bb-methodology
Guides your agent at the start of bug hunts or when it feels lost. It helps define focus and the next action to take.
What it does
This tool helps you organize your bug bounty hunting. It guides you with an action plan and teaches you to think like an attacker to find security flaws.
When to use it
- ✓At the start of a bug hunting session.
- ✓When switching targets or strategies.
- ✓When you feel lost about what to do next.
Example of what to ask your AI
“I'm starting a bug hunt for website X. What's the first step?”
Want more? Open the sections below.
How to use
The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.
Skill link
Ready-to-paste message
How it works
It works by asking you to define your goal (e.g., steal data), choose a type of vulnerability to look for (e.g., IDOR), and focus only on that. It also teaches you to question security rules and think about how an attacker would act.
Installation
Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.
In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:
npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill bb-methodologyOr download just the file:
curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills/main/plugins/agentic-awesome-skills-claude/skills/bb-methodology/SKILL.md -o SKILL.mdTechnical content (original SKILL.md)
Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.
⚠️ AUTHORIZED USE ONLY This skill is for educational purposes or authorized security assessments only. You must have explicit, written permission from the system owner before using this tool. Misuse of this tool is illegal and strictly prohibited.
Mandatory confirmation gate Before running any command that probes, exploits, changes, persists on, extracts data from, or attempts credential access against a target:
- Ask the user to state the exact target URL, IP, account, or resource.
- Ask the user to confirm written authorization and the permitted scope.
- Show the exact command(s) and explain their expected effect.
- Wait for explicit confirmation in the current conversation.
Without that confirmation, remain read-only and provide defensive guidance only. Prefer a sandbox, disposable VM, or controlled lab.
Bug Bounty Methodology: Workflow + Mindset
Master orchestrator for hunting sessions. Combines the 5-phase non-linear workflow with the critical thinking framework that separates top 1% hunters from the rest.
PART 0: MODE CONFIRMATION (Before Anything Else)
Confirm the engagement type before deciding what counts as a finding. The same target produces a different report shape depending on which mode applies. Getting this wrong is the single biggest waste of time in this workflow — answer it explicitly before Phase 0.
| Engagement type | What counts as a finding | What gets rejected |
|---|---|---|
| Bug bounty (H1 / Bugcrowd / Intigriti / private VDP) | Impact-demonstrated bugs ONLY. Full chain to attacker-attainable harm. | Hygiene (EoL software alone, permissive CSP alone, stack traces, info disclosure without concrete impact, "best practice" violations) |
| Red team (external client engagement) | Hygiene findings + recon + IoCs + defensive-state observations are ALL deliverables | Nothing — even "no finding here" is reportable as a positive defensive observation |
| Pentest (signed SoW / WAPT) | Depends on SoW. Read scope explicitly. Usually accepts hygiene + impact + recon | Out-of-scope assets, unsigned testing |
| Internal audit | Compliance-mapped findings (PCI / ISO / NIST / DPDPA / GDPR) | Findings without a control-mapping |
Hard rule: Before Phase 0 runs, write the engagement type as the first line in your hunt notes. If you can't answer it from the user's instruction, ASK once. Don't assume — the mistake costs both you and the triager.
Lesson from an authorized engagement: First-pass on this target produced 5 hygiene findings (SP2013 EoL, permissive CSP, stack traces) shipped in red-team format. The engagement was bug-bounty. Findings would have been N/A'd as "informational, no impact demonstrated." After the corrected pass with hygiene-as-context-not-finding, the same target yielded 11 impact-demonstrated bugs including 3 Critical.
PART 1: MINDSET (How to Think)
Core Principle
Hunting is not "find a bug" -- it is "prove an attack scenario." Think like an attacker with a specific goal, not a scanner looking for patterns.
Daily Discipline: Define, Select, Execute
Before touching any tool:
- Define: "Today I target [feature/domain] to achieve [CIA impact]"
- Select: Choose 1-2 vuln classes (IDOR, Race Condition, etc.)
- Execute: Focus ONLY on selected techniques. No wandering.
5 Ultimate Goals (Pick One Per Session)
- Confidentiality -- steal data the attacker shouldn't see
- Integrity -- modify data the attacker shouldn't change
- Availability -- disrupt service (app-level DoS only)
- Account Takeover -- control another user's account
- RCE -- execute commands on the server
4 Thinking Domains
1. Critical Thinking (deep analysis)
Question trust boundaries:
- Frontend control disabled? Send request directly via proxy
user_role=usercookie? Change toadminprice=1000in POST? Change to1<script>blocked? Try<img onerror=...>
Reverse-engineer developer psychology:
- Feature A has auth checks -> Similar feature B (newly added) probably doesn't
- Complex flows (coupon + points + refund) -> Edge cases have bugs
/api/v2/userexists -> Does/api/v1/userstill work with weaker auth?
What-If experiments:
- Skip checkout -> hit
/checkout/successdirectly - Skip 2FA -> navigate to
/dashboard - Send coupon request 10x simultaneously -> Race condition?
…
FAQ
What is 'Bug Bounty'?
It's a program where companies pay people to find and report security vulnerabilities in their systems.
What are 'security vulnerabilities'?
They are errors in a system's code or configuration that attackers can exploit to cause harm, such as stealing information or taking down a service.
What does 'think like an attacker' mean?
It means trying to break security rules, imagining scenarios where protections fail, and exploring unexpected paths to achieve a malicious objective.
Details
Original description by the author
Use at the START of any bug bounty hunting session, when switching targets, or when feeling lost about what to do next.
Popularity
- GitHub stars
- 48k
- Ranking position
- #2406
- License
- MIT
- Updated
- 10/15/2026
Comments
- …
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