MITRE Reveals 2025’s 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses
▼ Summary
– MITRE, with CISA and HSSEDI, released a 2025 list ranking the top 25 most dangerous software weaknesses based on severity and frequency from over 39,000 recent vulnerabilities.
– Cross-Site Scripting (CWE-79) remains the top weakness, while Missing Authorization and Null Pointer Dereference saw significant ranking increases.
– New entries to the list include several buffer overflow types (Classic, Stack-based, Heap-based) and weaknesses like Improper Access Control.
– These weaknesses are often easily exploited, allowing attackers to take over systems, steal data, or cause denial-of-service.
– CISA advises developers and security teams to use the list to inform security strategies and integrate it into testing and vulnerability management processes.
Understanding the most critical software weaknesses is essential for building robust digital defenses. MITRE has released its 2025 list of the 25 most dangerous software weaknesses, a critical resource compiled from an analysis of over 39,000 security vulnerabilities disclosed in the past year. This authoritative ranking, developed with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), highlights the flaws attackers most frequently exploit to breach systems, steal data, or launch disruptive attacks.
These software weaknesses represent flaws in code, architecture, or design that malicious actors can abuse. Successful exploitation often grants attackers control over devices, enabling data theft or denial-of-service conditions. To create the 2025 ranking, MITRE evaluated each weakness based on its prevalence and severity across 39,080 CVE records.
Cross-Site Scripting (CWE-79) remains the most prominent weakness, holding the top position from previous years. However, the list shows significant movement, with Missing Authorization (CWE-862), Null Pointer Dereference (CWE-476), and Missing Authentication (CWE-306) climbing the rankings substantially. This year also introduces several new entries among the most severe and common issues, including various buffer overflow vulnerabilities (CWE-120, 121, 122) and Improper Access Control (CWE-284).
MITRE emphasizes that these weaknesses are often straightforward for adversaries to find and exploit, potentially leading to full system compromise. CISA echoes this, urging organizations to use the list to shape their software security strategies and integrate the findings into application testing and vulnerability management.
The release aligns with CISA’s ongoing “Secure by Design” initiative, which highlights the persistent problem of well-known vulnerabilities remaining in software despite available fixes. Some alerts under this program have addressed active threat campaigns, such as a 2024 warning about OS command injection flaws exploited by state-linked hackers targeting major network device vendors.
In a related development, CISA confirmed in April 2025 that U.S. government funding for MITRE’s critical vulnerability enumeration programs has been extended for another eleven months. This ensures the continuity of the CVE and CWE frameworks, which are foundational to global cybersecurity efforts. Developers and security teams are strongly encouraged to review the 2025 CWE Top 25 to prioritize defenses and adopt more secure development practices from the outset.
(Source: Bleeping Computer)
