[Blog](/blog) Show links Resources [Blog](/blog) [Breaches](/breaches) [eBooks, reports, & more](/resources) [Events](/events) [News](/news) [Cybersecurity](/category/cybersecurity) Show links Categories [Attack Surface Management](/category/attack-surface-management) [Company News](/category/company-news) [Compliance and Regulations](/category/compliance-and-regulations) [Cybersecurity](/category/cybersecurity) [Data Breaches](/category/data-breaches) [DevOps](/category/devops) [Human Cyber Risk](/category/human-cyber-risk) [Risks and Vulnerabilities](/category/risks-and-vulnerabilities) [Third-Party Risk Management](/category/third-party-risk-management) [Vendor Risk Management](/category/vendor-risk-management) [Exploits Explained: How They Work, Types, and Mitigation](/blog/exploit) Publish date July 28, 2026 {x} minute read # Exploits Explained: How They Work, Types, and Mitigation [Get a demo](/contact-sales) [Free trial](/demo) [Download the PDF guide](/resources/complete-guide-to-data-breaches) [Free trial](/demo) Written by [Abi Tyas Tunggal](/team/abi-tyas-tunggal) Writer and Senior Product Manager at UpGuard. Abi's work has influenced leaders across cybersecurity, technology, and financial services. Reviewed by [Kaushik Sen](/team/kaushik-sen) Chief Marketing Officer Kaushik has a background in software engineering, enterprise solution architecture, and data analytics. He brings a unique, data-driven perspective to cybersecurity education. Table of contents eBook A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Free resource ### A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Learn how to avoid a costly data breach with a comprehensive prevention strategy. [Download now](/resources/complete-guide-to-data-breaches) An exploit is a piece of software, data or sequence of commands that takes advantage of a [vulnerability](https://www.upguard.com/blog/vulnerability) to cause unintended behavior or to gain unauthorized access to [sensitive data](https://www.upguard.com/blog/sensitive-data). Once vulnerabilities are identified, they are posted on [Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cve). CVE is a free vulnerability dictionary designed to improve global [cyber security](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cyber-security) and [cyber resilience ](/blog/cyber-resilience)by creating a standardized identifier for a given vulnerability or exposure. ## How Do Exploits Work? Exploits take advantage of a security flaw in an operating system, piece of software, computer system, [Internet of Things (IoT)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/internet-of-things-iot) device or other security vulnerability.  Once an exploit has been used, it often becomes known to the software developers of the [vulnerable system or software](https://www.upguard.com/blog/how-to-identify-vulnerable-third-party-software), and is often fixed through a patch and becomes unusable. This is why many cybercriminals, as well as military or government agencies do not publish exploits to [CVE](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cve) but choose to keep them private.  When this happens, the vulnerability is known as a [zero-day vulnerability or zero-day exploit](/blog/zero-day).  One famous example of a government agency (the NSA) choosing to keep a software vulnerability private is EternalBlue. EternalBlue exploited legacy versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that used an outdated version of the [Server Message Block (SMB)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/smb-port) protocol.  Cybercriminals developed the [WannaCry](https://www.upguard.com/blog/wannacry) [ransomware](https://www.upguard.com/blog/ransomware) [worm](/blog/computer-worm) that exploited EternalBlue and it spread to an estimated 200,000+ computers across 150 countries with damages ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars before EternalBlue was patched. Despite software developers issuing a patch to fix EternalBlue, this known vulnerability continues to be a large [cybersecurity risk](/blog/cybersecurity-risk) because of poor user adoption of the patch.  ## What are the Different Types of Exploits? Exploits can be classified into five broad categories: 1. **Hardware:** Poor encryption, lack of [configuration management](https://www.upguard.com/blog/5-configuration-management-boss) or firmware vulnerability.  2. **Software:** Memory safety violations (buffer overflows, over-reads, dangling pointers), input validation errors (code injection, [cross-site scripting (XSS)](/blog/cross-site-scripting-xss), directory traversal, email injection, format string attacks, HTTP header injection, HTTP response splitting, [SQL injection](https://www.upguard.com/blog/sql-injection)), privilege-confusion bugs ([clickjacking](https://www.upguard.com/blog/what-is-clickjacking), cross-site request forgery, FTP bounce attack), race conditions (symlink races, time-of-check-to-time-of-use bugs), side channel attacks, timing attacks and user interface failures (blaming the victim, race conditions, warning fatigue). 3. **Network:** Unencrypted communication lines, [man-in-the-middle attacks](https://www.upguard.com/blog/man-in-the-middle-attack), [domain hijacking](https://www.upguard.com/blog/domain-hijacking), [typosquatting](https://www.upguard.com/blog/typosquatting), poor [network security](https://www.upguard.com/blog/network-security), lack of authentication or default passwords.  