My First NASA Bug Hunt — A Learning Experience!

As a cybersecurity enthusiast, I often spend time honing my recon skills, and one day, I decided to explore publicly accessible data related to NASA. What started as a casual bug hunting session soon led me to an intriguing discovery involving not just NASA but also Stanford University — and a system labelled as a U.S. federal government asset.

This article documents my journey, the challenges I faced in responsible disclosure, and key takeaways from my first-ever bug bounty report.

While performing Google Dorking on NASA’s assets (site:*.nasa.gov), I came across a publicly accessible Excel file. Upon examining the file, I was stunned to find that it contained:

✅ Usernames & Passwords
✅ An internal system URL

The URL pointed to a Stanford University domain (confluence.slac.stanford.edu). Further research revealed that the authentication system for this domain redirected users to another subdomain adfs.slac.stanford.edu, which contained a warning:

“This is a Federal computer system and is the property of the United States Government. It is for authorized use only.”

At this point, I realized the potential severity of the exposure and immediately proceeded to responsibly disclose my findings.

This particular case posed a unique challenge because it involved two separate organizations:

🔹 NASA has a Bugcrowd program, which made reporting easy via their platform.
🔹 Stanford only had a Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) form — no official bug bounty. So, I had to submit my report separately via their platform and email their security team for acknowledgement.

This meant double the effort — crafting two reports while adhering to different reporting guidelines.

After submitting my findings:

🔸 NASA’s Bugcrowd team responded and marked the report as a duplicate, stating that the issue had been reported in 2023.
🔸 Stanford’s security team has yet to respond (awaiting their acknowledgment).

Despite not receiving a bounty or recognition yet, the experience itself was incredibly valuable.

Bugcrowd’s official response is attached below

✔️ Recon is King — One publicly exposed file can reveal a lot more than expected.
✔️ Bug bounty is not just about finding bugs — Proper reporting and disclosure matter just as much.
✔️ Duplicates happen — Even if a bug is valid, someone may have beaten you to it. Still, every report helps reinforce the need for better security.
✔️ Handling multiple disclosures can be complex — Some organizations have Bug Bounty programs, others only have VDPs. Understanding the correct disclosure process is key.

This is just the beginning! I plan to:

✅ Continue refining my recon techniques
✅ Explore more complex vulnerabilities
✅ Share more insights with the security community

Let’s keep securing the internet, one bug at a time!

Have you ever faced challenges in reporting a vulnerability? How did you handle it? Let’s discuss in the comments! 👇

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