Your Bug Bounty Toolkit — What You Actually Need to Start Finding Bugs
Welcome back, hackers. 😎
In the last post, we talked about mindset — how thinking like a hacker is more important than any tool. But once your mind is sharp, you’ll need some weapons in your arsenal.
Today, I’m giving you a no-fluff breakdown of the bug bounty tools you actually need, especially if you’re just getting started.
Forget bloated setups and 500 GitHub repos — let’s keep it practical.
Start With a Minimal but Powerful Toolkit 🧰
Here’s what you truly need to start hunting bugs efficiently:
Browser + DevTools 🕵️♂️
Yes — your browser is your first tool.
Inspect network requests, play with cookies, modify forms — all from DevTools. Learn to live inside the “Network” and “Application” tabs.
🔥 Bonus: Use ModHeader or Requestly to play with headers and request flows.
Burp Suite (Community or Pro) 💉
Burp is your command center for intercepting, modifying, and replaying web requests.
Even the free version is powerful enough to:
• Intercept and modify HTTP traffic
• Scan for basic vulnerabilities
• Repeater, Intruder (limited), Decoder, Comparer
🧠 Tip: Learn the Repeater and Proxy tabs deeply. That’s where most real-world bugs are found.
ffuf / feroxbuster 🦴
For content discovery. Find hidden endpoints, admin panels, API routes.
ffuf -u https://target.com/FUZZ -w ~/Seclists/Discovery/Web-Content/common.txt
🔍 You’d be surprised how many secrets live behind /old, /v1, or /debug.
httpx + subfinder 🔎
Part of the ProjectDiscovery toolkit.
• subfinder finds subdomains.
• httpx checks which ones are alive.
subfinder -d target.com | httpx -silent
These tools are your passive recon engine — perfect for mapping a company’s attack surface.
Nuclei 🚀
Fast, templated vulnerability scanner.
Run hundreds of checks using prebuilt templates. Great for surface-level scanning.
nuclei -u https://target.com -t vulnerabilities
💡 Add your own custom templates as you grow.
gf + qsreplace + jq 🔬
Combo pack for filtering URLs and testing params.
• gf: find patterns (like XSS, IDOR, SSRF).
• qsreplace: replace query strings with payloads.
• jq: parse JSON responses like a ninja.
cat urls.txt | gf xss | qsreplace ‘“><script>alert(1)</script>’ | xargs -I % curl -s %
These are great for param mining and fuzzing quickly.
Honorable Mentions 🧪
As you level up, these will help:
• Waybackurls — for archived endpoints
• ParamSpider — for digging deep into parameters
• Interactsh — for blind testing (SSRF, RCE, etc.)
• tmux + zsh + fzf — command-line productivity boosters
Tools You Don’t Need (Yet) ❌
Let’s be honest — you don’t need:
• Every GitHub recon framework
• Burp Pro + every extension on day one
• 200 tools running in 12 terminals
Start simple. Master the tools above first.
💡 Skill beats stack. One well-used tool > 50 poorly understood ones.
Set Up a Basic Hacking Lab 🏗️
A good lab keeps you sharp and safe.
• Install OWASP Juice Shop, DVWA, or Hackademic locally
• Use Burp’s embedded browser to test them
• Practice SSRF, IDOR, XSS, logic bugs — no legal risk
Bonus: Explore bug bounty platforms’ sandbox programs (like HackerOne’s XSS Game or PortSwigger’s Web Security Academy).
Your Tools Will Evolve 🔄
Your toolkit should grow with your experience.
• New tools won’t magically make you better.
• Understanding app behavior will.
So start with DevTools, Burp, ffuf, subfinder, httpx, nuclei, and your brain. That’s more than enough.
Final Thoughts
Tools are just extensions of your mindset.
If you understand how things break, even the simplest tool can help you find gold.
Remember: hackers don’t just use tools. They wield them like artists.
What’s Next?
In tomorrow’s post, we’ll dive into something fun:
How to Build a Target List That Actually Gets You Bugs
• Where to look for high-potential programs
• What makes a target “juicy”?
• How to avoid scope traps and duplicates
• Tools and sites to automate recon and monitoring
Can’t wait to show you that.
Until then — keep hacking, stay curious. 💻🧠
— Đeepanshu 🧢
