It all started with a story that every bug bounty hunter has heard, or maybe even dreamed of living.

A good friend of mine, another hunter grinding away on public programs, stumbled upon something that seemed almost too good to be true. He found an IP address that led to a login page.

With a simple, almost laughable guess of admin:admin, he was in. The report was filed, and just like that, a $2,500 bounty was awarded .

When he told me, my reaction was probably like yours would be. “Bro, when will I ever find something like this?” His answer was simple, but it stuck with me. He said, “It’s all about being at the right place, at the right time” . That single phrase became a mantra in my head. It’s the hunter’s dream — a simple flaw leading to a big win.

Little did I know, my own “right place, right time” moment was just around the corner, hidden on a forgotten subdomain.

The 18-Day Grind

For 18 long days, my partner and I were deep inside a private bug bounty program. If you’ve spent time in these private programs, you know the drill.