Payloads All The Things is a comprehensive repository that serves as a curated collection of useful payloads and bypass techniques for web application security, penetration testing, and capture-the-flag competitions. Written primarily in Python, the repository functions as both a practical toolkit and educational resource for security professionals, bug bounty hunters, and ethical hackers seeking to understand and exploit web application vulnerabilities.
The repository is organized into structured sections, each containing multiple components designed to support different aspects of security testing. Every vulnerability section includes a README.md file with vulnerability descriptions and exploitation methods accompanied by several payload examples, a set of Intruder files formatted for use with Burp Suite's Intruder tool, images to illustrate concepts in the documentation, and supporting files referenced within the README content. This modular structure allows contributors to add new chapters using a provided template vulnerability folder, ensuring consistency across the growing collection.
The project maintains an alternative web-based display version accessible through its GitHub Pages site at PayloadsAllTheThings, making the payload collection more accessible to users who prefer browsing through a formatted interface rather than navigating the raw repository. The repository explicitly invites community contributions and improvement, with a dedicated CONTRIBUTING.md file guiding potential contributors on how to participate in expanding the payload collection.
Beyond the main repository, the project is part of a larger family of security resources known as AllTheThings, which includes InternalAllTheThings focused on Active Directory and internal penetration testing cheatsheets, and HardwareAllTheThings dedicated to hardware and IoT penetration testing. The repository also curates selections of security-related books and YouTube channels to support ongoing learning for its users.
The repository has attracted significant community engagement and sponsorship support. Notable sponsors include SerpApi, which provides real-time access to Google search results without requiring proxy management or captcha solving; ProjectDiscovery, offering the Nuclei vulnerability detection framework; Talordata, providing SERP APIs for search data workflows; and VAADATA, an ethical hacking services provider. This sponsorship ecosystem reflects the repository's prominence within the security community.
The topics and tags associated with the repository span the full spectrum of web application security work, including bounty hunting, bypass techniques, cheatsheets, enumeration methodologies, penetration testing, privilege escalation, red team operations, and vulnerability exploitation. The repository is classified across multiple security domains including security payloads, vulnerability exploitation, web application security, bypass techniques, injection attacks, exploit development, and attack vectors, positioning it as a comprehensive reference tool rather than a specialized resource focused on any single attack category.
The project's structure and scope make it particularly valuable for practitioners who need quick access to proven payloads and exploitation techniques across diverse vulnerability types, while its community-driven contribution model ensures the collection remains current with emerging attack methodologies and bypass techniques in the evolving landscape of web application security.
