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Powerful $1000 Bug Bounty Guide: Discover Hidden Endpoints in JavaScript JS Files

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Satyam Pawale (@hackersatty)

Contents hide
1 Introduction
2 Why JavaScript Files Matter
3 Step 1: How to Read and Download JavaScript Files
4 Step 2: Extract API Endpoints and Directories
5 Step 3: Detect HTTP Methods
6 Step 4: Search for Hardcoded Secrets
7 Step 5: Automate the Entire Process
7.1 Tools That Help You Hunt Faster:
7.2 Example Workflow:
8 Step 6: Fuzzing Discovered Endpoints
9 Step 7: Analyze JavaScript for Parameter Names and Sensitive Variables
9.1 🔍 What to Look For:
9.2 🛠️ Regex to Extract Suspect Variables:
9.3 🎯 Why This Matters for Bug Bounty
10 Best Practices
11 Bonus: Real Bug Bounty Report from JavaScript Analysis
12 Conclusion
13 Keywords in This Article:
14 Internal Links
15 External Resources:

Introduction

If you’re a bug bounty hunter, JavaScript js files should be your best friends. They’re often overlooked but loaded with critical clues like hidden API endpoints, hardcoded secrets, and sensitive directories.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how I use JavaScript file analysis to find real vulnerabilities and boost my bug bounty payouts. You’ll learn practical regex commands, tooling, and techniques to automate this process—even if you’re just getting started in bug bounty hunting.

Why JavaScript Files Matter

JavaScript (JS) files aren’t just for front-end logic. Developers often leave sensitive info like:

  • Internal API routes

  • Auth tokens or API keys

  • Endpoints not listed in Swagger docs

  • Logic that reveals hidden features

They can expose the entire backend structure, giving you a big advantage during recon.

Step 1: How to Read and Download JavaScript Files

You can find JavaScript files by opening browser dev tools, going to the Network tab, and filtering for .js. Copy their URLs or use tools like:

wget https://target.com/assets/app.js
curl -O https://target.com/static/main.js

Other tools to automate JS collection:

  • waybackurls

  • gau

  • subjs

Step 2: Extract API Endpoints and Directories

JS files often contain relative or full API paths. Here’s a quick way to pull them:

grep -Eo '("|\')(/[^"'\`]+)("|\')' *.js | sort -u

Look for:

"/api/v1/user/"
"/uploads/images/"
"/admin/config/"

These could be unprotected routes or useful for further attacks like IDOR or SSRF.

Step 3: Detect HTTP Methods

APIs don’t only use GET. JS files show all HTTP verbs like POST, PUT, DELETE:

fetch("/api/v1/update", { method: "POST" })
axios.post("/user/data", { data: payload })

To extract them automatically:

grep -Eo 'fetch\([^)]*\)|axios\.[a-z]+' *.js | sort -u

Look for dynamic methods or hidden admin requests.

Step 4: Search for Hardcoded Secrets

Sometimes developers leave keys right inside the JS. Use this to find them:

grep -Eo '[A-Za-z0-9_-]{30,}' *.js | sort -u

What you might find:

  • Firebase keys

  • AWS credentials

  • JWT secrets

  • Stripe tokens

Also try searching for these keywords:

api_key
secret
token
access_token

Step 5: Automate the Entire Process

Tools That Help You Hunt Faster:

  • LinkFinder – Extract endpoints from JS

  • SecretFinder – Find secrets, keys, and tokens

  • JSleak – Powerful tool for JS recon

  • catjs – Highly customizable regex-based JS analyzer

Example Workflow:

subjs domain.com | httpx -mc 200 | xargs -n1 wget
grep -Eo '("|\')(/[^"'\`]+)("|\')' *.js > endpoints.txt
grep -Eo '[A-Za-z0-9_-]{30,}' *.js > secrets.txt

Step 6: Fuzzing Discovered Endpoints

Once you’ve collected endpoints from JS, test them using:

  • ffuf for directory fuzzing

  • Burp Intruder for parameter injection

  • Nuclei for known vulnerabilities

You might discover:

  • Unauthenticated access

  • Broken access control (IDOR)

  • Debug or dev-only APIs

  • Misconfigured routes

Step 7: Analyze JavaScript for Parameter Names and Sensitive Variables

When developers write frontend JavaScript, they often pass user input or internal values as parameters to API calls or functions. These variable names can help you craft smarter attacks like:

  • Parameter pollution

  • IDOR

  • Open redirect

  • XSS

🔍 What to Look For:

Look for variable names in JS code that might indicate sensitive input, such as:

const userId = getCurrentUserId();
const redirectUrl = window.location.href;
const token = getAuthToken();

These are goldmines — especially when passed to backend APIs or appended to URLs.

🛠️ Regex to Extract Suspect Variables:

Run this in your downloaded JS files:

grep -Eo '([a-zA-Z0-9_]{3,})\s*=\s*(["'\`]?.{1,80}["'\`]?)' *.js | grep -iE 'user|token|auth|id|url|key'

You’ll often catch lines like:

authToken = "abc123xyz"
user_id = request.user.id
redirectURL = "/dashboard?next=/admin"

🎯 Why This Matters for Bug Bounty

Once you know the exact parameter names being used, you can test them with tools like:

  • Burp Repeater – Manually inject or override params

  • ffuf or ParamSpider – Fuzz for parameter-based bugs

  • Arjun – Auto-discovers hidden HTTP parameters

For example:

ffuf -u https://target.com/profile?FUZZ=123 -w params.txt -fs 0

You might discover parameters like:

  • admin=true

  • access=internal

  • debug=1

All because the JS revealed them!

Best Practices

  • Always prettify JavaScript code for better readability (jsbeautifier, online formatters)

  • Respect robots.txt and terms of service

  • Don’t report fake issues—test thoroughly and reproduce

  • Use clear write-ups with request/response, impact, and remediation

Bonus: Real Bug Bounty Report from JavaScript Analysis

I once found a hidden admin dashboard /admin/internal/config from a JS file. No auth, full access to user records. Reported it → $1000 payout.

Tools used:

  • Burp Suite

  • LinkFinder

  • Manual JS review

Conclusion

If you want to be a successful bug bounty hunter, you must master JavaScript analysis. It’s one of the highest ROI areas in recon. Start small—analyze one file, extract endpoints, look for secrets, automate what works.

Stick with it. I started just a year ago, and now I consistently find high-severity bugs through JS analysis.

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  • learn bug bounty hunting

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Internal Links

External Resources:

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