Matkap: The Telegram Bot Token Hunter That Exposes Your CI/CD Pipeline’s Worst-Kept Secret + Video

Introduction:

In the modern DevSecOps landscape, Telegram bots have become the silent workhorses of automation—shipping notifications, triggering deployments, and alerting security teams. Yet this convenience introduces a critical blind spot: when bot tokens are accidentally committed to public repositories or indexed by search engines, attackers gain an open backdoor into your infrastructure. Matkap, an open-source Python OSINT tool developed by 0x6rss, leverages FOFA and URLScan to hunt down these exposed tokens and chat IDs, allowing security researchers to identify and remediate credential leaks before they are weaponized. With over 717 stars on GitHub, this tool has rapidly gained traction in the professional security community as an essential asset for threat intelligence and defensive security.

Learning Objectives:

Understand how Telegram bot tokens function as API credentials and the security implications of their exposure
Master the installation and configuration of Matkap, including Telegram API credentials and optional FOFA/URLScan integration
Learn to conduct OSINT reconnaissance for exposed bot tokens using FOFA dorks and URLScan queries
Develop incident response procedures for identifying, validating, and revoking compromised bot tokens
Implement defensive coding practices to prevent token leakage in CI/CD pipelines and public repositories

You Should Know:

1. Understanding the Telegram Bot Token Attack Surface

Telegram bots operate through API tokens—strings formatted as bot12345678:ABCdefGHIjklMNO...—that authenticate requests to the Telegram Bot API. When exposed, these tokens allow an attacker to impersonate the bot, send messages, access chat histories, and in many cases, exfiltrate sensitive data. The threat is not theoretical: CVE-2026-27003 recently documented how Telegram bot tokens can appear in error messages and stack traces when request URLs include https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/....

Malware campaigns and phishing operations routinely embed bot tokens and chat IDs directly in their source code—sometimes obfuscated, but often trivially extractable. Attackers use these bots as command-and-control (C2) channels to manage logs gathered from victims, creating a persistent threat that defensive teams must proactively identify.

Step-by-Step Guide: Setting Up Matkap for Token Hunting

Verify Python Environment: Ensure Python 3.7+ is installed:
```
python3 --version
```

For Windows:

python --version

2. Clone the Repository:

git clone https://github.com/0x6rss/matkap.git
cd matkap

Obtain Telegram API Credentials: Visit my.telegram.org/apps, log in with your phone number, and create a new application. Note your api_id, api_hash, and the `phone_number` associated with your account.

Create the `.env` File: In the project directory, create a `.env` file with:

TELEGRAM_API_ID=123456
TELEGRAM_API_HASH=your_api_hash
TELEGRAM_PHONE=+900000000000
Optional FOFA & URLScan credentials
FOFA_EMAIL=your_fofa_email
FOFA_KEY=your_fofa_key
URLSCAN_API_KEY=your_urlscan_api_key

5. Install Dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

6. Run Matkap:

python matkap.py

On first run, Telegram sends a login code to your phone—enter this in the terminal to authenticate.

2. Hunting Exposed Tokens with FOFA and URLScan

Matkap’s true power lies in its integration with FOFA and URLScan, two search engines that index web content and can reveal tokens embedded in public-facing applications. The tool automates the process of searching for leaked credentials using carefully crafted queries.

Step-by-Step Guide: Running OSINT Reconnaissance

Launch the FOFA Hunt: From Matkap’s interactive menu, select the “Hunt With FOFA” option. The tool searches for sites indexed by FOFA containing body="api.telegram.org"—a signature that often indicates Telegram bot API usage. Results appear in the Process Log, displaying any exposed tokens or chat IDs discovered.
Launch the URLScan Hunt: Similarly, select “Hunt With URLScan” to search for domains referencing domain:api.telegram.org. This cast a wider net across URLScan’s indexed dataset.
Analyze Captured Data: All captured messages and findings are automatically saved to the `captured_messages` directory for offline analysis.
Export Logs: Use the export functionality to generate comprehensive reports for further investigation or incident documentation.

3. Validating and Remediating Exposed Tokens

Discovering a token is only half the battle; the real work begins with validation and remediation. Exposed tokens must be treated as compromised credentials requiring immediate action.

Step-by-Step Guide: Incident Response for Leaked Tokens

Validate the Token: Before assuming compromise, verify the token is active by sending a test message via the Telegram Bot API:
```
curl -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/sendMessage" -d "chat_id=<CHAT_ID>&text=Security test"
```
A successful response confirms the token is live and accessible.
Revoke Immediately: Contact the BotFather on Telegram and use the `/revoke` command to regenerate the bot token. This immediately invalidates the exposed credential.
Audit Activity Logs: Review Telegram bot activity logs for any unauthorized messages, commands, or data exfiltration during the exposure window.
Harden Access Controls: Limit bot permissions to the minimum necessary for its function. Enable two-factor authentication for the bot owner account.
Scan for Additional Leaks: Use Matkap’s FOFA and URLScan integrations to perform a broader sweep for any other tokens that may have been exposed across your organization’s digital footprint.

