The controversy regarding the recent NEET paper leak issue in the country had not yet subsided properly when after the declaration of JEE Advanced 2026 results, reports of personal data of students being leaked from the portal came to light. IIT Roorkee has acknowledged the problem of data leak related to candidates’ records and admit cards on its portal. According to IIT Roorkee, the issue was caused by a technical glitch in the cloud storage configuration, and work is currently underway to fix it.
How did the personal data leak issue come to light?
The matter came to light when a user made a post on social media platform ‘X’ (earlier Twitter). It was reported in this post that a ‘public cloud storage instance’ linked to the result system of JEE Advanced 2026 was configured in such a way that anyone could access it without any verification. According to the post, this unsecured storage contained around 179,600 result records and PDF files of around 187,300 admit cards. Furthermore, cyber security researchers have claimed that the leaked data also includes names, dates of birth and mobile numbers of the candidates. The data records related to the admit card and result were visible in the screenshot shared in the post. One image contained several documents from JEE Advanced 2026 containing candidate information, while the other image contained result data, including subject-wise marks, rank and personal details.
What did IIT Roorkee say on this matter?
Responding to the issue in the post, IIT Roorkee thanked the researchers for reporting this security flaw and confirmed that the issue was indeed related to the cloud storage device itself. The institute said that this problem is being fixed on priority basis. IIT Roorkee further clarified that the data in the system was in “read-only” mode, meaning there was no scope for making any changes to it. “We appreciate your responsible and ethical conduct,” the institute added.
The results were declared this week
IIT Roorkee had declared the results of JEE Advanced 2026 this week. This examination serves as a gateway for admission to undergraduate courses in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Meanwhile, IIT Roorkee has not yet issued any separate statement on how long this data remained unprotected, or whether candidates will be informed about this.
Concerns are increasing among students and parents
This year, several cases of paper leaks have been reported in various national-level examinations conducted in the country—including NEET UG. In this backdrop, this incident of data leak related to students after the declaration of JEE Advanced results has further increased the concerns of both students and parents. It is worth noting that earlier, cases of technical glitches were also reported during the CUET UG, NEET UG and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations.
