Ben Zimmermann

Security Researcher

Hey, I'm Ben. I'm a 16-year-old security researcher from California. I've been awarded over $20,000 in bug bounties for securing critical infrastructure and the open web.

Security Research

I specialize in identifying critical failures in large-scale systems. Here are some of my most significant disclosures.

Feb 2026

Red HatSSH Key Exposure

Hall of Fame

Acknowledged by Red Hat Security. Discovered a leaked SSH private key granting write access to eclipse-che/che, the upstream repository for Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces.

Dec 2025

TechCrunchHome Depot Exposure

Featured

Featured in TechCrunch. A leaked GitHub token granted access to hundreds of private repositories, cloud infrastructure, and order fulfillment systems.

Nov 2025

GitHubCritical Infrastructure Access

$20,000

Discovered a leaked OAuth token granting write access to 'github/github' and 74,000+ private repositories.

Nov 2025

TripAdvisorSensitive Data Exposure

$1,500

Identified a publicly exposed employee token with 'repo' and 'workflow' scopes, allowing access to source code and build pipelines.

Oct 2025

Vue.jsAdmin API Key Exposure

Hall of Fame

Acknowledged in the Vue.js Security Hall of Fame. Found a leaked Algolia Admin API key with write access to the official documentation search index.

Sep 2025

Chrome ExtensionsAI Auth Bypass

Resolved

Reverse-engineered popular AI extensions to bypass client-side authentication, enabling free access to premium LLM APIs.

Aug 2025

MargeloExposed Credentials

Resolved

Discovered publicly exposed credentials that could compromise development infrastructure.

Jul 2025

PopsaSecurity Misconfiguration

Resolved

Identified misconfigurations that could lead to unauthorized access to user data.

Apr 2018

NPREarly Security Research

Featured

Featured in NPR. Discovered a Google Family Link security bypass at age 9, marking the beginning of my security research journey.

Tech Stack

The languages and tools I use to uncover vulnerabilities.

Automation & Scripting

Building custom scanners and automation tooling

Security Operations

Network analysis, interception, and reverse engineering

Platforms

Where I deploy code and engage with the community

Projects

Open source tools and scanners I've built to automate the hunt.