Researchers who identify security issues in Adobe’s Web applications can report their findings through the company’s newly launched vulnerability disclosure program powered by HackerOne.
Adobe says it’s aware that independent security researchers play an important role in keeping users safe. However, for the time being, the company doesn’t appear to be offering any monetary rewards for those who identify and report vulnerabilities. Instead, researchers can boost their HackerOne reputation score.
The new vulnerability disclosure program covers cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), authentication and authorization flaws, directory traversal, server-side code execution, information disclosure, injection bugs, and significant security misconfigurations.
Missing HTTP security headers, clickjacking on static pages, issues related to password reset links, missing cookie flags in non-sensitive cookies, and low-severity CSRF are not eligible unless the reporter demonstrates exploitability, Adobe said. Social engineering, denial-of-service (DoS), and spam attacks are also excluded from the program.
“To receive credit, you must be the first reporter of a vulnerability and provide us a reasonable amount of time to remediate before publicly disclosing. When submitting a vulnerability, please provide concise steps to reproduce that are easily understood,” Adobe said.
Researchers who want to take part in the program must not violate any laws, disrupt services, or compromise data.
The program is limited to vulnerabilities in Adobe’s online services and Web properties. Those who identify security issues in desktop applications such as Flash Player or Reader are advised to report them to the company’s Product Security Incident Response Team at PSIRT@adobe.com.
It’s not uncommon for major companies to launch vulnerability disclosure programs, but they usually offer monetary rewards. For example, Twitter offers a minimum of $140, Silent Circle and Blackphone have a standard reward of $128, and Pinterest offers between $25 and $200 per bug.
Last week, Facebook reported paying out a total of $1.3 million through its bug bounty program in 2014.