Vulnerability

Flaw in software which lets attackers in

A vulnerability is a flaw in an application or piece of software which allows a malicious person to carry out unauthorised actions. These actions can range from escalating privileges to executing malicious code on the target system. Most vulnerabilities are the result of errors in programming, such as failing to properly check the behaviour of code when faced with unexpected or unusual circumstances.

A common form of vulnerability is the buffer overflow.

Related news articles

IE zero-day bug fixed in Patch Tuesday updates

Serious browser bug main feature of monthly alerts, Adobe Flash issue also patched.

09 December 2009

Bumper crop of October patch releases

Busy weeks for admins as Patch Tuesday joined by Adobe fixes, and Mozilla announces plug-in checking plans.

16 October 2009

Patch Tuesday brings little relief from browser exploits

Six fixes issued, but new IE zero day emerges along with Firefox flaw.

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20 May 2009

  see all related news stories


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VB100 certification

VB100 This month VB's test team put 26 products to the test on Windows Server 2008. John Hawes has the full results.
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