How to Land Your First Bug Bounty: A Practical Guide

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Landing your first bug bounty is an exhilarating experience, especially when following proven methods from experienced hackers. If you’re new to bug hunting, practical guidance can make all the difference. Below, we’ll explore actionable steps, tools, and commands to help you uncover vulnerabilities and claim your first reward.

You Should Know:

1. Reconnaissance & Target Mapping

Before diving into exploitation, thorough reconnaissance is crucial. Use these tools and commands:

  • Subdomain Enumeration 
    subfinder -d target.com -o subdomains.txt 
assetfinder --subs-only target.com | tee -a subdomains.txt
  • Port Scanning with Nmap 
    nmap -sV -T4 -p- -A -oA full_scan target.com
  • Web Directory Brute-Forcing 
    ffuf -u https://target.com/FUZZ -w /path/to/wordlist.txt -mc 200,301,302

2. Vulnerability Scanning

Automated tools can help identify low-hanging vulnerabilities:

  • Nikto (Web Server Scanner) 
    nikto -h https://target.com
  • SQLi Detection with SQLmap 
    sqlmap -u "https://target.com/search?q=1" --batch --crawl=2

3. Manual Testing for Logic Flaws

Automation misses logic-based bugs. Test for:

  • IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) 
    curl -H "Cookie: session=123" https://target.com/user/1/profile 
curl -H "Cookie: session=123" https://target.com/user/2/profile
  • JWT Tampering
    Use jwt.io to decode/modify tokens.

4. Reporting & Claiming the Bounty

  • Write a Clear Proof of Concept (PoC)

Include:

  • Steps to reproduce
  • Screenshots/videos
  • Impact analysis
  • Submit via Platform (HackerOne, Bugcrowd, etc.)

What Undercode Say

Bug bounty hunting requires persistence. Start with:

  • Linux Command Essentials 
    grep -r "password" /var/www/html  Search for sensitive strings 
chmod 600 private_key.pem  Secure your keys
  • Windows Command Tricks 
    netstat -ano | findstr LISTENING  Check open ports 
whoami /priv  Check user privileges
  • Automation with Bash 
    for ip in $(cat targets.txt); do nmap -p 80,443 $ip; done
  • Essential Tools
  • Burp Suite (Proxy)
  • OWASP ZAP (Automated Scanner)
  • Metasploit (Exploitation Framework)

Prediction

As bug bounty programs grow, AI-assisted hunting will rise, but manual testing for logic flaws will remain invaluable.

Expected Output:

A well-documented vulnerability report leading to your first bounty payout.

Reference: Bug Bounty Video Guide

References:

Reported By: Faiyaz Ahmad – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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