Security researchers made headlines on the first day of the Pwn2Own Automotive 2026 hacking contest after successfully hacking the Tesla Infotainment System using 37 zero-day vulnerabilities.
The total prize money crossed $516,500 in just one day, showing how complex and vulnerable modern car systems can be—even when fully patched.
The Synacktiv Team earned $35,000 by chaining an information leak and an out-of-bounds write bug to gain root access to Tesla’s infotainment system through a USB-based attack. They also hacked a Sony XAV-9500ES media receiver using three bugs, earning another $20,000. Team Fuzzware.io won $118,000 by hacking three EV chargers, while PetoWorks earned $50,000 for gaining root access on a Phoenix Contact charging controller.
Team DDOS added $72,500 to the total by hacking three popular home EV chargers. On Day 2, even more attacks are planned, with multiple teams targeting devices like the Grizzl-E Smart charger, Autel MaxiCharger, and ChargePoint Home Flex. Each successful hack can earn up to $50,000.
Pwn2Own Automotive 2026 is being held in Tokyo from January 21 to 23 during the Automotive World conference. Vendors now have 90 days to fix the reported flaws before Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative publicly discloses them.
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