4. **Personnel:** Poor recruiting policy and process, lack of security awareness training, poor adherence to [information security policy](https://www.upguard.com/blog/information-security-policy), poor password management or falling for common [social engineering](https://www.upguard.com/blog/social-engineering) attacks like [phishing](https://www.upguard.com/blog/phishing), [spear phishing](https://www.upguard.com/blog/spear-phishing), pretexting, honey trapping, smishing, waterholing or [whaling](/blog/whaling-attack).   5. **Physical site: **Poor physical security, tailgating and lack of keycard [access control](/blog/access-control).  In each of these categories, we can split vulnerabilities into two groups: known vulnerabilities and zero-day exploits: * **Known vulnerabilities:** Exploits security researchers know about and have documented. Exploits that target known [vulnerabilities](/blog/vulnerability) are often already patched but still remain a viable threat because of slow patching.  * **Zero-day exploits:** Vulnerabilities that have not been reported to the public or listed on [CVE](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cve). This means cybercriminals have found the exploit before developers have been able to issue a patch, in some cases the developer [may not even know of the vulnerability](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cve-2021-26855).  ## How Do Exploits Occur? There are several ways exploits occur: * **Remote exploits: **Works over a network and exploits the vulnerability without prior access to the vulnerable system. * **Local exploits: **Requires prior access to the vulnerable system and increases the privilege of the attacker past those granted by the security administrator.  * **Client exploits: **Exploits against client applications exist and usually consist of modified servers that send an exploit when accessed with a client application. They may also require interaction from the user and rely on [social engineering](https://www.upguard.com/blog/social-engineering) techniques like [phishing](https://www.upguard.com/blog/phishing) or [spear phishing](https://www.upguard.com/blog/spear-phishing) to spread or adware.  In general, exploits are designed to damage the [confidentiality, integrity or availability (CIA triad)](/blog/cia-triad) of software or a system. Many cybercriminals due this by targeting multiple [attack vectors](https://www.upguard.com/blog/attack-vector), first gaining limited access then using a second [vulnerability](https://www.upguard.com/blog/vulnerability) to escalate privileges until they gain root access. That's why those who are tasked with protecting [information security](https://www.upguard.com/blog/information-security), [network security](https://www.upguard.com/blog/network-security) and [data security](https://www.upguard.com/blog/data-security) must employ [defense in depth](https://www.upguard.com/blog/defense-in-depth). For example, an attacker could damage the confidentiality of a computer by installing [malware](https://www.upguard.com/blog/malware) on the computer, the integrity of a web page by injecting malicious code into the web browser, or availability by performing a [distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack](https://www.upguard.com/blog/what-is-a-ddos-attack) powered by a [botnet of trojans](https://www.upguard.com/blog/what-is-a-botnet).  ## What is an Exploit Kit? An exploit kit is a program that attackers can use to launch exploits against known vulnerabilities in commonly installed software such as Adobe Flash, Java and Microsoft Silverlight.  A typical exploit kit provides a management console, vulnerabilities targeted at different applications and several plug-ins that make it easier to launch a [cyber attack](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cyber-attack). Due to their automate nature, exploits kits are a popular method of spreading different [types of malware](https://www.upguard.com/blog/types-of-malware) and generating profit. Creators of exploits kits may offer their exploit kit as a service or as one-off purchase. ## How Can I Mitigate the Risk of Exploits? Your organization can mitigate the risk of exploits by installing all software patches as soon as they are released, providing cyber security awareness and [OPSEC](https://www.upguard.com/blog/opsec) training and investing in security software like an antivirus, automated [leaked credential discovery and data exposure detection.](https://www.upguard.com/product/breach-risk/threat-monitoring) It also pays to understand cloud security, as [S3 security is flawed by design](https://www.upguard.com/blog/s3-security-is-flawed-by-design). The other, often overlooked [attack vector](https://www.upguard.com/blog/attack-vector) that represents significant [cybersecurity risk](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cybersecurity-risk) are [third-party vendors](https://www.upguard.com/blog/third-party-vendor).  