The phrase "to exploit the vulnerability" means to take advantage of a weakness or flaw in something or someone in order to gain an advantage or cause harm. Full definition
... It's a social - validation feedback loop... exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. (relevantmagazine.com)
The goal is to encourage researchers to reveal bugs in the company's computing infrastructure and vehicles so it can patch problems and prevent hackers from exploiting those vulnerabilities. (cnbc.com)
The device with the weakest security could allow hackers to exploit vulnerabilities on our network and access our home. (thenextweb.com)