vulnerability
Sign in to saveAlso known as computer vulnerability, computer security vulnerability, computing vulnerability, software vulnerability, security vulnerability
security weakness which allows an attacker to reduce a system's information assurance
~20 min read
Encyclopedic overview
In computer security, vulnerabilities are flaws or weaknesses in a system's design, implementation, or management that can be exploited by a malicious actor to compromise its security.
Despite a system administrator's best efforts to achieve complete correctness, virtually all hardware and software contain bugs where the system does not behave as expected. If the bug could enable an attacker to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of system resources, it can be considered a vulnerability. Insecure software development practices as well as design factors such as complexity can increase the burden of vulnerabilities.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “vulnerability” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.