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This year’s bug count just passed 100K
The number of reported software vulnerabilities in 2026 has passed 100,000, more than twice the total for 2025. Security experts say AI is driving much of the increase by helping researchers find flaws, while also accelerating attackers’ efforts to exploit them.
Although about 1.4 per cent of this year’s vulnerabilities have been added to VulnCheck’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue, the shrinking time to exploitation increases pressure on organisations. VulnCheck reported a median of 80 days from disclosure to exploitation in the first half of 2026, down from 120 days in 2025; some attacks now begin within minutes. Experts argue that organisations need to prioritise flaws according to the risks to their own infrastructure, rather than relying on severity scores alone.
In short
- 2026’s reported vulnerability count has exceeded 100,000.
- AI is helping drive discovery and faster exploitation.
- Experts urge organisations to prioritise flaws by real-world risk.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The surge in reported vulnerabilities and faster exploitation suggest that organisations face a narrower window to protect systems, even if only a small share of flaws are known to have been exploited. Supporters of stronger, more urgent security investment argue that AI is increasing attackers’ speed as well as researchers’ ability to find weaknesses, so organisations need to improve monitoring, patching and risk-based prioritisation.
The case against
The headline count alone does not show how many vulnerabilities pose a serious threat to any particular organisation, and the reported exploitation catalogue covers only a small fraction of them. A measured approach would prioritise flaws in light of each organisation’s systems and exposure, rather than diverting limited staff and resources towards every disclosure or treating rising totals as proof that every organisation faces an equally urgent crisis.