Last year, we saw the power of community-driven security initiatives come into play as researchers worldwide collaborated with us to identify and remediate hundreds of vulnerabilities in our offerings. We collaborated with a dedicated team of bug hunters and recognized the outstanding contributions of over 600 researchers from more than 68 countries by awarding them a cumulative sum of $10 million.
In 2023, our vulnerability reward programs underwent a series of significant updates and advancements.
- Through our innovative program, we are now offering limited-time incentives for select VRP targets, providing an added motivator to drive story development and engagement.
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With the release of v8CTF, we have successfully expanded our capabilities to include Chrome and Cloud, leveraging the power of V8, the JavaScript engine that drives Chrome.
- We introduced an innovative platform, specifically designed to cater to first-party Android apps, revolutionizing the way developers create and share content.
- As we collectively shape the internet into a secure, comprehensive platform, our path unfolds to reveal the intricacies of this transformative process. Explore our rapidly expanding collection of engaging articles and content.
- We further enhanced our connection with leading safety experts by hosting our annual ESCAL8 safety conference in Tokyo. The event featured hackathons and competitions, mentorship opportunities with our team, and lectures from esteemed researchers and Google experts. Stay informed about the latest updates and announcements regarding ESCAL8 2024.
Here are our 2023 Year in Review statistics across all our platforms. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our dedicated researchers for their tireless efforts in developing our applications, and look forward to future collaborations.
In 2023, Android’s Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) marked significant achievements, underscoring our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the Android ecosystem. We awarded more than $3.4 million to researchers who identified exceptional vulnerabilities within the Android ecosystem, as well as up to $15,000 for critical flaws discovered. As a result of our recent adjustments, we’ve observed a heightened emphasis on addressing critical issues due to the introduction of new incentives aimed at fostering higher-quality reporting and rewarding significant findings.
With a broader focus, the incorporation of OS into this system aims to further motivate innovation in emerging wearable technologies, thereby safeguarding customers’ security.
Collaborating closely with leading researchers at the prestigious ESCAL8 conference, our team also spearheaded a hackathon event focused on Wear OS and Android Automotive OS. The initiative yielded impressive results, with over $70,000 in rewards paid out to participants who successfully identified more than 20 critical vulnerabilities.
Additionally, we would like to emphasize the importance of safety conferences. Within the realm of hardware security research, Hardwear.io has provided a valuable platform for top-tier experts to collaborate and identify numerous vulnerabilities. In the past year alone, this collective effort led to the discovery of over 50 flaws in prominent products from companies like Nest, Fitbit, and Wearables, resulting in a substantial payout of $116,000?
Android apps on Google Play continually fostered a culture of safety analysis.
We are deeply grateful to the dedicated researchers whose tireless efforts have propelled our program towards outstanding success. Special acknowledgment goes to Zinuo Han of OPPO Amber Safety Lab and Yu-Cheng Lin, whose tireless efforts have earned them recognition as leading researchers in Android Virtual Reality Projects.
2023 proved to be a transformative year for the organization, marked by significant changes and innovative experiments. Chrome’s milestone 116 was successfully rolled out across all its platforms. As a consequence, the discovery of exploitable non-renderer use-after-free vulnerabilities in Chrome increased, accompanied by a reduction in reward amounts for UAFs protected by MiraclePtr. While code and data protected by MiraclePtr were designed to resist exploitation of non-renderer use-after-free (UAF) vulnerabilities, the Chrome Vulnerability Reward Program’s launch aimed to encourage research into identifying potential bypasses of these safeguards.
The Chrome Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) also introduced a new incentive, offering triple the standard maximum reward amount for the first reported Chrome full-chain exploit and doubling the standard maximum reward amount for subsequent submissions. As the significant opportunities remain unexplored, we are deliberately keeping the doors open in 2024 for innovative researchers willing to take on these pressing challenges.
By mid-2023, Google’s Chrome Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) introduced a new incentive structure for reporting V8 bugs in legacy Chrome channels, offering enhanced rewards for issues affecting older builds, with a special bonus for vulnerabilities discovered prior to the M105 milestone. The bug bounty program’s success was marked by numerous high-impact stories of longstanding V8 issues, alongside a report of a V8 JIT optimization bug in Chrome dating back to at least version M91, prompting a $30,000 reward for the diligent researcher.
In recognition of their efforts, the total payout reached $2.1 million, acknowledging 359 unique submissions detailing Chrome Browser security vulnerabilities. During the event, we were fortunate enough to connect with some of our top researchers from past years who had been specially invited to participate in bugSWAT as part of Google’s prestigious ESCAL8 conference in Tokyo, taking place in October. We celebrated the end of the year by publicly recognizing our top 20 Chrome Virtual Reality Program (VRP) reporters, who received a bonus reward in recognition of their outstanding contributions.
We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the Chrome Virtual Reality Platform (VRP) safety researcher group for their outstanding contributions and tireless efforts in helping us enhance Chrome’s overall security and make it a safer browsing experience for everyone.
In our final year, we also organized a live-hacking event as part of the BugSwat initiative, specifically targeting Language Model-based products. Beyond the obvious joys of sunshine, activity options abound. Notably, our endeavors yielded a remarkable 35 narratives, collectively exceeding $87,000 in value, featuring distinct tales such as those crafted by Johann, Joseph, and Kai, alongside others like Roni, Justin, and Joseph.
To inform AI-focused bug hunters about the boundaries of their work, we recently published our scope guide. This set of standards aims to streamline testing for both traditional safety vulnerabilities and those unique to artificial intelligence technologies, building upon the approach developed by Google and implemented at the White House in July.
We maintain a steadfast commitment to cultivating collaborative relationships, encouraging creative problem-solving, and ensuring openness with our safety team. Our relentless pursuit involves staying ahead of emerging dangers, embracing innovative technologies, and continuously fortifying the security stance of Google’s offerings and assets. We look forward to continuing our efforts in driving innovative advancements in the world of cybersecurity.
A huge thank you to our dedicated bug hunters who have been instrumental in helping us strengthen the security of Google’s products and platforms, making them safer for users worldwide.
