THE PWN2OWNTM CONTEST ("CONTEST") IS CONDUCTED SOLELY IN ACCORDANCE WITH AND SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO APPLICABLE LAW. THE CONTEST IS VOID IN WHOLE OR PART WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. ENTRY IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF THESE CONTEST RULES (THE "CONTEST RULES"). TREND MICRO INCORPORATED ("TREND MICRO") IS THE SPONSOR OF THIS CONTEST ("SPONSOR").
1. ELIGIBILITY.
Employees of Trend Micro Incorporated, Synology Inc., Google LLC, and their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, related companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and the household members of any of the above are not eligible to participate in the Contest.
Contestants must be at the age of majority in their country, province or state of residence at the time of registration in order to participate and may not be a resident of any United States embargoed or sanctioned country or otherwise be listed on any United States denied or barred persons list. Any software or technology that attendees bring or cause to be transferred for purposes of the Contest to the country in which the Contest is held (“Contest Location”) may be subject to the export controls of attendee's country of residence or travel origin or subject to the import and export requirements of the Contest Location. Attendees are responsible for compliance with any applicable import and export controls as a result of their attendance at the Contest.
Sponsor shall have the right at any time to require proof of identity and/or eligibility to participate in the Contest. Failure to provide such proof may result in disqualification. All personal and other information requested by and supplied to the Sponsor for the purpose of the Contest must be truthful, complete, accurate, and in no way misleading. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any contestant should such contestant at any stage supply untruthful, incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading personal details and/or information.
If you are a public sector employee, it is critical that you verify the ethics code, laws, and/or regulations that govern your ability to accept items of value from companies with whom you conduct business. Please obtain the necessary approval from your organization before participating in the Contest and/or accepting any item of value from Sponsor. In addition, public-sector employees, employees of K-12 public and private education institutions and all libraries, including public, private school, college or university, research, and private libraries can participate in the Contest only if you are doing so outside of your official status and not as part of your employment with those entities.
2. CONTEST PERIOD.
The Contest will be held October 24th – 27th, 2023 in Toronto, Canada.
3. HOW TO ENTER.
This Contest is open to all but is subject to the eligibility requirements herein. No purchase is required to participate in the Contest.
The contestant can register for the contest by contacting Sponsor via e-mail at pwn2own@trendmicro.com and indicating in which categories the contestant wishes to participate.
All contestants must sign up for a Zero Day InitiativeTM ("ZDI") Researcher account in order to participate.
The contestant can register multiple entries for a given category but each entry must be for a different target in that category (See Section 4 below for categories, targets, and prizes). The contestant can only register once per target. Every entry must be a separate and unique exploit chain. Specific details about the targets (software, versions, configurations, chipsets, etc.) will be communicated to contestants during the registration process. If the contestant is representing a company, the contestant must identify which company they are representing during the registration process. Each company is limited to one registration. Each contestant may only register once as either an individual, a team or company.
The Sponsor reserves the right to deny registration to entries that do not comply with the rules during the registration process. Contest registration closes at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Oct 19th, 2023.
4. PRIZES.
Trend Micro is offering cash and prizes during the competition for vulnerabilities and exploitation techniques against the listed targets in the categories below. The first contestant to successfully compromise a target within the selected category will win the prize amount indicated for that specific target. All prizes are in US currency.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to add or modify the device list if a new version of one of the devices is released, recalled, or reaches end-of-life between the release of the rules and the contest.
Categories and Prizes:
The contest has eight categories consisting of:
Each category has a set of targets that can be selected by the contestant during the registration process. All entries must compromise the device and demonstrate arbitrary code execution or retrieve sensitive information (defined by the Sponsor) from the device.
If the contestant's attempt is successful, it might be eligible for an Add-on Bonus. This Add-on Bonus results in additional monetary prizes and Master of Pwn points. The contestant must identify which Add-on Bonus they are attempting during the registration process. It is possible to remove the Add-on bonuses during the attempt as long as the attempt meets the requirements of the original category without the Add-ons. If the Add-on bonus is removed during the attempt, this will impact the potential Master of Pwn points award as defined in the Master of Pwn section below. The eligibility requirements for the various Add-on Bonuses are documented in each category below.
