RCE
termsecurity
Stands for: Remote Code Execution
A defect that lets an attacker run their own code on a system across the network, without needing an account on it.
It is the top of the severity scale because it collapses every other step: no phishing, no credential theft, no lateral movement needed to get the first foothold. That is why an unauthenticated one in an internet-facing product produces emergency patching cycles regardless of what the scanner score says. The useful follow-up question is what the code runs as - the same defect is a different incident depending on whether the service was running with least privilege or as root.
Also known as: Remote Code Execution