ANNOUNCING Pwn2Own Berlin for 2026 was published by the Zero Day Initiative on March 12, 2026, by Dustin Childs. The event returns to Berlin with 31 targets across 10 categories, including virtualization, web browser, servers, containers, and AI-focused sub‑categories such as AI Database, Coding Agents, Local Inference, and NVIDIA, with AWS co-sponsoring to increase rewards.
The contest begins on 14 May and registration closes on 7 May 2026, and last year’s event saw 28 unique 0‑days rewarded across three days, totaling $1,078,750 in prizes; this year’s potential payout exceeds that with more than $1,000,000 in cash and prizes available. Master of Pwn is awarded 65,000 ZDI reward points, a trophy and a jacket, and the winner’s draw order does not affect the point value of entries, according to Zero Day Initiative.
Notable targets highlighted include VMware ESXi, Hyper-V, and Microsoft Windows RDP/RDS within the virtualization and server categories, with specific payouts listed for each target. Registration for onsite participation closes at 5 p.m. Central European Time on 7 May 2026.