GitHub bug bounty spotlight: a conversation with @imrerad

GitHub’s Security Bug Bounty Program has now been running for a decade, and in that time it has paid out more than $5.5 million in rewards through HackerOne. The program is a core part of how GitHub keeps its platform—home to over 100 million developers and 420 million repositories—secure. To mark Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the program’s anniversary, the GitHub Bug Bounty team interviewed one of its top contributors, @imrerad, a researcher known for finding command injection and logic implementation flaws.

From reported vulnerabilities to a hobby that sticks

@imrerad’s security background started in his late teens, when he was reporting vulnerabilities to companies before bug bounty programs were mainstream. His first reward came in 2016 from Android. He does not hack full-time; it is a hobby he fits around a full-time job and personal life.

Asked what keeps him interested, his answer is direct: “Its addictive nature—you always want one more finding.”

Outside of security, he keeps busy with music and home automation projects. Recently, he has been building an irrigation system and is eyeing a water storage upgrade next.

How he tracks emerging vulnerabilities

Write-ups published by other researchers are one of his main sources for staying current. They expose tricks he has not seen before and surface features he might have missed. They can even spark ideas about additional attack vectors.

He also recommends reading target changelogs. For example, GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) release notes have shown a trend of privilege escalation issues in the management console, which points researchers toward likely problem areas. His day job as a security engineer adds another layer of practical experience to his process.

Favorite bug classes and personal methodology

Logic bugs are his favorite target—he favors flaws that are unique over textbook issues like reflected XSS that off-the-shelf tools can find. He enjoys coding tools to verify suspected attack vectors or to uncover additional instances of a discovered flaw. For race condition bugs, he likes exploring ways to improve his odds of winning the race.

His process is practical, not overly complex:

  1. Pick a target you like or know well—he finds it harder to stay motivated on products he does not care for.
  2. List features that seem risky, either because the impact of a flaw would be severe or because they are hard to implement securely.
  3. Build attack vectors for each feature.
  4. Prioritize the list.
  5. Execute the attacks.
  6. Expand and adjust the list based on what you learn.
  7. Repeat.

Advice for new bug bounty researchers

His tips for those getting into the field are grounded in long-term habits:

  • Take verbose notes—they save time when you need to reproduce something months later or share conclusions with others.
  • Do not let assumptions limit you—even skilled engineers make mistakes, so it is worth verifying attacks that may seem trivial.
  • Find the right balance—research on a promising attack surface can demand significant time, and deciding when to proceed or stop is genuinely hard.
  • Give back—publishing write-ups and tools supports the researcher community and makes the internet safer.

He can be reached on LinkedIn, writes on Medium, and shares tools on GitHub. GitHub continues to welcome researcher submissions through its HackerOne program and invites interested candidates to check its open roles.