May 2026: What Pwn2Own Automotive 2026 tells us about real‑world vehicle cyber risk

When
Wednesday, May 06, 2026 11:00 AM EST

Who
Amadou Kane, Sr. Solution Engineer and the North America Technical Lead at VicOne

What
"What Pwn2Own Automotive 2026 tells us about real‑world vehicle cyber risk.”

Description
Pwn2Own Automotive 2026 was held in January at Automotive World Tokyo.  The goal of the event is to continue advancing the state of automotive cybersecurity by challenging global security researchers to discover exploitable vulnerabilities in connected vehicles, EV charging infrastructure, and automotive software.

With over $3 million in prizes, this year’s event targeted six categories, including Tesla vehicles, in-vehicle infotainment systems, operating systems (such as Android Automotive and BlackBerry QNX), and EV chargers, reflecting the expanding attack surface of software-defined mobility. Researchers will demonstrate an array of zero-day exploits—building on the 49 found in 2025—with top teams awarded cash and vehicle prizes.

All findings will be responsibly disclosed for coordinated patching before public release, underscoring the event’s critical role in collaborative risk reduction and ecosystem resilience as connectivity and autonomy reshape automotive security priorities.