I was closing my laptop when my phone buzzed across the desk. My custom recon automation script had found something… weird.

Most days, it flags the usual suspects — open directories, common endpoints. But this was different. One strange parameter on an email verification endpoint that most scanners would overlook. Two hours later, I’d confirmed a complete Email Confirmation Bypass.

Here’s the thing we all struggle with in bug bounty hunting: you can run all the automated tools, gather thousands of endpoints, and still miss the subtle logic flaws that lead to the real wins. We’ve all been there — that frustration when your tools spit out hundreds of potential leads but zero actual vulnerabilities.

This is the exact story of how I discovered one of my coolest bugs, and I’m telling it to you as if we’re sharing coffee at a hacker meetup. No jargon, no corporate speak — real talk between friends.

The Step-by-Step Hunt

The First Clue: That “Sus” Parameter

So my recon automation pipeline had spit out this endpoint:

/api/v1/verify?token=abc123&type=email_confirmation