4. Defensive Strategies: Preventing Token Leakage

Proactive defense is always preferable to reactive incident response. Implementing secure development practices can dramatically reduce the risk of token exposure.

Step-by-Step Guide: Securing Telegram Bot Tokens in Development

Never Hardcode Tokens: Avoid embedding tokens directly in source code. Use environment variables or secrets management solutions:
```
import os
BOT_TOKEN = os.environ.get('TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN')
```
Leverage .gitignore: Ensure `.env` files and other credential-bearing files are excluded from version control:
```
.env
.key
secrets/
```
Implement Pre-commit Hooks: Use tools like `git-secrets` to scan for accidental credential commits:
```
git secrets --install
git secrets --register-aws
```
Use Encrypted Storage: For production environments, store tokens in a Key Management Service (KMS) or encrypted vault such as HashiCorp Vault.
Monitor for Exposure: Regularly run Matkap or similar OSINT tools against your own domains and public repositories to identify leaks before attackers do.
Advanced Use Cases: Malware Analysis and Threat Intelligence

Beyond simple token hunting, Matkap serves as a powerful tool for malware analysis and cyber threat intelligence (CTI). Security researchers can use it to infiltrate botnets that rely on Telegram for C2 communications.

Step-by-Step Guide: Analyzing Malicious Bot Infrastructure

Extract Bot Token from Malware Sample: When analyzing a malicious binary or script, locate embedded Telegram bot tokens (often found in strings or configuration files).
Input Token into Matkap: Use the “Start Attack” function with the extracted token and associated chat ID.
Forward All Messages: Use the “Forward All Messages” feature to iterate through message IDs and retrieve the bot’s entire communication history, including logs exfiltrated from victims.
Analyze Forwarded Data: Review captured messages to understand the malware’s operational scope, victim count, and data types being exfiltrated.
Generate Intelligence Report: Export all findings and compile a threat intelligence report for internal teams or information-sharing communities.

What Undercode Say:

Key Takeaway 1: Telegram bot tokens are functional equivalents of API keys—exposure equates to a full compromise of the bot’s capabilities, including message interception, data exfiltration, and lateral movement within integrated systems. Organizations must treat these credentials with the same rigor as SSH keys or cloud access tokens.
Key Takeaway 2: Matkap demonstrates how OSINT tools can be dual-use: attackers leverage them for reconnaissance, while defenders use them for proactive threat hunting. The tool’s FOFA and URLScan integrations highlight the importance of monitoring third-party indexed data for organizational exposure.
Analysis: The rapid adoption of Matkap (717+ GitHub stars) reflects a growing awareness of Telegram-based attack vectors in the security community. As CI/CD pipelines increasingly incorporate chatbots for automation, the attack surface expands exponentially. Defenders must shift from reactive incident response to continuous monitoring—using tools like Matkap to regularly scan for exposed credentials. The ethical boundaries are clear: use only on assets you own or have explicit authorization to assess. Organizations should consider integrating OSINT token scanning into their regular security posture assessments, alongside vulnerability scanning and penetration testing.

Prediction:

+1 The adoption of OSINT tools like Matkap will drive a new wave of defensive automation, where CI/CD pipelines incorporate pre-commit credential scanners and runtime token validation as standard DevSecOps practices. This proactive shift will reduce the average token exposure window from weeks to hours.
+1 Telegram will likely enhance its Bot API with additional security controls—such as token scoping, IP allowlisting, and usage analytics—in response to the growing visibility of token abuse. These changes will make the platform more enterprise-ready while complicating attacker operations.
-1 The commoditization of Telegram bot token hunting will lower the barrier to entry for threat actors, enabling less-skilled attackers to incorporate bot-based C2 infrastructure into their campaigns. This will result in a short-term surge in Telegram-based malware, particularly in phishing and credential harvesting operations.
-1 As awareness of token exposure grows, attackers will shift toward more sophisticated obfuscation techniques—embedding tokens in encrypted configurations, using dynamic token generation, or moving to alternative messaging platforms. This will render simple pattern-matching approaches less effective, requiring more advanced behavioral analysis.
+1 Security researchers will increasingly leverage Matkap not only for token hunting but also for malware family attribution—analyzing C2 bot communication patterns to link disparate campaigns to common threat actors. This intelligence-sharing will strengthen the broader cybersecurity ecosystem.
-1 Organizations that fail to implement credential rotation policies and continuous monitoring will face an elevated risk of bot takeover, potentially leading to data breaches, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties. The window for remediation is closing as automated scanning tools become more widely available to both defenders and adversaries.

▶️ Related Video (82% Match):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZtm1wuA2yc

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