Khon Kaen Freshman Finds XSS Flaw in NASA System, Earns Official Thanks
A first-year cybersecurity student at Khon Kaen University discovered an XSS vulnerability in NASA's systems and reported it through the agency's official vulnerability disclosure program. Thanaphon Butsricha, known online as nullbyt3z, received a formal letter of appreciation from NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer dated November 5, 2026. The university highlighted the achievement as proof that its students possess both world-class technical skills and professional ethics.
Khon Kaen University's College of Computing congratulates first-year Cyber Security student Thanaphon Butsricha, who received an official letter of appreciation from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under its Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP) for discovering and responsibly reporting a security flaw in NASA's information systems.
Operating under the alias nullbyt3z, Thanaphon identified a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could allow attackers to inject malicious script code into web pages. He reported the finding through NASA's security team before receiving the thank-you letter dated November 5, 2026, from NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer, commending his contribution to protecting the integrity and availability of agency data.
This type of reporting is known as Responsible Disclosure, where the finder notifies the system owner directly according to established rules, does not exploit the information, and does not disclose details publicly until the issue is fixed — a core ethical practice for cybersecurity professionals.
Thanaphon said, "I feel very proud that my efforts over the past month have genuinely helped make a world-class agency's systems more secure. The hard part is finding a vulnerability in the first place, and every report submitted must not duplicate what others have already reported."
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phet Imthongkam, head of the Cyber Security program, stated, "This achievement reflects that our students possess both international-level technical skills and professional ethics, which are the heart of producing cybersecurity graduates."
The result underscores the College of Computing's commitment to developing graduates with international cybersecurity potential through hands-on learning and embedding ethics in the use of knowledge for social benefit.
Source: Khon Kaen University website.