Mobile Phone Category
An entry must compromise the device by browsing to web content in the default browser for the target under test or by communicating with the following short distance protocols: near field communication (NFC), Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
|
Target |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
Eligible for Kernel Add-on Bonus |
|
Xiaomi 13 Pro |
$40,000 (USD) |
4 |
No |
|
Samsung Galaxy S23 |
$50,000 (USD) |
5 |
No |
|
Google Pixel 7 |
$200,000 (USD) |
20 |
Yes |
|
Apple iPhone 14 |
$250,000 (USD) |
25 |
Yes |
The eligibility requirements for the Add-on Bonuses are documented below:
|
Add-on Bonus |
Criteria |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
Kernel |
Exploit payload must be executing with kernel privileges |
$50,000 (USD) |
5 |
Home Automation Hub Category
An attempt in this category must be launched against the target’s exposed network services or target’s exposed features from the contestant’s laptop within the contest network.
|
Target |
Vector |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
Amazon Echo Show 15 |
Remote Code Execution |
$60,000 (USD) |
6 |
|
Google Nest Hub Max |
Remote Code Execution |
$60,000 (USD) |
6 |
Smart Speaker Category
An attempt in this category must be launched against the target’s exposed network services or target’s exposed features from the contestant’s laptop within the contest network.
|
Target |
Vector |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
Sonos Era 100 |
Remote Code Execution |
$60,000 (USD) |
6 |
|
Apple HomePod |
Remote Code Execution |
$60,000 (USD) |
6 |
|
Amazon Echo Studio |
Remote Code Execution |
$60,000 (USD) |
6 |
|
Google Nest Audio |
Remote Code Execution |
$60,000 (USD) |
6 |
Printer Category
An attempt in this category must be launched against the target’s exposed network services from the contestant’s device.
|
Target |
Vector |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw |
Remote Code Execution |
$20,000 (USD) |
2 |
|
Lexmark CX331adwe |
Remote Code Execution |
$20,000 (USD) |
2 |
|
Canon imageCLASS MF753Cdw |
Remote Code Execution |
$20,000 (USD) |
2 |
Network Attached Storage (NAS) Category
An attempt in this category must be launched against the target’s exposed network services from the contestant’s laptop within the contest network. Vulnerabilities in non-default apps/plugins, netatalk and DLNA media servers (like MiniDLNA) are out of scope.
|
Target |
Vector |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
Synology DiskStation DS923+ |
Remote Code Execution |
$40,000 (USD) |
4 |
|
My Cloud Pro Series PR4100 from WD |
Remote Code Execution |
$40,000 (USD) |
4 |
|
QNAP TS-464 |
Remote Code Execution |
$40,000 (USD) |
4 |
Surveillance Systems Category
An attempt in this category must be launched against the target’s exposed network services or target’s exposed features from the contestant’s laptop within the contest network.
|
Vector |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
|
Wyze Cam v3 |
Remote Code Execution |
$30,000 (USD) |
3 |
|
Arlo Pro 4 |
Remote Code Execution |
$30,000 (USD) |
3 |
|
Nest Cam (Wired) |
Remote Code Execution |
$30,000 (USD) |
3 |
|
Synology BC500 |
Remote Code Execution |
$30,000 (USD) |
3 |
|
Google Camera |
Remote Code Execution |
$30,000 (USD) |
3 |
Google Devices Category
An attempt in this category must be launched against the target’s exposed network services or target’s exposed features from the contestant’s laptop within the contest network.
|
Target |
Vector |
Cash Prize |
Master of Pwn Points |
|
Pixel Watch |
Remote Code Execution |
$70,000 (USD) |
7 |
|
Google Chromecast |
Remote Code Execution |
$40,000 (USD) |
4 |
Small Office / Home Office (SOHO) Smash-up Category
An attempt in this category requires the contestant to get arbitrary code execution on two different devices to win the corresponding prize. The attempt must begin by exploiting the WAN side of the selected router from the Router Category and pivot to the LAN side to launch the next stage of the attempt. After successfully compromising the router, the attempt must pivot from the LAN side of the router and compromise a selected device from the Home Automation Hub, Smart Speaker, Printer, Surveillance Systems, or Network Attached Storage Categories within the contest network. The contestant is free to select any combination of router and home automation hub, smart speaker, printer, surveillance system, or network attached storage device during the registration process. A given contestant can only register once for this category. Vulnerabilities in non-default apps/plugins, netatalk and DLNA media servers (like MiniDLNA) are out of scope.
|
Target |
Prize Amount |
Master of Pwn Points |
||
|
Initial Stage |
Final Stage |
|||
|
TP-Link Omada Gigabit VPN Router ER605 (TL-R605) V2 Synology RT6600ax Cisco Integrated Service Router C1101-4P MikroTik hAP ax3 Ubiquiti Networks Dream Machine Professional Google WiFi |
Amazon Echo Show 15 Google Nest Hub Max Sonos Era 100 Apple HomePod Amazon Echo Studio Google Nest Audio HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw Lexmark CX331adwe Canon imageCLASS MF753Cdw Synology DiskStation DS923+ My Cloud Pro Series PR4100 from WD QNAP TS-464 Wyze Cam v3 Arlo Pro 4 Nest Cam (Wired) Synology BC500
Google Camera |
$100,000 USD |
10 |
|
Master of Pwn:
The contestant with the highest total points at the end of the contest ("Master of Pwn") will receive 65,000 ZDI reward points (estimated at $25,000 (USD)). Total points are calculated by the sum of the successful entries based on the allocated Master of Pwn points in the tables above. For example, if a contestant has a successful entry on the Google Pixel 7 with the Kernel Add-on Bonus and a successful entry in the Apple iPhone 14 then their total points would be 50. If two or more contestants have the same number of points at the end of the contest, each of these contestants will receive 65,000 ZDI reward points (estimated at $25,000 (USD)).
