In the vast ocean of public code, GitHub has unintentionally become a goldmine for security researchers and bug bounty hunters. From leaked API keys to internal configurations, secrets lie scattered—often unknowingly—across repositories.

Welcome to the world of GitHub Dorking, where a few smart queries can uncover critical vulnerabilities.

💡 What is GitHub Dorking?

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GitHub Dorking is the technique of using search queries (dorks) to find sensitive data exposed in public GitHub repositories. This data may include:

  • Hardcoded credentials
  • API keys and tokens
  • Internal endpoints
  • Configuration files
  • Source code with security flaws

These "dorks" act like laser-targeted Google searches—but within GitHub's search engine.

🧠 Why Should Bug Bounty Hunters Care?

Many companies push code to GitHub without thoroughly reviewing what's committed. CI/CD environments, junior developers, or forgotten forks can leak secrets into public view.

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By dorking, you can:

  • Discover high-severity bugs passively (no interaction with target infra)
  • Find assets or subdomains
  • Spot logic flaws or insecure implementation patterns
  • Potentially gain initial footholds for deeper testing

And the best part? It's totally legal if you're searching public content and reporting responsibly through the company's bug bounty or VDP.

🔍 Common GitHub Dorks (That Work)

Here are some dorks you can try in GitHub's search bar:

company.com password 
company.com api_key 
company.com "Authorization: Bearer" 
company.com filename:.env 
company.com filename:config.json 
company.com language:json AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY 
company.com language:yaml password

🔧 Replace company.com with the target domain, company name, or GitHub username/org.

You can also use org::

org:examplecorp filename:.env 
org:examplecorp api_key

🛠️ Tools That Help Automate GitHub Dorking

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  1. GitHub Search – Manual but powerful.
  2. GitHub-Dorks – A tool to automate dork scanning. Repo-Link
  3. TruffleHog – Scans repos for secrets using entropy and regex. Repo-Link
  4. Gitleaks – Static analysis for detecting hardcoded secrets. Repo-Link

🚨 Real-World Impact

Many critical reports on HackerOne and Bugcrowd stem from GitHub dorking.

  • Leaked Slack tokens that allowed takeover of communication channels.
  • AWS keys with full access to cloud infrastructure.
  • Internal API documentation exposing undocumented endpoints.

These reports often rank high in severity—with rewards between $500 to $5,000+.

🧭 Best Practices

  • Always validate if the leak belongs to the target.
  • Respect scope and rules of the bug bounty program.
  • Report only publicly available information.
  • Don't clone entire repos unnecessarily—respect privacy and bandwidth.

📢 Final Thoughts

GitHub dorking turns open-source intelligence (OSINT) into a high-impact bug bounty tactic. While it's often under estimated, mastering it can give you an edge over others.

Start by picking a target, learning their naming patterns, and experimenting with dorks. With patience and creativity, GitHub might just reveal your next big bounty.

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