Index: src/main/java/org/sonar/plugins/cxx/rats/CxxRatsSensor.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/sonar/plugins/cxx/rats/CxxRatsSensor.java	(revision 5416)
+++ src/main/java/org/sonar/plugins/cxx/rats/CxxRatsSensor.java	(working copy)
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.sonar.api.resources.Project;
 import org.sonar.api.rules.RuleFinder;
 import org.sonar.plugins.cxx.utils.CxxSensor;
+import org.sonar.plugins.cxx.utils.CxxUtils;
 
 /**
  * {@inheritDoc}
@@ -70,22 +71,29 @@
     Element root = builder.build(report).getRootElement();
 
     List<Element> vulnerabilities = root.getChildren("vulnerability");
+    int count = 0;
     for (Element vulnerability : vulnerabilities) {
-      String type = vulnerability.getChild("type").getTextTrim();
-      String message = vulnerability.getChild("message").getTextTrim();
-
-      List<Element> files = vulnerability.getChildren("file");
-
-      for (Element file : files) {
-        String fileName = file.getChild("name").getTextTrim();
-
-        List<Element> lines = file.getChildren("line");
-        for (Element lineElem : lines) {
-          int line = Integer.parseInt(lineElem.getTextTrim());
-          saveViolation(project, context, CxxRatsRuleRepository.KEY,
-                        fileName, line, type, message);
+      Element typeChild = vulnerability.getChild("type");
+      if(typeChild != null){
+        String type = typeChild.getTextTrim();
+        String message = vulnerability.getChild("message").getTextTrim();
+  
+        List<Element> files = vulnerability.getChildren("file");
+  
+        for (Element file : files) {
+          String fileName = file.getChild("name").getTextTrim();
+  
+          List<Element> lines = file.getChildren("line");
+          for (Element lineElem : lines) {
+            int line = Integer.parseInt(lineElem.getTextTrim());
+            saveViolation(project, context, CxxRatsRuleRepository.KEY,
+                          fileName, line, type, message);
+          }
         }
+      }else{
+        CxxUtils.LOG.warn("Unable to find RATS violation type, skipping entry "  + count + " in file " + report.getName());
       }
+      count++;
     }
   }
 }
Index: src/test/resources/org/sonar/plugins/cxx/rats-reports/rats-result-TYPE_BUG.xml
===================================================================
--- src/test/resources/org/sonar/plugins/cxx/rats-reports/rats-result-TYPE_BUG.xml	(revision 0)
+++ src/test/resources/org/sonar/plugins/cxx/rats-reports/rats-result-TYPE_BUG.xml	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?><rats_output>
+<stats>
+<dbcount lang="perl">33</dbcount>
+<dbcount lang="ruby">46</dbcount>
+<dbcount lang="python">62</dbcount>
+<dbcount lang="c">334</dbcount>
+<dbcount lang="php">55</dbcount>
+</stats>
+<analyzed>sources//utils/utils.cpp</analyzed>
+<vulnerability>
+  <severity>High</severity>
+  <!-- 
+  Serialization bug in RATS
+  <type>strcpy</type>
+  -->
+  <message>
+    Check to be sure that argument 2 passed to this function call will not
+    copy more data than can be handled, resulting in a buffer overflow.
+  </message>
+  <file>
+    <name>sources//utils/utils.cpp</name>
+    <line>23</line>
+  </file>
+</vulnerability>
+<timing>
+<total_lines>125</total_lines>
+<total_time>0.009917</total_time>
+<lines_per_second>12604</lines_per_second>
+</timing>
+</rats_output>