If the contestant decides to remove an Add-on Bonus during their attempt, the Master of Pwn points for that Add-on Bonus will be deducted from the final point total for that attempt. If the contestant decides to withdraw from the registered attempt after the start of the contest, the Master of Pwn points for that attempt will be divided by 2 and deducted from the contestant's point total for the contest.
Along with the prize money, the first-round winner for a given category will win the device (estimated value of $500 (USD)) unless otherwise stated in the Category description in Section 4. Winners of these prizes are not entitled to the difference, if any, between the actual prize value and the estimated prize value. The estimated prize value is as of the date of printing of these Contest Rules.
It is possible that a category may have no winner. If a category has no winner, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, choose to use the prize money from that category to offer additional prize(s) in another above listed category that may be equal to or less than the initial prize offering for such category. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible participants in a category and the ability to meet the requirements of this skills-based Contest. Prizes will be distributed within eight (8) weeks after each winner has fulfilled the requirements set out herein.
Prizes must be accepted as awarded and cannot be transferred, assigned, substituted, or redeemed for cash except at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Any unused portion of a prize will be forfeited and have no cash value. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize (or any portion thereof) cannot be awarded for any reason. Taxes on prizes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to add or modify the categories if a new version of one of the targets is released, updated, hardened, or recalled between the release of the Contest Rules and the Contest.
The Sponsor shall not assume any liability for any lost or misdirected prizes.
5. WINNER SELECTION.
If more than one contestant registers for a given category, the order of the contestants will be drawn at random. Based on the contestant order, the first contestant will be given an opportunity to attempt to compromise the selected target. If unsuccessful, the next randomly drawn contestant will be given an opportunity. This will continue until a contestant successfully compromises the target. The first contestant to successfully compromise a selected target will win the prize money for that target in the category. After a target has been compromised, the contest for that category is over and no other contestants will participate in the contest for that category (unless Sponsor has offered an additional winner option, which would be announced at the Contest, if applicable).
A successful entry must leverage a vulnerability to modify the standard execution path of a program or process in order to allow the execution of arbitrary instructions. The entry is required to defeat the target's techniques designed to ensure the safe execution of code, such as, but not limited to, Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and/or application sandboxing. If a sandbox is present, a full sandbox escape is required unless otherwise stated in the Category description in Section 4.
The sensitive information that the exploit must retrieve is defined by the Sponsor and will be information normally inaccessible from the application's sandbox. The exact details of the information to retrieve in the attempt will be communicated to the contestant prior to the contest.
A contestant has up to three (3) attempts to succeed. Each of the three (3) attempts will be individually limited to a time period of ten (10) minutes. For an attempt to be deemed successful, all elements of the attempt must be completed within the 10-minute window. All three (3) attempts must be completed within thirty (30) minutes, excluding the time needed to setup the device prior to the attempt. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Sponsor may extend a contestant’s time period, in Sponsor’s discretion, if during an attempt, the contestant experiences any connection issues caused by inaccessible or unavailable networks, servers, Internet Service Providers, or other connections that are outside of contestant’s or Sponsor’s control.
A successful entry against these targets must require no user interaction beyond the action required to launch the attempt and must occur within the user's session with no reboots, or logoff/logons. For example, having to interact with a dialog in order to successfully complete the attempt is not allowed.
A given vulnerability may only be used once across all categories. The initial vulnerability utilized in the entry must be in the registered target. The sandbox escape utilized in the entry must be in the registered target (unless the entry leverages a kernel privilege escalation).
The targets will be running on the latest, fully patched version of the operating system available on the selected target (Apple iOS, Google Android, etc). All targets will be installed in their default configurations. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to allow non-default configurations if the Sponsor deems them to be in the normal use case of the target under test.
The vulnerabilities utilized in the attack must be unknown, unpublished, or not previously reported to the vendor or the Sponsor. If the entry leverages a previously known vulnerability, as evidenced by the vendor or Sponsor, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, choose to accept the entry(ies) and offer the prize(s) at a value less than the initial prize offering for a given category.
