Google Pixel 10 Exploits Earn Hackers $560,000 at Pwn2Own
Pwn2Own Ireland 2026 concluded with total payouts exceeding $1.2 million, led by significant rewards for Google Pixel 10 phone exploits.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
Pwn2Own Ireland 2026 Concludes With Massive Payouts
Pwn2Own Ireland 2026 officially wrapped up after participants collected more than $1.2 million in total rewards. The competition featured various targets, including mobile phones, printers, smart speakers, smart home hubs, a wellness device, AI infrastructure, coding tools, and cloud databases. Throughout the event, numerous security researchers demonstrated sophisticated vulnerability chains and zero-day exploits against mainstream consumer and enterprise technologies. Further details are available from SecurityWeek in the original source material.
Among all the participating categories, the highest financial rewards were paid out for Google Pixel 10 exploits. Three separate teams successfully demonstrated attacks against the device, collectively earning more than $560,000 for their work.
Google Pixel 10 Target Dominates Competitions
The Ikotas Labs team claimed the full $300,000 payout available for their demonstration. They achieved this by chaining multiple bugs together to remotely hack a Pixel phone.
Meanwhile, Tim Becker and Yves Bieri received $150,000 for their Pixel exploit. They did not secure the full maximum payout because their exploit chain involved a previously known flaw alongside new discoveries.
A third Pixel hack was successfully demonstrated by Dimitrios Valsamaras and Ken Gannon. They earned $112,500 for an exploit that combined a zero-day vulnerability with a previously known security flaw. Notably, Valsamaras and Gannon previously earned $50,000 for hacking a Samsung Galaxy S25 device during a prior event, where they later detailed how they exploited vulnerabilities in Samsung software, including the virtual assistant Bixby , to compromise mobile hardware.
Smart Home and AI Infrastructure Targeted
Beyond mobile handsets, researchers targeted a broad array of smart home devices and artificial intelligence infrastructure. A security researcher earned a notable reward of $50,000 for successfully hacking a Sonos Era 300 smart speaker.
Additional rewards of $40,000 were distributed for multiple other successful exploits. These targeted high-profile enterprise and developer technologies such as the Oracle Autonomous AI Database, OpenAI Codex, Nvidia’s Dynamo AI inference framework, the LiteLLM AI gateway, and the Philips Hue Bridge Pro smart lighting hub.
Additional Hardware and Software Vulnerabilities
Security analysts received roughly $30,000 for specific exploits aimed at the Samsung Galaxy S26 smartphone and the Home Assistant Green smart home hub. Further down the reward tiers, participants earned $20,000 for compromising Lexmark and Brother printers, alongside the Garmin Index BPM blood pressure monitor.
Additional payouts ranging from $4,250 to $17,500 covered various other targets, including Sonos Era, Galaxy S26, LiteLLM, Philips Hue Bridge Pro, Lexmark CX532adwe, Oracle Autonomous AI Database, Home Assistant Green, Chroma, Garmin Index BPM, and Canon imageFORCE 1643F.
Unchallenged High-Value Targets
Despite substantial maximum bounties, some major platforms went completely untested by competing researchers. Specifically, no one stepped forward to target the iPhone 17 and WhatsApp, both of which carried a maximum individual prize of $300,000.
At the conclusion of the event, organizers ensured that all affected vendors would be provided with comprehensive and full technical details of every exploit demonstrated during the competition, allowing them to issue security patches.
Sources
- SecurityWeekGoogle Pixel 10 Exploits Earned Hackers $560,000 at Pwn2Own
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