Summary
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in collaboration with the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI), operated by the MITRE Corporation, has released the 2025 Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses . This annual list identifies the most critical weaknesses adversaries exploit to compromise systems, steal data, or disrupt services. Prioritizing the weaknesses outlined in the Top 25 is integral to CISA’s Secure by Design and Secure by Demand initiatives, which promote building and procuring secure technology solutions. CISA and MITRE encourage organizations to review this list and use it to inform their respective software security strategies. Supports Vulnerability Reduction : By focusing on the Top 25, organizations can prioritize lifecycle changes, adopt safer architectural decisions, and reduce high-impact vulnerabilities related to injection, access control, and memory safety defects. Drives Cost Efficiencies : Eliminating weaknesses early reduces downstream remediation; addressing them before deployment is more efficient and cost effective than patching, reconfiguring, or responding to emergency incidents.