"Retrieved {total_retrieved} of {total_results} CVEs...")
                
                # Check if we have fetched all results or reached the max_results limit
                if total_retrieved >= total_results or (max_results and total_retrieved >= max_results):
                    break
                
                # Set up the next request with an updated startIndex
                params['startIndex'] = start_index + results_per_page
                
                # Respect rate limits (NVD API has a limit of 5 requests per 30 seconds for unauthenticated users)
                time.sleep(delay)

            elif response.status_code == 403:
                print("Error: API rate limit exceeded. Please try again later.")
                break
            elif response.status_code == 404:
                print("Error: API endpoint not found. Checking for diagnostic information...")
                print(f"Response: {response.text}")
                break
            else:
                print(f"Error: API returned status code {response.status_code}")
                print(f"Response: {response.text}")
                break
                
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
            break
    
    # Apply max_results limit if specified
    if max_results and len(all_cves) > max_results:
        all_cves = all_cves[:max_results]
    
    return all_cves