Bug Bounty Report Writing

Turn findings into reports that triagers accept quickly and rate fairly.

Report Structure

1. Title — vulnerability class + affected asset. Stored XSS in ticket comment field on support.example.com
2. Severity & CVSS — your suggested rating with vector string
3. Summary — 2–3 sentences: what, where, impact
4. Steps to Reproduce — numbered, copy-pasteable, no assumptions
5. Impact — what an attacker gains, concretely
6. Supporting Material — HTTP requests/responses, screenshots with sensitive data redacted
7. Remediation — specific fix recommendation

Rules

• One vulnerability per report. Chains go in one report only when each step is meaningless alone.
• Impact must be demonstrated or rigorously argued, not speculated. "Could lead to RCE" without a path gets downgraded.
• Redact personal data in evidence. Blur user PII; never include other users' data you accessed — report the access, delete the data.
• No markdown-breaking formatting in pasted logs; use fenced code blocks.
• Write for a triager seeing the asset for the first time.

Common Downgrade Causes to Avoid

• Self-XSS or XSS requiring victim-installed software presented as high severity
• Missing Content-Security-Policy or verbose headers with no demonstrated exploit
• Theoretical IDOR without showing two distinct accounts affected
• Automated scanner output pasted without manual verification

After Submission

• Respond to triager questions within the program's SLA
• Request re-review only after substantive new information
• Do not disclose publicly until the program's disclosure policy allows