Time Is a Bug: Exploiting Trials Without Touching a Single Tool

Hey folks,

Welcome back to another episode of “Bugs Without Tools” — where I break things with nothing but curiosity, a browser, and sometimes… a clock.

So, here’s the tea.
Many websites and apps offer free trials (like 7, 14, or 30 days). They’re supposed to be a taste test — enough time to get hooked before they hit you with the “Upgrade Now” pop-up.

But what if I told you…
You could stay on the free trial forever by doing nothing more than messing with your system clock?
Yep. No tools. No proxies. No console wizardry. Just Windows Date & Time settings.
Let me walk you through it:

🪓 The Exploit Breakdown

Bug Type: Time Manipulation
Impact Level: 💥 High
How Easy? Stupidly easy
Tools Used: None. Just my index finger and a mouse.

NOTE: If you recognize the website by its GUI, please keep it to yourself — no need to comment or share.

How I Found the Bug

1. Signed up for a free trial (30 days).
2. Waited 20 days (only 10 days left).
3. Changed my computer’s date back (from May 1 to April 20).
4. Refreshed the website — suddenly, my trial showed 20 days left instead of 10!

I know a lot of people would say,
“This kind of thing only works on the client side — the server will definitely catch it!”
Yeah, I thought the same at first. Honestly, I almost dropped the whole idea and left it alone.
So, I just let my 30-day trial run its course and didn’t mess with anything.

But guess what?
Once the trial actually ended, I went back, tried the trick — and boom 💥
It worked.
It took a full 30 days of patience, but the exploit was real, and I was able to build a complete PoC out of it.

Step-by-Step: How I Cheated the Trial

1. I created an account and started the 30-day free trial. All good.
2. Fast-forward a few weeks: I logged in again and boom — “Trial expired. Please upgrade.”
3. Instead of upgrading, I pulled out my secret weapon:
   👉 Settings > Date & Time > Set Manually > Roll back to the 1st of the month.
4. I refreshed the tab…
   And guess what?
   💥 My trial was magically back. Full access. No questions asked. No alerts. Like nothing happened.

actually date 30 may, my system date 4 may

Basically, the app was trusting my local system time to check if the trial expired.
Spoiler alert: Never trust the client. Ever.

🧠 Why This Is a Big Deal

• Anyone can abuse this. No skills required.
• Users can stay in free trial mode forever.
• Companies can lose revenue, analytics accuracy, and worse — credibility.
• Imagine this getting viral on Reddit or shared in Discord servers. GG.

How to Fix It?

The solution is simple:
🔹 Use server time, not the user’s local time for trial tracking.
🔹 Store trial start/end dates securely so users can’t fake them.

🧾 Final Thoughts

This is one of those bugs that feels too obvious to be real… until you test it.
It’s like hiding the house keys under the welcome mat and acting shocked when someone opens the door.

If you’re a bug hunter — always test assumptions. Even the boring stuff like “What happens if I change the time?”

Catch you in the next one. Until then, keep it simple, keep it weird, and never underestimate the power of turning back time.

👀 Stay tuned for more “No-Tool Bug Bounty” write-ups!
Got questions? Email me: strangerwhite9@gmail.com or drop a comment below

by StrangeRwhite | Series: Finding Bugs Without Tools
(#Time Traveler / #Bug Hunter / #Free Trial Abuser/ #Hacking/ #Trick&Trip)