A vulnerability threat may not be an actual malware parasite but a series of flaws or lack of proper security within a system or its software that could be exploited by hackers or cybercriminals. In some instances, a vulnerability threat could be a type of malware that is designed to exploit or leverage a flaw within an application or through system’s communication channels.
Hackers and cybercrooks commonly leverage vulnerabilities that are often found in software apps. Such vulnerabilities are rather common and are often patched by software companies, or at least issues an update to the program to eliminate the known vulnerability. However, discovered vulnerabilities are sometimes not patched or repaired fast enough where a hacker could exploit it with specialized malware before the vulnerability is found or fixed.
Vulnerability threats can often be a collection of processes known to hackers and cybercrooks that are used to attack a system or server.