Incorrect Synchronization

When concurrent access to a shared resource isn't properly synchronized, the resource's state can become corrupted or unpredictable. For example, one thread might read data while another is halfway through modifying it, resulting in calculations based on invalid or partially updated information. This breaks the program's logic and can cause crashes, data loss, or incorrect outputs. Attackers can exploit this lack of coordination to manipulate the timing of these accesses, potentially triggering security flaws like privilege escalation or data corruption. To prevent this, developers must use synchronization primitives—such as mutexes, semaphores, or atomic operations—to enforce orderly access and ensure the resource remains in a consistent, expected state for all users.