Vulnerability
A vulnerability is a weakness or flaw in a system's design, implementation, configuration, or operation that could be exploited by a threat actor to compromise the system's security.
A cybersecurity vulnerability is any weakness that could be leveraged to gain unauthorized access to a system, disrupt its operation, or compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its data. Vulnerabilities can exist in software code, system configurations, network architectures, business processes, or even in human behavior. They are the foundation upon which cyberattacks are built.
Vulnerabilities are classified in several ways. By origin, they may be design flaws (architectural weaknesses), implementation bugs (coding errors), configuration mistakes (insecure defaults or misconfigurations), or operational weaknesses (inadequate processes). By impact, they are scored using systems like CVSS and categorized using taxonomies like the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), which provides a standardized catalog of software and hardware weakness types.
The OWASP Top 10 is one of the most widely referenced vulnerability classification lists, highlighting the most critical security risks to web applications. Categories include injection flaws, broken authentication, sensitive data exposure, XML external entities, broken access control, security misconfiguration, cross-site scripting, insecure deserialization, using components with known vulnerabilities, and insufficient logging and monitoring.
Vulnerability management is the continuous process of identifying, evaluating, treating, and reporting on vulnerabilities. It involves regular scanning, risk-based prioritization, timely patching, and verification. Organizations that implement robust vulnerability management programs significantly reduce their exposure to cyberattacks by systematically closing the gaps that attackers would otherwise exploit.