Bug Bounty Methodology

Bug Bounty Recon Methodology

🏗 Phase 1: Passive Intelligence & Scope Mapping

Identify the organization's global footprint, network boundaries, and historical data.

1.1 ASN & Network Mapping

# Get ASN and convert to IP ranges
asnmap -d target.com | dnsx -silent > asn.txt

# Whois lookup for IP ranges
whois -h whois.radb.net -- '-i origin AS714' | grep -Eo "([0-9.]+){4}/[0-9]+" | uniq | mapcidr -silent | httpx > cidr_ips.txt

# Extract IPs from 3rd party providers
curl -s "https://urlscan.io/api/v1/search/?q=domain:target.com&size=10000" | jq -r '.results[]?.page?.ip//empty' | grep -Eo '([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}' | tee urlscan_ips.txt
curl -s "https://www.virustotal.com/vtapi/v2/domain/report?domain=target.com&apikey=[key]" | jq -r '..|.ip_address?//empty' | grep -Eo '([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}' | tee vt_ips.txt
curl -s 'https://subdomainfinder.c99.nl/scans/2025-12-29/target.com' | grep -Eo '([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}' | sort -u > c99_ips.txt

1.2 Passive Subdomain Scraping

subfinder -d target.com -all -recursive -o sub1.txt
findomain -t target.com | tee sub2.txt
amass enum -passive -d target.com -norecursive -noalts -o sub3.txt
knockpy -d target.com --recon --bruteforce
subrake -d target.com
python sublist3r.py -v -d target.com
Subenum -d target.com | tee sub4.txt
Chaos -d target.com | tee sub5.txt
github-subdomain -d target.com | tee sub6.txt
assetfinder --subs-only target.com > sub7.txt
echo "target.com" | subdog | tee sub8.txt
tldfinder -d target.com | tee sub9.txt
bbot -t target.com -f subdomain-enum | tee sub10.txt
oneforall --target target.com --brute False run | tee sub11.txt

# Certificate & API Scraping
curl -s "https://crt.sh/?q=%25.target.com&output=json" | jq -r '.[].name_value' | sed 's/\*\.//g' | sort -u > crtsh_subs.txt
curl -s -H "APIKEY: <KEY>" "https://api.securitytrails.com/v1/domain/target.com/subdomains" | jq -r '.subdomains[] | "\(.).target.com"' > securitytrails.txt

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🧬 Phase 2: DNS Resolution & Brute-Forcing

Validating gathered data and uncovering hidden assets through permutations.

2.1 Filtering & Resolving

# Merge and unique all subdomains
cat sub*.txt crtsh_subs.txt securitytrails.txt | anew allsubs.txt

# Resolve with Puredns
cat allsubs.txt | puredns resolve -r resolvers.txt -w resolved.txt

# Secondary targeted Subfinder scan
subfinder -dL resolved.txt -all -recursive -o subfinder_recursive.txt

2.2 Brute-Force & Permutations

# Subdomain Brute-force
puredns bruteforce wordlist.txt target.com -r resolvers.txt -w brute_results.txt

# Permutation Scanning (AlterX)
cat resolved.txt | alterx | dnsx -silent | anew resolved.txt

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📡 Phase 3: Infrastructure & Port Analysis

Mapping services and identifying misconfigured Virtual Hosts.

3.1 Port Scanning (Naabu & Nmap)

# Full Port Scan (excluding standard web ports for speed)
naabu -list resolved.txt -p - -exclude-ports 80,443 -o allports.txt
smap -iL targets.txt

# Service Detection on discovered ports
nmap -sV -sC -iL allports.txt -oN nmap_details.txt

# Targeted Naabu/Nmap automated combo
naabu -list resolved.txt -c 50 -nmap-cli 'nmap -sV -sC' -o naabu_full.txt
naabu -list subs.txt -top-ports 1000 -exclude-ports 80,443,21,22,25 -o top1000ports.txt
naabu -list subs.txt -p - -exclude-ports 80,443,21,22,25 -o allports.txt
rustscan -b 500 -a target.com --top -- -sC -sV -Pn
rustscan -b 500 -a 10.1.49.196 -- -sC -sV -Pn

