Apple Limits Bug Bounty Submissions After Flood of AI Slop - MacRumors

Skip to Content

Apple Limits Bug Bounty Submissions After Flood of AI Slop

Tuesday August 4, 2026 12:45 pm PDT by Juli Clover<br>Apple limited the number of vulnerabilities security researchers can submit to its bug bounty program because of an uptick in reports about fake bugs hallucinated by AI, according to The Financial Times.

Apple said its bug review system was seeing a high volume of poor-quality submissions from amateur bug hunters using AI to locate vulnerabilities. In some cases, there is no actual vulnerability, and real submissions are lost in the deluge.

The Financial Times learned of the limit after cybersecurity startup Bynario used ChatGPT to locate more than 50 macOS bugs in three weeks. Bynario found a privilege escalation exploit that could let an attacker get unrestricted access to a Mac, but was unable to report it because Apple limited the number of bug reports Bynario could submit. Bynario sent eight reports to Apple in 2025, and another five in 2026 before hitting a restriction.

Bynario's founder said it is a "very difficult time in the industry" because companies are being "flooded by the sheer amount of bugs." Apple has since been in contact with Bynario and is reviewing the company's submissions.

While Apple now has a cap on the number of open submissions a researcher can have, researchers can request an increase to make sure Apple's security team doesn't miss a critical vulnerability.

AI has overwhelmed Apple because it primarily uses humans to check reports, but Apple too has turned to AI for parsing submissions. AI has also helped Apple find a huge number of bugs. Apple's recent iOS 26.6 update fixes almost 90 security vulnerabilities, some of which are credited to Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's Codex Security.

Apple's bug bounty program offers rewards up to $2 million for exploit chains used for sophisticated, real-world attacks, plus bonuses that can increase rewards to over $5 million. Apple boosts reward totals for bugs found in betas and for bugs that bypass Lockdown Mode.

Tags: Bug Bounty, Vulnerabiltiies

[ 3 comments ]

Get weekly top MacRumors stories in your inbox.<br>Leave this field empty<br>Popular Stories

Apple Patches Hide My Email Flaw More Than a Year After It Was Reported<br>Tuesday July 21, 2026 10:10 am PDT by Juli Clover<br>Apple addressed a vulnerability in Hide My Email that exposed a user's real email address, reports 404 Media. Apple told the site the issue was fully fixed in a patch released on July 3. The Hide My Email vulnerability was brought to Apple's attention in June 2025, but the company did not fix it until 404 Media publicized the bug in early July. EasyOptOuts co-founder Tyler Murphy, who...<br>Read Full Article &bull; 44 comments

Update Now: iOS 26.6 and macOS Tahoe 26.6 Patch Hundreds of Security Flaws<br>Monday July 27, 2026 11:55 am PDT by Juli Clover<br>Apple today released iOS 26.6, iPadOS 26.6, and macOS Tahoe 26.6, all of which have a long list of security fixes. iOS 26.6 and iPadOS 26.6 address almost 90 security vulnerabilities affecting everything from the App Store to the Neural Engine. Multiple kernel and WebKit vulnerabilities were fixed, along with problems affecting Wi-Fi, Siri, and the iPhone's image processing. Details on...<br>Read Full Article &bull; 56 comments

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra: Pre-Orders and Release Date<br>Thursday July 30, 2026 6:12 am PDT by Joe Rossignol<br>Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. Labor Day is September 7 this year. The last time the holiday fell on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the last time Labor Day was on September 7 in a normal year was in ...<br>Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

thelion7<br>6 minutes ago at 12:48 pm

I think I’m hallucinating because this should say “Apple has released iOS Developer 27 beta 5”<br>Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

cybercommand<br>4 minutes ago at 12:49 pm

Can we get a bounty hunter for iOS 27 beta 5<br>Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Read All Comments

Next Article

Apple Releases New AirPods Beta Firmware With iOS 27 Features

Videos<br>play

OpenAI’s iPhone Killer Just Got Real

Revisiting iOS 27 Ahead of iPhone 18 Pro! | Episode 204

Apple Upgrade Program Explained: Is It ACTUALLY Worth It?

After One Week With the Z Fold8, I'm DEFINITELY Buying the iPhone Ultra

Apple's Upcoming Device Upgrade Program: Everything You Need to Know

See more videos

Guides

iOS 26 Features

Our comprehensive guide highlighting every major new addition in iOS 26, plus how-tos that walk you through using the new features.

iOS 26.5 Features

End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in beta, Suggested Places in Maps, new Pride Luminance wallpaper, and more.

50 macOS Tahoe Features

New features and lesser-known changes to check out if you're...