Infotainment, EV Charger Exploits Earn Hackers $1M at Pwn2Own Automotive 2026

White hat hackers earned a total of $1,047,000 for 76 vulnerabilities at Pwn2Own Automotive 2026, the three-day automotive hacking event organised by Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative in Japan, according to Zero Day Initiative (ZDI). The Fuzzware[.]io team won the most money overall, taking home $215,500, including the highest individual reward of $60,000 for an Alpitronic HYC50 EV charger exploit delivered via the charging gun, described by ZDI as the first public exploit of a supercharger.

Exploits targeting Autel and Phoenix Contact EV chargers each earned $50,000, while hacks against ChargePoint, Alpitronic and Grizzl-E chargers brought in $40,000 apiece. One notable vulnerability chain hacked Automotive Grade Linux for $40,000, and another targeted Tesla’s infotainment system, with researchers awarded $35,000 for a full hack simply by inserting a USB stick.