lcamtuf :verified: :verified: :verified:

@lcamtuf@infosec.exchange

@bagder writes about his AI slop problem on H1: daniel.haxx.se/blog/2025/07/14

I like bug bounties and I put a fair amount of effort into bootstrapping the one at Google back in the day, but I think the problem runs deeper than AI.

First, most people who make a living doing bug bounties don't go after $10,000+ bugs. Very few researchers can crank out top-notch find month after month. A much better strategy on these platforms is to go after low-hanging fruit and rake in $500 to $1,000 bugs every day.

Companies respond accordingly! Because most of the traffic are low-value vulns from less skilled researchers, you don't want to throw your best analysts at this. It's increasingly common to outsource triage and bug-filing for bug bounty programs.

But if the person doing the triage isn't highly paid and familiar with the systems in question, there is a strong incentive to err on the side of caution. If you incorrectly close something serious as a non-issue, you risk the researcher making a stink. Conversely, if the triager files a non-issue with the product team, they'll probably fix it anyway, and the only cost is some wasted time.

The result is that in most programs, there's no penalty for slop. And researchers exploit this with spray-and-pray tactics. Why not?

I think one issue here are platforms that make it easy to window-browse for bug bounty programs. They have plenty of advantages, but it's a race to the bottom because the least diligent vendors set the bar for participation for all.

July 17, 2025 at 3:36:53 PM
(Edited)
Web

@lcamtuf @bagder Yeah, the slop came before the AI, but the people submitting their own imaginative slop were at least more aware that their claims were dubious. Those reporting AI slop 'bugs' seem to have been convinced by the AI's mansplaining as a service.

@lcamtuf @bagder And the galling part (or one of the galling parts) is that as you respond the the thread, you're slowly teaching the AI (or the human submitter) how to get better at fooling you.

Elk Logo

Welcome to Elk!

Elk is a nimble Mastodon web client. You can login to your Mastodon account and use it to interact with the fediverse.

Expect some bugs and missing features here and there. Elk is Open Source and we're actively improving it as a community project. Join us and let's build it together!

If you'd like to report a bug, help us testing, give feedback, or contribute, reach out to us on GitHub and get involved.

To boost development, you can sponsor the Team through GitHub Sponsors. We hope you enjoy Elk!

Joaquín Sánchez三咲智子 Kevin DengDaniel RoePatakAnthony FuTAKAHASHI Shuuji

The Elk Team