Your vendors who process [sensitive data](https://www.upguard.com/blog/sensitive-data) (e.g. [protected health information (PHI)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/protected-health-information-phi), [personally identifiable information (PII)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/personally-identifiable-information-pii) or [biometric data](https://www.upguard.com/blog/biometrics)) can be the targets of [corporate espionage](https://www.upguard.com/blog/corporate-espionage) or [cyber attacks](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cyber-attack) if they have worse [cyber security](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cyber-security) than your organization.  [Vendor risk management](https://www.upguard.com/blog/vendor-risk-management) is an increasingly important part of [information risk management](https://www.upguard.com/blog/information-risk-management), invest in developing a robust [third-party risk management framework](https://www.upguard.com/blog/third-party-risk-management-framework), [vendor management policy](https://www.upguard.com/blog/vendor-management-policy) and cyber security risk assessment process. Ask current and potential vendors for their [SOC 2](https://www.upguard.com/blog/soc-2) assurance report and avoid vendors who don't meet your security standards.  Third-party risk and [fourth-party risk](https://www.upguard.com/blog/what-is-fourth-party-risk) are at the heart of many [data breaches](https://www.upguard.com/blog/data-breach) and [data leaks](https://www.upguard.com/blog/data-leak). With the [cost of data breach](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cost-of-data-breach) involving third-parties reaching an average of $4.29 million it pays to [prevent data breaches](https://www.upguard.com/blog/prevent-data-breaches).  > If your security team is small, consider [automating vendor risk management](https://www.upguard.com/blog/automate-vendor-risk-management). In short, focus on preventing exploits rather than cleaning them up. Even if you recognize you have been attacked, [IP attribution](https://www.upguard.com/blog/ip-attribution) and [digital forensics](https://www.upguard.com/blog/digital-forensics) won't always be able to provide you with answers. ## What are Examples of Exploits? In 2016, Yahoo announced that over 1 billion user accounts had been leaked, making it one of the [biggest data breaches](https://www.upguard.com/blog/biggest-data-breaches) ever. Attackers were able to gain access because Yahoo was using a weak and outdated hashing algorithm called MD5.  Another famous example is the [WannaCry](https://www.upguard.com/blog/wannacry) [ransomware](https://www.upguard.com/blog/ransomware) cryptoworm which exploited the EternalBlue [vulnerability](https://www.upguard.com/blog/vulnerability). EternalBlue was stolen and [leaked](https://www.upguard.com/blog/data-leak) by a group called The Shadow Brokers a few months prior to the attack.  While EternalBlue was quickly patched, much of WannaCry's success was due to organizations not patching or using older Windows systems. eBook A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Free resource ### A Complete Guide to Data Breaches Learn how to avoid a costly data breach with a comprehensive prevention strategy. [Download now](/resources/complete-guide-to-data-breaches) ## Related posts Learn more about the latest issues in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity #### [12 Cybersecurity Horror Stories of 2026 (No Costume Required)](/blog/cybersecurity-horror-stories-2026) A warning ignored once becomes a headline. Read more about these 12 real 2026 cybersecurity incidents, and the sign each one gave before it made the news. [](/team/revashni-moodley) [Revashni Moodley](#) September 28, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [Left Unsupervised: 10 Times Access Outlived Its Authorization](/blog/10-times-access-outlived-authorization) Access granted once shouldn’t mean access forever. Read more on how unmonitored access caused 10 of these real-life breaches and what they taught us. [](/team/revashni-moodley) [Revashni Moodley](#) August 25, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [Surviving a LockBit Ransomware Attack: The ROI of Visibility](/blog/surviving-a-lockbit-ransomware-attack) Read how veteran CISO Nick Gicinto saved his alma mater from a LockBit ransomware attack by discarding the standard playbook. [](/team/nicholas-sollitto) [Nicholas Sollitto](#) June 1, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [Top 10 Security Events of 2025](/blog/top-security-events-of-2025) Recap the ten most impactful events that reshaped the cybersecurity industry this year and the critical lessons each had to teach us. Read more here. [](/team/revashni-moodley) [Revashni Moodley](#) January 7, 2026 Cybersecurity #### [Risk Automations: The Shift From Catch-Up to Command](/blog/risk-automations-shift-catch-up-to-command) Connect intelligence to system execution with Risk Automations, your new resolution layer for risk. Reduce remediation from hours to seconds - read more. [](/team/revashni-moodley) [Revashni Moodley](#) December 1, 2025 Cybersecurity #### [Shai-Hulud's True Lesson for CISOs: A Crisis of Communication](/blog/shai-hulud-lesson-for-cisos) Shai-Hulud was driven by a communication crisis between security and engineering. Get a CISO's perspective on how to finally bridge this gap. [](/team/phil-ross) [Phil Ross](#) September 3, 2026 [All posts](/blog) Experience superior visibility and a simpler approach to cyber risk management [Get a demo](/contact-sales) [Free trial](/demo)