An independent hacker has publicly revealed a second breach of NASA‘s systems, uncovering significant security vulnerabilities. The hacker, who shared the news on X, claimed to have reported the issues directly to NASA, allowing the agency time to address these security concerns.

NASA acknowledges hacker’s contributions with appreciation letter after vulnerability report

He stated, “I hacked @NASA (again) and reported some vulnerabilities to them.Just today, I received this appreciation letter from them after they patched the loopholes!”

In response, NASA acknowledged the vulnerabilities and sent an appreciation letter to the hacker. Signed by Mark Witt, NASA’s Chief Information Officer, the letter commended the hacker for identifying critical vulnerabilities and assisting in the protection of NASA’s systems. The agency expressed gratitude for the hacker’s role in maintaining the “integrity and availability” of its information infrastructure.
The letter stated, “On behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NASA’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP), we want to recognize your efforts as an independent security researcher in identifying the vulnerability you reported and for responsibly following our VDP guidelines.”

Community responds with praise and humour for hacker’s achievement

Many users on X praised the hacker’s achievement, with one remarking, “That’s worth at least as much as a degree LOL,” and another saying, “Good work, mate.” One user commented, “Very nice, congratulations! Also very honest to report it to them,” while another noted, “Good on NASA for rewarding security researchers instead of punishing them with legal action—it’s really in their best interest.”
Some users also shared lighthearted comments, with one joking, “They didn’t even give you a ‘I hacked NASA and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt’ shirt?” and another saying, “So hacking NASA is not just a meme haha, great job!”

SpaceX mission update

In other news, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule has successfully docked with the ISS and is set to return stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to Earth in February 2025.
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