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Microsoft says critical vulnerabilities in third-party or open-source software can qualify for a bounty when they have a direct, demonstrable impact on a Microsoft online service. The policy, announced December 11, 2025, is called “In scope by default.” It is not a promise to pay for every bug in every external product: researchers must meet Microsoft’s impact and severity criteria and follow its responsible-research rules.
What Microsoft changed
Microsoft’s previous bounty model generally defined eligibility through product- or service-specific scopes. Under the new approach, the company says its online services are in scope by default, including new services when they are released. The change also recognizes that a vulnerability affecting a service may sit in code Microsoft does not own: a commercial dependency, an open-source component, or other connected software.
The key shift is from asking only who owns the code? to asking does a critical flaw in this attack path directly and demonstrably affect a Microsoft online service? Microsoft says ownership does not rule out eligibility. Its announcement focuses on vulnerabilities that cross the boundaries between components and dependencies, where a product-by-product scope can leave gaps.
Microsoft announced the policy at Black Hat Europe and says it will consider qualifying research even when the vulnerable code belongs to a third party or an open-source project. Where no existing bounty program rewards the work, Microsoft says it will offer an award and take necessary remediation steps.
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How an external flaw could affect a Microsoft service
Consider an illustrative, hypothetical case: a cloud service uses an external software library; a vulnerability in that library enables an attacker to bypass an authorization check or cross a tenant boundary; and a researcher can safely demonstrate that the flaw compromises the Microsoft service. The vulnerable library may not be Microsoft-owned, but the demonstrated service impact could make the research eligible for consideration.
This example is not a report of a known Microsoft vulnerability. It illustrates the distinction between finding a bug in an external component and demonstrating that the bug affects a Microsoft service. A dependency’s mere presence in a service is not, by itself, proof of qualifying impact.
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What may qualify—and what does not follow from the policy
Microsoft’s announcement sets out a threshold, not a universal formula for severity or payment. The following table interprets its published criteria; Microsoft makes the final assessment.
| Scenario | How to read the policy |
|---|---|
| A critical flaw in a third-party or open-source component directly compromises a Microsoft online service, with reproducible evidence | Potentially eligible for a bounty, subject to Microsoft’s assessment and research rules. |
| A vulnerability in an unrelated vendor product, with no demonstrated effect on a Microsoft online service | The announcement does not establish that it qualifies. |
| A theoretical or indirect connection to a Microsoft service, without a reproducible effect | May not satisfy the stated “direct and demonstrable” impact test. |
| A defect with no security consequence, or one Microsoft does not assess as critical | The announcement’s stated threshold is critical vulnerability; eligibility is not assured. |
| Research that exposes customer data, causes unnecessary disruption, or violates Microsoft’s rules | “In scope by default” does not authorize unsafe or non-compliant testing. |
Microsoft has not published a universal payout table for this expanded category. A Computer Weekly report cites rewards of up to $250,000 for a Hyper-V vulnerability, but that is an example from Microsoft’s broader bounty structure—not a standard payment for third-party-code reports. Microsoft also said its bug-bounty programs and Zero Day Quest awarded more than $17 million in the preceding year combined. That historical total is not a budget or guarantee for this policy.
What researchers should do
- Check authorization and scope first. Read Microsoft’s Rules of Engagement for Responsible Security Research and confirm that the intended research is permitted. Default service scope does not authorize testing every supplier or unrelated system.
- Minimize risk. Avoid actions that could disrupt production or expose customer data and privacy. A proof of concept should establish the issue without causing unnecessary harm.
- Show the complete path to impact. Identify the affected component and version, explain its role in the service, and provide reproducible evidence of the direct effect. A bug report about a dependency without the service-impact link may not be enough.
- Submit the finding to Microsoft for assessment. Microsoft determines severity and eligibility; satisfying these practical checks is not a payout formula.
- Coordinate disclosure and remediation. Work through the coordinated-disclosure process. Depending on the case, Microsoft says it may write a patch, help the code owner fix the issue, or provide other support.
This is not a public invitation to attack third-party vendors. The relevant connection is impact on a Microsoft online service, and research must comply with Microsoft’s rules. When a flaw also affects a broader open-source project or vendor product, remediation may require coordination among Microsoft, the researcher, and the code owner.
Why the change matters—and what it cannot solve
Cloud services are assembled from many components, and security failures can emerge where those components interact. Attackers do not care whether the vulnerable line of code belongs to a cloud provider, a vendor, or an open-source maintainer; they care whether it opens a route to a valuable service or its customers. A bounty scope based only on product ownership can therefore miss meaningful attack paths.
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Microsoft’s approach may give researchers an incentive to investigate those seams and may fill a reward gap when an external project has no bounty program. It also aligns eligibility more closely with customer impact than with organizational boundaries.
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The limits are important. Demonstrating a direct effect in a distributed service can be difficult, and severity may be disputed. An award does not automatically provide an external maintainer with the resources to create and distribute a fix quickly. Nor does Microsoft say it will always patch code it does not own. The policy complements—not replaces—secure development, dependency governance, patch management, and coordinated vulnerability disclosure.
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A separate change to researcher recognition
Microsoft later announced that its Most Valuable Researchers rankings would move to a bounty-payout basis beginning with the July 2026 annual leaderboard, replacing the previous points-based emphasis for that ranking. That is a separate change to how researchers are ranked; it does not alter the eligibility conditions in the December 2025 “In scope by default” policy.
For the policy’s full wording, see Microsoft’s announcement. For the later leaderboard change, see Microsoft’s February 2026 update.
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