The Pwn2Own Automotive 2025 hacking competition has concluded with researchers exploiting 49 zero-day vulnerabilities in automotive-related products. The researchers raised $886,250 for finding these security holes .
The vulnerabilities were identified in automotive software and products, including electric vehicle (EV) chargers, operating systems (e.g. Android Automotive OS, Automotive Grade Linux, and BlackBerry QNX), and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems.
It is worth noting that the bugs were found on devices that installed the latest operating system versions and security updates
See also: phpMyAdmin vulnerability allows hackers to perform XSS attacks
Pwn2Own Automotive 2025: How much money did researchers raise?
The researchers raised $382,750 after demonstrating 16 unique zero-days on the first day . On the second day, they earned $335,500 , using 23 more zero-day bugs. On the same day, they hacked ’s EV charger Tesla twice . Finally, on the third day of the competition, the researchers raised another $168,000 for 10 vulnerabilities in software and products.
Companies whose products were compromised during the contest have 90 days to issue security updates before TrendMicro's Zero Day Initiative publicly discloses the vulnerabilities.
Sina Kheirkhah of Summoning Team won this year’s Pwn2Own Automotive 2025, earning 30.5 Master of Pwn points and $222,250 in cash. The researcher managed to hack multiple EV chargers and In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems.
See also: Backdoor exploits vulnerability in Juniper routers
Synacktiv is in second place with $147,500. PHP Hooligans won $110,000, fuzzware.io $ 68,750 and Viettel Cyber Security collected $53,750.
Pwn2Own Automotive 2025
The reaction from the hacker community and the public is always enthusiastic about these competitions. Everyone recognizes the importance of the competition in promoting the security of products and systems.
See also: Oracle January Patch: Fixes 320 new vulnerabilities
At the same time, such competitions give hackers themselves the opportunity to learn and be inspired by the techniques and strategies used by their other colleagues.
The Pwn2Own Automotive 2025 event strengthens the community ethical hacking, offering a platform for dialogue, idea exchange and collaboration.
Source: www.bleepingcomputer.com
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