Vulnerability Researcher Internship Jobs (NOW HIRING)

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We're a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies - collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation's health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose - and help shape the future. Launch your cybersecurity career through MITRE's Cyber New Professionals (CNP) Program. You'll tackle complex national cybersecurity challenges alongside leading experts while gaining hands-on experience, developing new skills, and building your professional network. CNP combines: * Structured onboarding to MITRE, its culture and organizational structure, and the CNP program
* Varied project experience that builds broad cybersecurity expertise and depth in your areas of interest
* Curated technical and professional training
* Mentorship from MITRE cybersecurity experts
* A cohort of early-career peers and networking opportunities across MITRE How the Program Works CNP is a two-year program for staff at the beginning of their cybersecurity careers, including people who are new to many of the topics below. Project assignments are matched to your skills and interests, as well as project availability. After two years, you will graduate from CNP and transition into another MITRE department. Roles & Responsibilities may include: * Develop threat-informed, intelligence-enabled solutions using MITRE ATT&CK®, MITRE Engage™, and MITRE Caldera to counter advanced adversaries
* Research novel technical ideas, conduct rigorous analysis, and build proofs of concept that inform sponsor decisions
* Apply threat-informed cybersecurity principles to protect critical systems and infrastructure from cyberattacks and other disruptions
* Model and analyze cyber-physical, physical, human, and organizational systems
* Analyze binaries, firmware, embedded systems, and industrial protocols; conduct vulnerability research, fuzzing, crash analysis, and mitigation assessments
* Develop tested, documented, reproducible research software that integrates cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, systems engineering, and domain expertise
* Collaborate with sponsors, vendors, and academia to advance cybersecurity practices Example Focus Areas These areas show the breadth of CNP's work, not the expected profile of a single candidate. You can be a strong candidate with experience in only one or a few of them. Your assignments will reflect your skills, interests, and available projects. * Threat operations and analysis: adversary emulation; threat intelligence; defensive operations; deception and adversary engagement; cyber effects; analytics; malware analysis; forensics; assessments; and reverse engineering
* Security architecture, trust, and governance: cloud security; cross-domain solutions; cryptography and trust; enterprise security architecture; identity, credentialing, and access management; privacy; strategy and governance; and supply-chain security
* Critical and connected systems: critical infrastructure resiliency and safety; cyber resiliency and safety; Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) security; OT engineering and response; modeling and simulation; adversary emulation; and countermeasures
* Software and device security: security automation and management; software assurance; vulnerability research and exploitability analysis; and embedded, wireless, radio frequency (RF), and cellular security
* Systems and emerging technology: autonomous cyber; systems and mission engineering; AI-enabled cross-domain engineering; and cyber-physical and human-system modeling Basic Qualifications * Bachelor's or graduate degree in a relevant field, such as engineering, applied physics, applied mathematics, computer science, or a related discipline, completed by your start date
* Typically requires less than 2 years of related experience with a related bachelor's degree, or equivalent combination of related education and work experience; internships and co-ops do not count toward this limit
* Hands-on technical experience through employment, internships or co-ops, research laboratories, independent projects, capture-the-flag competitions, or similar work
* Applied knowledge of cybersecurity principles, tools, and devices
* Ability to obtain a U.S. government Top Secret security clearance; an active clearance is not required
* Ability to work independently and collaboratively
* Strong written and verbal communication skills, including presentation skills
* Initiative and sound judgment when addressing novel, complex, or ambiguous problems
* Strong organizational skills, including attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple project components Preferred Qualifications Experience in any of the following is helpful, but this is not a checklist. Candidates are not expected to have experience in all, or even most, of these areas: * Proficiency in one or more scripting or programming languages, such as Python, Java, C/C++, or JavaScript, with an emphasis on testing, continuous integration, reproducibility, and maintainability
* Security across operating systems, computer systems, mobile devices, enterprise and cloud environments, or wireless networks; experience with tools and frameworks such as Nmap, Metasploit, ATT&CK, RMF, CSF, or MITRE Caldera
* Advanced cyber threats, adversary methods, static or dynamic analysis, debugging, disassembly, decomplication, instrumentation, emulation, or symbolic analysis
* Vulnerability research, fuzzing, exploitability assessment, exploit development, or protocol security
* SCADA, distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers, industrial protocols, or other industrial control technologies and physical processes; familiarity with NIST SP 800-82, NERC CIP, IEC 62443, Zero Trust, or ATT&CK for ICS
* Systems or mission engineering and model-based systems engineering methods such as SysML, UAF, BPMN, or STPA-Sec
* Applied cryptography, authentication and key flows, implementation security, or side-channel analysis
* Embedded, wireless, RF, or cellular technologies and security
* An active U.S. government security clearance NOTE: Thank you for your interest in MITRE's CNP opportunities. Please be aware that this is not an application for a specific position. By submitting your information and providing your resume, you will be included in a pool of candidates for various CNP roles. If you are selected for consideration for a particular opportunity, a member of MITRE's University Recruiting team will reach out to you. You can monitor your application status here: Workday (myworkdayjobs.com). This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s): This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s): Salary compensation range and midpoint:
$85,200 - $106,500 - $127,800 Annual Work Location Type:
Onsite It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability. Commitment to Non-Discrimination All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law. MITRE intends to maintain a website that is fully accessible to all individuals. If you are unable to search or apply for jobs and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of MITRE's employment process, please email for general support and for intern positions. This service is for individuals requiring reasonable accommodation requests. Please note that vendor solicitations will not receive a reply. Benefits information may be found here . Copyright © 1997-2026, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.