Internet Trolls Exploit Design Flaw In Elon Musk’s DOGE Website To Push Fake Updates

Screengrab via 404 Media.

Internet pranksters exploited a design flaw that left the backend of Elon Musk’s freshly launched DOGE website open to push fake updates that mocked the site.

Doge.gov was launched this week after Musk told reporters Tuesday during a Oval Office press briefing that his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is “trying to be as transparent as possible.” The doge.gov website is designed to serve as a rudimentary information hub, mirroring posts from the @DOGE X account and displaying data about the cuts implemented to the federal workforce.

Two independent developers, who spoke to 404 Media on the condition of anonymity, however, discovered that the site’s backend is wide open, allowing third parties to edit and send updates directly to its live pages.

One contributor took full advantage of the vulnerability, leaving messages such as “this is a joke of a .gov site” and “THESE ‘EXPERTS’ LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN -roro.”

The site, multiple web developers told 404 media, is built using Cloudflare Pages rather than hosted on government servers. One source demonstrated to 404 Media that they could push data entries onto the live site by identifying the exposed API endpoints.

“Feels like it was completely slapped together,” the source said, pointing to errors and leaked details in the page’s source code. Another developer noted that the setup suggests the site is running off a GitHub-like repository, deploying updates via Cloudflare Pages instead of traditional government infrastructure.

This debacle follows reports that waste.gov, another government efficiency site, was launched with placeholder WordPress content still intact before being hastily locked behind a password wall. Meanwhile, DOGE has reportedly gained administrator access to various government agency codebases, including the Department of Treasury in its pursuit of massive cuts to federal expenses.