Rewarding defenders with bigger bug bounties
OpenAI is increasing rewards in its Security Bug Bounty program to encourage independent researchers to find vulnerabilities in OpenAI software. The midpoint of reward ranges for medium, high, and critical findings will more than quadruple on average. A critical vulnerability in core products like ChatGPT, Codex, or the API Platform can now earn up to $30,000, with exceptional critical findings eligible for up to $172,000 with bonuses.
OpenAI is more than quadrupling its average bug bounty midpoint, unlike other programs that typically offer smaller, incremental increases for similar vulnerabilities.
Time & source
Times shown in UTC
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PublishedOffset at this time: UTC+0Nov 2, 2026, 18:00 UTC
IngestedOffset at this time: UTC+0Nov 3, 2026, 04:00 UTC
- Published
- Nov 2, 2026, 18:00
- Ingested
- Nov 3, 2026, 04:00
- Source type
- Official
- Tier
- First-party
- Source status
- Healthy
Tier is a per-source editorial setting, not a per-item score.
We’re raising rewards in OpenAI’s Security Bug Bounty program to further encourage independent researchers to pursue vulnerabilities in OpenAI software that our testing may have missed. We’re also introducing new incentives for researchers to earn more for higher quality vulnerability reports.
Independent security researchers play an essential role in protecting technology across the industry. At OpenAI, incentivizing responsible disclosure is a core part of our security model, complementing our Defense Factory work, where our engineers use our models to find weaknesses, reproduce them, and test fixes.
Today’s updates are designed to encourage and empower researchers, and to continue building a collaborative, community-first security environment.
Serious vulnerabilities get serious rewards
We’re more than quadrupling the midpoint of our reward ranges for medium, high, and critical findings on average. A critical vulnerability in a core product such as ChatGPT, Codex, or the API Platform will now earn up to $30,000. Exceptional critical findings on those targets remain eligible for up to $100,000, and now up to $172,000 with bonuses. The full details are available in our security bug bounty program (opens in a new window).
High quality report bonus multipliers
High-quality reports will be eligible to earn a bonus multiplier on the base bounty. A reliable proof of concept that isolates the bug, shows when it can be exploited, and demonstrates its impact gives us a head start on a fix. The quality multiplier recognizes the extra work that makes a finding especially useful.
Loyalty program bonuses
To build long-term relationships and continuously empower our security community, we are introducing a tiered loyalty bonus program. This 5-tier system provides scaling bonuses to recognize, support, and celebrate researchers who consistently partner with us in making AI technology safer for everyone.
Priority campaign multipliers
To support community engagement as technology evolves, priority campaigns will feature dedicated bonus pools for newly launched features. These short-term campaigns give researchers early, high-reward opportunities to test new developments and be recognized for their early contributions.
Updated payout calculation examples
Example vulnerability
Example historical award
Example new payout calculation
New reward
Medium - ChatGPT (core asset): A read-only member can upload files to a Project without write permission.
$750
$2,000 × 1.15 Quality Bonus × 1.05 Bronze Loyalty Tier Bonus
$2,415
High - Prism (non-core asset): IDOR resulting in reading a file uploaded to user’s Project
$1,000
$2,500 × 1.15 Quality Bonus × 1.10 Gold Loyalty Tier Bonus
$3,162.50