exploit

A heroic or extraordinary deed.

Noun

A heroic or extraordinary deed.
- Hieronimo, it greatly pleaſeth vs, / That in our victorie thou haue a ſhare, / By vertue of thy vvorthy Sonnes exployt. - c. 1587 (date written), [Thomas Kyd], The Spanish Tragedie: […] (Fourth Quarto), London: […]...
An achievement.
- The first trek to the summit of Mount Everest was a stunning exploit.
A program or technique that takes advantage of a vulnerability in other software.
- One of the more publicized cases that involved a zero-day exploit concerned the compromise of some U.S. military web servers. The attack involved exploiting a buffer overflow vulnerability in a core Windows component;...
- For example, you can create PE files that are valid PDF exploits or valid ZIP files, valid JPG files, and so on. - 2015, Joxean Koret, Elias Bachaalany, The Antivirus Hacker's Handbook, page 148:
An action or technique that takes advantage of the conditions of a video game to gain an advantage, or to disadvantage others.

From Old French esploit (noun), esploitier (verb).

To use (something) to someone's advantage, such as one's own benefit or a society's benefit.
- to exploit natural resources in a sustainable way
- However, exploiting their 110mph capability will initially only be possible north of Bedford, pending an upgrade of the overhead wires between Bedford and St Pancras by Network Rail to make them suitable for use by...
- The protests have alarmed authorities, and on Thursday night, they shut off internet and mobile access in the country, cutting the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. Rights groups have accused the government...
Synonyms: take advantage of use utilize
To make unfair use of someone else's labor, person, or property to one's own advantage.
- Materialistic people who exploit others will come to a bad end.
Coordinate Terms: take advantage of abuse misuse