vulnerability

plural vulnerabilities

1. uncountableThe state of being vulnerable; susceptibility to attack or injury, either physical or emotional; the state or condition of being weak or poorly defended.

   Near-synonym: weakness

   4 more examples

   The country recognized their defence vulnerability after an airplane landed in front of the central square without any consequences.

   The only disadvantage of timber snow fencing is its extreme vulnerability to fire.

   1960 January 28, M. Harbottle, “Maintaining Services after Heavy Snowfalls”, in Railway Magazine, page 9

   Though scientists do not know how stress affects gestation, Fukuda theorizes that the vulnerability of Y-bearing sperm cells, male embryos and/or male fetuses to stress is why “subtle significant changes in sex ratios” occur.

   2019 January 23, Susan Scutti, “Climate change will affect gender ratio among newborns, scientists say”, in CNN

   Again, voice change is not easy and vulnerability plays a big part, but if choral teachers and adolescent singers approach it with the right mindframe, the experience can be empowering, enlightening, and restorative for all involved.

   2019, Bridget Sweet, Thinking Outside the Voice Box, page 71

   Synonyms: vulnerableness, weakness · Antonyms: invulnerability

2. countableA specific weakness in the protections or defences that (literally or figuratively) surround someone or something.

   Near-synonyms: flaw, weakness, liability

   Synonyms: flaw, weakness, liability

   1. countableuncountablecomputingA weakness which allows an attacker to reduce a system's security.

      Experts told CNN it could take weeks to address the vulnerabilities and that suspected Chinese hackers are already attempting to exploit it.

      2021 December 13, Sean Lyngaas, “US warns hundreds of millions of devices at risk from newly revealed software vulnerability”, in CNN

      Synonyms: flaw, weakness, liability, vuln