Unlock Bounties by Simply Reading: A Smart Way to Earn
1 min read
Summary
Often while doing a bug bounty, researchers come across a variety of files and documents exposed by the company, these can give an attacker enough information to perform an attack, so it is important to analyze them.
Files or documents often left on servers, websites, or third-party platforms may contain sensitive information that may help in identifying vulnerabilities.
There are a few key areas to focus on when analyzing exposed files; these include sensitive data exposure, misconfigurations, hidden endpoints, business logic flaws, and outdated software.
There are a few file types that are good to focus on when looking for these issues, including configuration files, source code files, documents, log files, and backup files.
It’s worth using a few tools to help read and understand the files, such as GREP, FindStr, jsbeautifier.org, and gitleaks.
It’s also important to validate any findings before reporting them, this means checking if the data is real, if it’s a honeypot, and if it’s in scope.