What Does Vulnerability Disclosure Mean?

A vulnerability disclosure is a policy practiced by organizations as well individuals regarding the disclosure or publishing of information regarding security vulnerabilities and exploits pertaining to a computer system, network or software. This is due to the fact that ethical hackers and computer security experts believe that it is their social responsibility to make the general public aware of vulnerabilities that might impact them, otherwise the silence might lead to a false feeling of security and cause people to be complacent, leading to further risks.

Techopedia Explains Vulnerability Disclosure

Vulnerability disclosure is the practice of publishing the details of a security vulnerability to the general public for scrutiny and to force software and hardware vendors to patch these issues quickly. Before vulnerability disclosures, software and hardware vendors relied on the security of secrecy, which is to say they hoped that whatever vulnerabilities they had would not be discovered and exploited by hackers. However, hackers have proven time and time again that if a vulnerability exists, they most likely will discover it sooner or later.