If authentication is present, the exploit must occur prior to authentication to the service or include an authentication bypass. If the entry requires a man-in-the-middle attack, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, choose to accept the entry(ies) and offer the prize(s) at a value less than the initial prize offering for a given category.
Sponsor reserves the right to solely determine what constitutes a successful entry. The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, choose to accept the entry(ies) and offer the prize(s) at a value less than the initial prize offering for a given category if the Sponsor deems that part of the exploit chain fails to meet the above rules. For example, if the entry contains a previously known vulnerability, and the vendor has not yet released a patch, Sponsor may accept the entry(ies) and offer the prize(s) at a value less than the initial prize offering for a given category.
Upon successful demonstration of the exploit, the contestant will provide Sponsor with a fully functioning exploit plus a whitepaper explaining the vulnerabilities and exploitation techniques used in the entry. In the case that multiple vulnerabilities were exploited to gain code execution, details about all of the vulnerabilities (memory corruption, infoleaks, escalations, etc.) leveraged and the sequence in which they are used must be provided to receive the prizes. Vulnerabilities and exploit techniques revealed by contest winners will be disclosed to the affected vendors and the exploits and whitepapers will become the property of the Sponsor in accordance with the ZDI researcher agreement.
6. INDEMNIFICATION BY CONTESTANT.
By entering the Contest, contestant releases and holds Sponsor harmless from any and all liability for any injuries, loss, or damage of any kind to the contestant or any other person, including personal injury, death, or property damage, resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize, participation in the Contest, any breach of the Contest Rules, or in any prize-related activity. The contestant agrees to fully indemnify Sponsor from any and all claims by third parties relating to the Contest, without limitation.
7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
Contestant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for any computer, online, software, telephone, hardware, or technical malfunctions that may occur. The Sponsor is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest. The Sponsor is not responsible for any problems, failures, or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, e-mail, players, or browsers, on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, at any website, or on account of any combination of the foregoing. The Sponsor is not responsible for any injury or damage to the contestant or to any computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in this Contest. Contestant assumes liability for injuries caused or claimed to be caused by participating in the Contest, or by the acceptance, possession, use of, or failure to receive any prize. The Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability in the event that the Contest cannot be conducted as planned for any reason, including those reasons beyond the control of the Sponsor, such as infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or corruption of the administration, security, fairness, integrity, natural disaster, or proper conduct of this Contest.
8. CONDUCT.
As a condition of participating in the Contest, each contestant agrees to be bound by these Contest Rules and indicates consent as part of the registration process. Contestant further agrees to be bound by the decisions of the Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respects. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any contestant found to be: (a) violating the Contest Rules; (b) tampering or attempting to tamper with the Contest or any of the equipment, the Contest website or Contest programming; or (c) acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner that interferes with any portion of the Contest; or (d) engaging in any form of harassing, offensive, discriminatory, or threatening speech or behavior, including (but not limited to) relating to race, gender, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, disability, marital status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or other protected category. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
9. PRIVACY / USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.
By participating in the Contest, contestant: (i) grants to the Sponsor the right to use his/her name, likeness, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address ("Personal Information") for the purpose of administering the Contest, including but not limited to contacting and announcing the winners; and (ii) acknowledges that the Sponsor may disclose his/her Personal Information to third-party agents and service providers of the Sponsor in connection with any of the activities listed in (i) above.
Sponsor will use the contestant's Personal Information only for identified purposes, and protect the contestant's Personal Information in a manner that is consistent with Sponsor's Privacy Policy at: trendmicro.com/privacy
10. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
All intellectual property, including but not limited to trademarks, trade names, logos, copyrights, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source code, drawings, illustrations, slogans, and representations are owned by Sponsor and/or its affiliates. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owner is strictly prohibited.
11. TERMINATION.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate the Contest, in whole or in part, and/or modify, amend, or suspend the Contest, and/or the Contest Rules in any way, at any time, for any reason without prior notice.
12. LAW.
These are the official Contest Rules. The Contest is subject to applicable laws and regulations. The Contest Rules are subject to change without notice in order to comply with any applicable laws or the policy of any other entity having jurisdiction over the Sponsor and/or the Contest. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of the Contest Rules or the rights and obligations as between the contestant and the Sponsor in connection with the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Canada including procedural provisions without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other jurisdiction's laws.
13. PRECEDENCE.
In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Contest Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Contest-related materials, the terms and conditions of the Contest Rules shall prevail, govern, and control.
© 2023 Trend Micro Incorporated. All rights reserved. PWN2OWN, ZERO DAY INITIATIVE, ZDI and Trend Micro are trademarks or registered trademarks of Trend Micro Incorporated. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.