Severity of Bugs

Severity is a fundamental measure of a bug or a failure. Many ranking schemes exist for defining severity. Because there is no set standard for establishing bug severity, the magnitude of the severity of a bug is often open to debate. The table below shows the definition of the severity metrics and the ranking criteria used in this documentation.

Severity Metrics and Ranking Criteria
SEVERITY RANKING	RANKING CRITERIA
Severity 1 Errors	Program ceases meaningful operation
Severity 2 Errors	Severe function error but application can continue
Severity 3 Errors	Unexpected result or inconsistent operation
Severity 4 Errors	Design or suggestion