When we think of AI-powered hacking, our minds often jump to doomsday scenarios: nuclear codes stolen, bank accounts wiped clean. But a recent discovery by security researcher Ian Carroll paints a far more relatable, albeit still alarming, picture. Imagine asking an AI to grant you super-administrator access to a major ticketing website, then issuing yourself and all your friends free VIP backstage passes to Bonnaroo.
That’s essentially what Carroll, with the help of Anthropic’s advanced AI tool Claude Opus 4.7, found he could do. In April, his research revealed a technique that granted him full access to the systems of Front Gate Tickets, a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment that handles ticketing for nearly every major US music festival, including Lollapalooza, SXSW, and Austin City Limits.
AI Unlocks Backstage Access for Major Festivals
Carroll discovered a significant bug in Front Gate’s website. With Claude’s assistance, he could exploit this vulnerability to potentially access millions of customer and staff records, and freely issue tickets for any event, of any value, to himself or anyone he chose. “It was pretty cool to see a ticket that’s $4,000, and I could just hit a button and issue as many as I wanted,” Carroll remarked.
This access meant he could secure tickets and passes for any event without limitations, even sold-out super-VIP access. Fortunately, Carroll is a responsible security researcher; he didn’t take advantage of his newfound “superpower.” Instead, he promptly reported his findings to Front Gate Tickets.
Front Gate Tickets quickly patched the vulnerability, stating it was resolved within 24 hours. The company thanked Carroll for his responsible disclosure, emphasizing that there was no evidence of exploitation, ticket impact, or compromise of customer information. They described it as a successful collaboration that improved their security posture, noting that the issue was identified by an AI-assisted tool bypassing firewall controls, not a consumer-facing system.
The AI Advantage in Bug Hunting
This incident vividly demonstrates AI’s growing capability to uncover hackable bugs across the internet. Carroll, who is part of Anthropic’s Cyber Verification Program allowing researchers to use their tools for ethical hacking, was astonished by how easily Claude devised key elements of his exploit. He believes there’s a “very good chance it could have found this exploit end-to-end without me doing anything at all.”
Anthropic clarified that their Cyber Verification Program aims to empower defenders with advanced security capabilities for such research. They also stated that had Carroll not been part of the program, his use of Claude to hack Front Gate’s systems would have been detected and blocked.
While Front Gate Tickets asserted that their safeguards limited exposure and any fraudulent activity would trigger alerts and audit trails, Carroll counters these claims. He stated he gained super-administrator privileges without discernible company response and accessed the site via a public-facing login portal. Furthermore, Front Gate didn’t dispute his ability to generate tickets at will when he shared a draft of his blog post prior to publication, nor did they claim evidence that the vulnerability hadn’t been exploited previously.
A Deep Dive into the Discovery
Carroll’s journey began while considering attending Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, noticing Front Gate handled ticketing for nearly every major US music festival outside of Coachella. Recognizing their significant market presence, he decided to investigate their web domain for vulnerabilities. He quickly identified a potential SQL injection vulnerability, a common flaw allowing hackers to input commands into a website’s backend, but a web application firewall initially blocked his attempts.
This is where Claude Opus 4.7 stepped in. Carroll tasked the AI with finding a bypass. Claude immediately provided a hacking technique, coding a “nested SQL query” that evaded the firewall’s detection. “It was the first time, really, that I had a vulnerability that I didn’t fully understand,” Carroll explained, highlighting the AI’s autonomous capability.
Claude then generated a script displaying samples from a table of 500 databases, potentially exposing millions of customer names, emails, and mailing addresses, though not credit card details. With access to staff data, Carroll could take over staff accounts, even resetting a super-administrator’s password by finding the reset code in the site’s backend. This granted him full control, allowing him to browse expensive Bonnaroo tickets and add them as complimentary passes to a shopping cart. He refrained from completing the order to avoid crossing legal lines.
The Concerning Reality of Digital Security
Carroll was surprised by the ease of the takeover, noting the absence of two-factor authentication for staff accounts. This means that even without the specific vulnerability, a compromised password could grant full access to issue free tickets. Front Gate later clarified that many high-value and VIP tickets require RFID wristbands, which couldn’t be generated through their online system alone.
Perhaps most striking, Carroll observes that Front Gate didn’t appear to have adequately audited its own site for basic vulnerabilities, whether through human effort or AI tools. “It just feels concerning when you think these very professional music festivals with professional websites are well-run,” Carroll muses. “Then you get access, and you realize it’s all held together by duct tape and prayers.”
Source: Wired – AI