3.2 VHost & Subdomain Fuzzing

# VHost discovery using FFUF
ffuf -H 'Host: FUZZ.target.com' -u 'http://target.com' -w subdomains.txt -fs [size]

# API Fuzzing
ffuf -u https://FUZZ.api.target.com -w wordlist.txt
ffuf -u https://api.FUZZ.target.com -w wordlist.txt

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🔍 Phase 4: Web Probing & Vulnerability Scanning

Detailed analysis of web-facing applications.

4.1 Web Discovery (HTTPX)

cat subs.txt | httpx --random-agent --status-code --title --server -td -cl | tee liv.txt

httpx -list allsubs.txt -status-code -content-length -content-type -line-count -title -body-preview -server -tech-detect -probe-all-ips -include-response -follow-host-redirects -random-agent -o httpx_full.txt

4.2 Nuclei & Takeover Checks

# CVEs, Misconfigs, and Information Exposures
cat live_web.txt | nuclei -t cves/ -t exposures/ -t misconfiguration/ -severity critical,high,medium -o nuclei_results.txt
nuclei -l live_subs.txt -ft -headless -tags xss,ssrf,rce

# Subdomain Takeover Check
subzy run --targets resolved.txt
subzy run --targets subs.txt --concurrency 100 --hide_fails --verify_ssl

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📜 Phase 5: Deep Content & JavaScript Analysis

Mining JavaScript and archives for hidden secrets and sensitive files.

5.1 URL & File Extraction

waymore -i target.com -mode U -oU urls.txt
katana -u target.com -kf robotstxt,sitemapxml -o katana_urls.txt
katana -u https://target.com/ -jc -js-crawl -kf all
cat subs.txt | katana -jc -jsl | tee katana.txt                                                                        




# Extract sensitive files (Docs, DBs, Backups)
cat urls.txt | grep -E "\.xls|\.xml|\.xlsx|\.json|\.pdf|\.sql|\.doc|\.zip|\.bak|\.config|\.yaml" | tee sensitive_files.txt

5.2 JavaScript Deep Dive

# Discover JS files
cat urls.txt | grep "\.js$" | httpx -mc 200 > js_files.txt
cat resolved.txt | getJS --complete | anew js_files.txt

# Extract Endpoints from JS files
cat js_files.txt | while read url; do curl -s $url | grep -aoP "(?<=(\"|\'|\`))\/[a-zA-Z0-9_?&=\/\-\#\.]*(?=(\"|\'|\`))"; done | sort -u > endpoints.txt

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⚡ Phase 6: Input & Parameter Fuzzing

Automated vulnerability testing for injection and path traversal.

6.1 Parameter Discovery

arjun -i live_web.txt -m GET -oT params.txt

6.2 Vulnerability Automation (XSS/LFI)

# LFI Testing
cat live_web.txt | gf lfi | qsreplace "FUZZ" | while read url; do ffuf -u $url -w lfi_payloads.txt -mr "root:"; done

# XSS Testing
cat urls.txt | gf xss | uro | Gxss -p Rxss | dalfox pipe

6.3 Content Discovery (Directories)

ffuf -u https://target.com/FUZZ -w fuzz_wordlist.txt -mc 200,302
ffuf -u https://target.com/FUZZ.php -w words.txt -mc 200,302
ffuf -u https://target.com/FUZZ.zip -w words.txt -mc 200,302

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📊 Visual Assets & Checklists

1. Methodology Overview

2. Advanced Attack Surface Mapping

3. Step-by-Step Checklists

For More Visit "https://www.pentest-book.com/others/web-checklist"

Happy Hunting! 🚀