Cracking My Windshield and Earning $10k on the Tesla Bug Bounty Program (samcurry.net)

Article summary

A security researcher discovered a vulnerability in Tesla's internal application through the company's bug bounty program. The vulnerability allowed an attacker to view live information about vehicles and potentially modify configurations. The researcher found the issue by setting their car's name to an XSS hunter payload, which was triggered when a Tesla support agent accessed the vehicle's information. Tesla fixed the issue and paid out a $10,000 bounty within a month.

Main themes

• Tesla bug bounty program
• XSS vulnerability
• Input/output sanitization
• Internal application security
• Automotive cybersecurity

What commenters say

• Input sanitization is not enough to prevent security vulnerabilities, output encoding is also necessary.
• Internal applications are often less secure than public-facing ones due to a lack of scrutiny and testing.
• Experienced developers can still make mistakes with input/output sanitization, highlighting the need for robust testing and code review.
• Some companies may not take security vulnerabilities seriously, making it difficult for researchers to report and get issues fixed.
• Tesla's bug bounty program is considered excellent, providing a safe haven for researchers and offering support for accidental damage.
• The distinction between sanitization and encoding is important, with encoding being a more effective way to prevent security vulnerabilities.
• Relying on a VPN to secure an internal application is not enough, as attackers can still make requests to the application through other means.