Before you launch a bug bounty, run your own scanners and fix what they can find: vulnerable dependencies, known exposed services, missing basic protections. Researchers should spend their time on the hard problems. Every easy finding you leave behind becomes a report you must triage, pay for or reject.
Why this matters
A bounty is open ended. Researchers, and plenty of automated tools they run, will probe whatever you put in scope. Findings that a standard scanner would have caught arrive first and in volume. That costs triage time and can crowd out the reports that matter.
For readiness beyond scanning, see the bug bounty readiness checklist. This post covers the scanner part.
The pre-launch scan list
| Check | What it catches | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Dependency scan | Known vulnerable libraries in the app | Software composition analysis |
| Container image scan | Outdated packages and base images | Image scanner |
| External scan | Exposed ports and services | Network scan from outside |
| Web scan | Common web flaws on in scope pages | Dynamic scan |
| Secrets scan | Keys and tokens in repositories | Secrets detection |
| Config review | Default settings, open admin pages | Manual check |
Steps
- Write the scope first. List every domain, app and API a researcher may test. You cannot scan what you have not listed.
- Run each scan against that scope. Include staging if it is reachable from the internet.
- Fix criticals and anything exploited in the wild. CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog is a useful input for priority, as CISA itself suggests.
- Triage the rest. Not every dependency finding matters. Reachability analysis separates vulnerable code you call from code you only ship.
- Record accepted risks. If you decide not to fix something, write down why. Researchers will report it, and you want a ready answer.
- Publish what is out of scope. State plainly that reports from automated scanner output with no demonstrated impact are not eligible.
- Rescan before launch day. New advisories appear daily.
What scanners will not clear
Scanners do not find business logic flaws, broken access control between users or chained attacks. Expect researchers to report those, and budget triage time for them. That is the value you are paying for.
Try it yourself
Open the demo and look at how a dependency inventory is built from a project. Notice which components could be reported by anyone running a scanner against your product.
Click through it at your own pace, or open it full screen.
Quick check
Should I ban scanner reports in my bounty terms?
Say that reports must show real impact. Raw scanner output without a demonstrated issue is usually noise, and your policy can say so.
Is one clean scan enough before launch?
No. New advisories land every day, so rescan right before launch and keep scanning afterward.
Safeguard provides SBOM and dependency scanning with reachability analysis, and a free scan is a quick way to see what a researcher running a scanner would see.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
