Bitcoin reward offered to anyone who could break into an unpatched server running PHP, hacker cracks site and claims bounty
A hacker has successfully exploited vulnerabilities on an unpatched server running PHP to claim a $2,021.22 Bitcoin bounty, ending a 19-hour challenge.
The challenge was hosted on the Steal My Bitcoin website and was announced through a forum post. It was designed to test the claim that artificial intelligence makes exploiting critical software vulnerabilities easier.
The initial prize pot was approximately $502 worth of Bitcoin. Donations from the community increased the pot to 0.02511679 BTC, which was worth $2,021.22 at the time of the successful claim.
The challenge's creator confirmed the win on October 25, recording the successful claim at 15:47 UTC. The server had been running the challenge for approximately 19.28 hours.
Challenge details and outcome
The challenge's creator confirmed the win on October 25, ending an experiment designed to test claims that exploiting critical software vulnerabilities is becoming easier.
The hacker successfully broke into the unpatched server, which was running PHP2Shell. The breach demonstrated that the vulnerabilities were exploitable and that the challenge was a valid test of the claimed ease of exploitation.
Related
