Automate Recon and Found 100+ Bugs — Here’s How You Can Do

In bug bounty hunting, reconnaissance is the battlefield—and automation is your tactical edge. When done right, automated recon doesn’t just save time—it uncovers vulnerabilities that others miss. I didn’t just try this. I scaled it. Optimized it. Weaponized it. And I found 100+ bugs.

Here’s how you can replicate the process.

The Problem with Manual Recon

Manual recon is slow, repetitive, and error-prone. Subdomains are missed. Passive intel is limited. And fatigue sets in. To break through, I built a system that runs 24/7, with zero manual intervention after launch.

Tool	Purpose
amass	Subdomain enumeration
subfinder	Fast passive subdomain grabber
httpx	Probe live domains
nuclei	Vulnerability template engine
waybackurls	Old URL discovery
gf + qsreplace	Parametric fuzzing
dnsx	DNS resolution
chaos	Pull domains from bug bounty scope

Step-by-Step Guide to Automated Recon

Here’s a practical, replicable workflow to automate recon and find bugs like a pro, inspired by tools like ARWAD and reconFTW.

1. Passive Recon with OSINT

Start with open-source intelligence (OSINT) to gather data without touching the target:

• Shodan: Find exposed databases or servers (e.g., port 27017 for MongoDB).
  Example: shodan search org:example.com port:80
• Wayback Machine: Discover deleted pages or old endpoints with vulnerabilities.
  Example: Use waybackurls example.com to extract archived URLs.
• GitHub Leaks: Search for exposed API keys or credentials.
  Example: github-search.py -k “example.com api_key”.

Pro Tip: Use tools like theHarvester for email and subdomain discovery.

2. Subdomain Enumeration

Subdomains are goldmines for bugs like takeovers or misconfigurations. Automate with:

• Subfinder: subfinder -d example.com -o subdomains.txt
• Amass: amass enum -passive -d example.com -o amass_subdomains.txt
• Combine: cat subdomains.txt amass_subdomains.txt | sort -u > all_subdomains.txt

3. Resolve and Filter Live Subdomains

Verify which subdomains are active and gather metadata:

• Httpx: httpx -l all_subdomains.txt -o live_subdomains.txt -sc -title -tech-detect
  This checks for HTTP status codes, titles, and technologies (e.g., WordPress, Laravel).
• Filter by Status: Extract subdomains with HTTP 200, 401, or 403 for further testing:
  grep ‘\[200\]’ metadata.txt | cut -d ” ” -f 1 > 200.txt

4. Port Scanning and Service Detection

Identify open ports and services to uncover attack surfaces:

• Nmap: nmap -iL live_subdomains.txt -p 80,443,8080 -sV -oN ports.txt
  Focus on common ports like 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), or 8080 (web servers).
• MassDNS: For faster DNS resolution across large subdomain lists.

5. Vulnerability Scanning

Automate vulnerability detection with tools like Nuclei:

• Nuclei: nuclei -l live_subdomains.txt -t cves/ -t misconfigurations/ -o vulnerabilities.txt
  Scans for XSS, SSRF, SQLi, and more.
• Custom Payloads: Test for business logic flaws or specific misconfigurations (e.g., exposed Springboot Heapdump).

Automation Logic

1. Target Acquisition
   • Pull domains from public bug bounty programs.
   • Feed them into chaos and subfinder to extract subdomains.
2. Liveness Check
   • Use httpx to validate which hosts are alive.
   • Eliminate dead targets early.
3. Historical Discovery
   • Scrape archived endpoints using waybackurls.
   • Merge them into custom wordlists.
4. Vulnerability Scanning
   • Run nuclei with tuned templates for XSS, SSRF, IDOR, etc.
   • Chain gf + qsreplace to test common injection points.
5. Alerting & Logging
   • Results logged daily.
   • Notifications via Discord webhook when a critical or high is triggered.

Results: 100+ Bugs, 20+ Valid Reports

This system uncovered:

• Forgotten admin panels
• Exposed .git directories
• Open redirects
• Misconfigured CORS headers
• Leaky endpoints from old JavaScript files

Over 20 reports were accepted by bounty platforms, and dozens of minor issues were confirmed by private programs.

Lessons Learned

• Automation ≠ Intelligence
  Automated tools surface targets. You still need to investigate, validate, and exploit manually.
• Templates Are Everything
  Most bounty hunters run nuclei with default templates. I built custom templates to test for program-specific flaws.
• Noise Reduction Matters
  Without rate-limiting and proper filtering, your scans will trigger WAFs or get you banned.
• Time > Speed
  I scheduled recon to run daily at off-peak hours, avoiding bans and allowing continuous passive discovery.

Scaling It Further

To make this system scalable:

• Dockerized the toolchain
• Scheduled with cron and screen
• Set up tmux logging for long scans
• Implemented email + Discord alerting

Final Word

Recon isn’t about brute force. It’s about efficient signal discovery at scale. If you want consistent wins in bug bounty programs, stop running subfinder once a week. Build a pipeline. Automate. Iterate. And let the system do what humans can’t.