19-year-old ethical hacker Nisarg Adhikary hired by IIT Kanpur after exposing CBSE security flaws
Nisarg Adhikary, a 19-year-old ethical hacker, has been appointed as an Open-Source Intelligence and Threat Intelligence Engineer at IIT Kanpur's C3iHub shortly after publicly disclosing security vulnerabilities in CBSE's digital systems. Adhikary claimed to have found multiple flaws including hardcoded passwords, client-side OTP validation issues, and unauthorized access to AWS storage containing answer sheets and question papers. His appointment comes days after his allegations gained significant attention on social media and raised concerns about data security and student privacy in India's education system.
Following his public disclosure of security vulnerabilities in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) digital infrastructure, 19-year-old ethical hacker Nisarg Adhikary has joined IIT Kanpur's cybersecurity innovation hub as an Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Threat Intelligence Engineer at C3iHub. Adhikary had claimed that scanned answer sheets and question papers were publicly accessible due to misconfigured AWS cloud storage, and alleged multiple vulnerabilities in CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal including hardcoded master passwords, client-side OTP validation, missing route protections, and IDOR vulnerabilities. He stated he discovered these issues in February and reported them to CERT-In before making them public. His allegations sparked significant social media discussion about data security and student privacy concerns. The appointment represents recognition of his cybersecurity expertise and comes at a time when educational institutions are under scrutiny for their digital infrastructure security.
What's missing
The articles do not specify CBSE's official response to the vulnerability allegations, whether the identified flaws have been remediated, or what actions CERT-In took following Adhikary's report.
What different sources said
- Times of IndiaCenter
Days after exposing CBSE portal flaws, 19-year-old Nisarg Adhikary lands role at IIT Kanpur
- Hindustan TimesCenter
IIT Kanpur hires Nisarg Adhikary, teen who flagged flaws with CBSE's OSM system | India News
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