Definition
Plain language
A working piece of code that actually takes advantage of a software flaw.
As stated in the literature
Code or an input sequence that weaponizes one or more vulnerabilities into a concrete effect such as code execution, privilege escalation, or data disclosure; chaining several bugs together is common against hardened targets.
Also called: exploits, exploit chain, exploited
Why it matters: The gap between knowing a flaw exists and having working exploit code is where most of the real-world danger lives, and closing that gap is exactly what capable automated hackers would speed up.
For example, an attacker might combine a bug in an image reader with a second flaw in memory handling so that simply opening a picture runs their code on your machine.
Heard on the show
“Haiku reframes the whole exercise as an attempt to exploit it.”Episode 001 — When AI Models Quietly Protect Each Other From Shutdown