Season of Bugs (SOB)

Security research meets open source. Find vulnerabilities, get recognized.

Program Overview

Season of Bugs focuses on security testing, vulnerability discovery, and security improvements in open source projects.

What Makes SOB Different

Aspect	Regular Contributions	SOB
Focus	Features & bug fixes	Security vulnerabilities
Skills	General programming	Security research
Mindset	Building features	Breaking things safely
Output	New features/fixes	Vulnerability reports
Recognition	Contributor credit	CVE credits, hall of fame

Participating Organizations

Typically includes:

OWASP Projects - Web application security
Linux Distributions - OS security hardening
Crypto Libraries - OpenSSL, libsodium, etc.
Web Frameworks - Django, Rails, Express
Cloud Tools - Docker, Kubernetes security

Types of Security Work

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         SOB CONTRIBUTION CATEGORIES              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                  │
│  Vulnerability Discovery   ████████████  35%    │
│  Security Audits          ██████████     30%    │
│  Security Tool Dev        ████████       20%    │
│  Fuzzing & Testing        ████           10%    │
│  Security Docs            ██             5%     │
│                                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Required Skills

Technical Foundation

Programming Languages
- C/C++ for low-level vulnerabilities
- Python for security tooling
- JavaScript for web security
- Assembly for exploit development
Security Knowledge
- Common vulnerability types (OWASP Top 10)
- Exploitation techniques
- Secure coding practices
- Cryptography basics
Tools
- Static analyzers (Coverity, SonarQube)
- Dynamic testing (Valgrind, AddressSanitizer)
- Fuzzers (AFL, libFuzzer)
- Network tools (Wireshark, Burp Suite)

Vulnerability Classification

Severity	Bounty Range	Example
Critical	$2,000-$ 5,000+	Remote code execution, auth bypass
High	$1,000-$ 2,000	SQL injection, XSS with major impact
Medium	$500-$ 1,000	CSRF, info disclosure
Low	$100-$ 500	Minor info leak, config issues

Reporting Process

Discover Vulnerability

Use fuzzing, code review, or dynamic testing
Confirm reproducibility
Assess impact and scope

Write Detailed Report

Clear description of vulnerability
Step-by-step reproduction
Proof-of-concept code/exploit
Suggested fix

Responsible Disclosure

Report privately to security team
Give time to patch (90 days standard)
Don't publicize until fix is released

Follow Up

Answer questions from maintainers
Test proposed patches
Help with CVE assignment

Sample Vulnerability Report Template

## Summary
Brief one-line description of the vulnerability
 
## Severity
[Critical/High/Medium/Low] + CVSS score if calculated
 
## Affected Components
- Package: [name and version]
- File: [filename]
- Function: [function name]
- Line: [line number]
 
## Vulnerability Details
Detailed technical explanation of the issue
 
## Reproduction Steps
1. Step one
2. Step two
3. Expected: [what should happen]
4. Actual: [what actually happens]
 
## Proof of Concept
```code
[PoC exploit code]

Impact Assessment

Who is affected
What can attacker achieve
Likelihood of exploitation

Suggested Fix

Technical recommendations for patching

Timeline

Discovered: [date]
Reported: [date]
Acknowledged: [date]
Expected Fix: [date]


## Common Vulnerability Types to Look For

<Cards>
<Card title="Memory Safety" href="#">
Buffer overflows, use-after-free, double-free in C/C++ code
</Card>

<Card title="Injection Attacks" href="#">
SQL injection, command injection, XSS in web applications
</Card>

<Card title="Authentication" href="#">
Broken auth, session management issues, privilege escalation
</Card>

<Card title="Crypto Issues" href="#">
Weak algorithms, improper key management, timing attacks
</Card>
</Cards>

## Fuzzing Strategy

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Choose Target] --> B[Set Up Fuzzer]
    B --> C[Instrument Code]
    C --> D[Run Fuzzing Campaign]
    D --> E{Crash Found?}
    E -->|Yes| F[Reproduce & Analyze]
    E -->|No| D
    F --> G[Assess Security Impact]
    G --> H{Exploitable?}
    H -->|Yes| I[Write Report]
    H -->|No| J[Report as Bug]

Ethics & Legal

⚠️

Critical: Legal Boundaries

Always:

Get written permission before testing
Test only in scope systems
Follow responsible disclosure
Don't access/modify production data

Never:

Test production systems without permission
Publicize vulnerabilities before patches
Use found vulnerabilities maliciously
Share exploits publicly before fixes

Success Metrics

What defines successful SOB participation:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         SUCCESSFUL SOB CONTRIBUTOR             │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                │
│  ✓ 2-5 verified vulnerabilities found         │
│  ✓ All reported through proper channels       │
│  ✓ Clear, reproducible reports                │
│  ✓ Suggested patches included                 │
│  ✓ CVE credits received                       │
│  ✓ Contributed security tools/tests           │
│                                                │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Learning Path

Beginner

Start with OWASP Top 10 web vulnerabilities
Practice on deliberately vulnerable apps (DVWA, WebGoat)
Read security blogs and reports
Learn basic fuzzing

Intermediate

Study CVE reports for patterns
Set up fuzzing infrastructure
Contribute security tests to projects
Learn exploit development basics

Advanced

Find 0-days in production software
Develop custom security tools
Write exploits and patches
Mentor others in security research

Recognition Beyond Bounties

CVE Credits - Permanent record of discovery
Hall of Fame - Listed on project security pages
Conference Talks - Present findings at security cons
Security Career - Direct path to security roles
Research Papers - Publish novel techniques

Tools to Learn

Category	Tools	Purpose
Static Analysis	Coverity, Clang Static Analyzer	Find bugs without running code
Dynamic Analysis	Valgrind, ASan, MSan	Detect runtime issues
Fuzzing	AFL, libFuzzer, Honggfuzz	Automated test case generation
Web Security	Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP	Web app vulnerability scanning
Network	Wireshark, tcpdump	Protocol analysis
Reverse Engineering	Ghidra, IDA Pro, radare2	Binary analysis

Resources

OWASP Resources Developer Tooling Responsible Disclosure

SOB Reality: Requires deeper technical skills than typical contributions. Not for beginners. If you enjoy breaking things (ethically) and understanding security, this is your path.

LFX Mentorship Code for GovTech