Hacked LeetCode - And Got 1000 LeetCoins
A few weeks ago, I discovered and responsibly disclosed my first high-severity bug on a major platform, LeetCode. As a second-year cybersecurity student, I was thrilled😄. This was a big moment for me: countless hours of learning, exploring, and practicing finally paid off.
I was genuinely excited - not exactly for the money - but for the recognition, the acknowledgment that my skills mattered in the real world.
But when the response came, my excitement quickly faded.
Their reward? 1000 LeetCoins - a currency used only for accessing competitive programming problems and contests.
As someone focused on cybersecurity and not competitive programming, these coins are, frankly, useless to me. No goodies, no monetary bounty, not even a certificate of appreciation. Just a gamified token?
This experience has given me even more appreciation for people like Chungin Lee (Roy), the creator of “Interview Coder” or "Fuck LeetCode". Their satire hits harder now - not just because of the grind culture around DSA, but because platforms built on hiring pipelines often fail to acknowledge real-world, impactful skills like security research.
The system feels increasingly disconnected. We're told to "think like hackers" and "build secure systems," but when we do - when we actually contribute to security - it feels like a checkbox more than a valued contribution.
To all fellow bug hunters and cybersecurity learners: keep going. The journey is rough, but your skills do matter - even if not everyone sees it yet.
Would be sharing about the bug soon.
#CyberSecurity #BugBounty #Infosec #Leetcode #Hiring #DSA #CTF #EthicalHacking #FuckLeetcode #SecurityResearch