OpenAI banned Russia-origin accounts that used AI tools to run a covert influence campaign behind a fake Israel-based think tank and pro-Russia sovereignty index.
OpenAI disrupted and banned accounts of Russia origin that were using its AI tools to conduct a covert influence operation. The campaign promoted a fictitious Israel-based think tank and a 'sovereignty' index praising Russia while criticizing Western countries. The action is part of OpenAI's ongoing monitoring and disruption of malicious uses of AI for influence operations.
Seqrite Labs details Operation QUICSILVER, a China-nexus espionage campaign targeting Myanmar government and IT with graduation-invite lures deploying QUICAgent backdoor.
Seqrite Labs reported Operation QUICSILVER, a cyber espionage campaign against Myanmar's government and IT sectors attributed with moderate confidence to a China-nexus actor. Since April 2026, attacks used fake Belgian-Myanmar holiday and Burmese graduation ceremony invitation lures delivered via VHD/LNK files that abuse ftp.exe (LOLBAS) to assemble and launch QUICAgent, a Go backdoor communicating over QUIC on UDP 443 with five commands and Startup-folder persistence. Separately, China-linked Mustang Panda was observed using an updated COOLCLIENT backdoor with a signed kernel-mode driver across Myanmar, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Russia.
Slovakia's NBÚ warns that speed camera systems from SODASUS, Simicon and NEROline pose cyber risks including undocumented remote access.
Slovakia's National Security Authority (NBÚ) warned of a significant cyber threat tied to several road speed camera products: NERO R-ONE units sold by Cyprus-based SODASUS, and Cordon-series cameras made by Russia's Simicon and sold by Croatia's NEROline. A security analysis requested by the Interior Ministry found weak protections, mismatches between documented and actual communication settings and software versions, unclear hardware/software provenance, and pre-configured remote-access mechanisms outside operator control. NBÚ warned that compromised cameras could expose vehicle and licence-plate data, tamper with records, or serve as a foothold into public-sector networks lacking segmentation. The Interior Ministry reportedly removed the units from its pilot deployment and asked the supplier to replace them with equipment meeting Slovak and EU security requirements.
Suspected Iranian hackers knocked a small UK power plant offline for four days in July 2026, with no noticeable impact on the national grid.
Sources told The Telegraph that a British power plant was offline for four days in July 2026 following a suspected Iranian cyberattack, reported to the National Cyber Security Centre. The UK energy minister said the incident affected a small-scale energy generator with no noticeable effect on the power supply, and energy CEOs were briefed and given further advice afterward. The attack followed warnings about Iranian cyber activity against US energy, water, and government networks, including a coordinated attack on 30+ US community water utilities.
Roundup: expired Visa cards can be revived for contactless payments via NFC relay; plus Apple spyware warnings and Ukraine cyberattacks on Russian e-commerce.
WIRED's weekly security roundup leads with research showing expired Visa contactless cards can be revived to make new payments through an NFC man-in-the-middle attack that alters the card's expiration date. The roundup also covers Apple sending an unprecedented volume of spyware warnings to users and Ukrainian cyber and drone attacks against a major Russian e-commerce company.
ThreatFabric identified Manic, an Android banking malware and spyware targeting Ukrainian and European financial apps with novel offline Wi-Fi mesh data exfiltration via nearby infected devices.
ThreatFabric reported a new Android malware family called Manic combining banking fraud and surveillance capabilities, targeting 169 package IDs across Ukrainian banks, government and identity services, messaging apps, and Russian and European financial institutions. The malware uses phishing sites and dropper apps impersonating utilities for distribution and relies on accessibility services and notification permissions for keylogging, overlays, and remote control. It introduces a store-and-forward relay mechanism that stages encrypted data locally and relays it through nearby infected devices via Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth RFCOMM, or BLE GATT, supporting up to four hops when the primary device lacks internet access. Activity dates back to February 2026, with active development through late July.
Google tracks three Russia-linked espionage clusters abusing OAuth, app passwords, and device code phishing against Western researchers and diplomats.
Google's Threat Intelligence Group documented three suspected Russia-linked clusters, UNC6293, UNC7005, and UNC5976, abusing legitimate authentication flows. UNC6293, a likely APT29/ICE RELIC sub-cluster, impersonates US State Department officials in app password and OAuth phishing targeting fewer than five victims at a time. UNC7005, tracked by Microsoft as STORM-2945, spoofs the GLOBSEC conference, runs device code phishing against Microsoft and WhatsApp accounts, and deploys VIDAR and AtomicStealer infostealers. Targets include researchers, academics, diplomats, think-tank analysts, and defense personnel in Europe and the United States.
Head Mare exploits TrueConf server flaws to install web shells and deliver PhantomCore and PhantomGraph backdoors at Russian organizations.
Kaspersky detected July 2026 attacks by the threat actor Head Mare exploiting a vulnerability chain (KLCERT-26-057 and KLCERT-26-058) in unpatched TrueConf videoconferencing servers. The chain enables arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM privileges, deployment of a web shell at locale.php, and replacement of client installers with versions delivering the PhantomCore backdoor and PhantomGraph, which uses Microsoft OneDrive as C2. Targets span Russian instrumentation, electronics, transport, energy, IT, and software firms. Patches shipped in TrueConf Server 5.3.9, 5.4.9, and 5.5.5 on June 18, 2026.
ThreatFabric identifies Manic, an Android banking fraud and spyware platform targeting Ukraine with offline Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Direct mesh exfiltration and device takeover.
ThreatFabric's Mobile Threat Intelligence team identified Manic, an Android malware active in the wild since at least February 2026 that combines banking fraud with surveillance and device-control capabilities. It monitors 169 Android apps including Ukrainian banks, government and eID services, messaging apps, crypto exchanges, and 2FA tools, using the Accessibility service as a classified UI keylogger and WebRTC for live screen viewing and remote control. A distinctive store-and-forward relay exfiltrates AES-GCM-encrypted data through nearby infected devices over Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth RFCOMM, or BLE GATT, supporting chains of up to four hops when direct C2 is unavailable. A July update added stronger anti-analysis, in-memory DEX loading, lock-secret phishing to extract device PINs, and hiding from the app launcher.
Suspected Russian clusters abuse OAuth and authentication flows to phish academia, defense, government, and think tank targets across Europe and the US.
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) is tracking three distinct suspected Russian cyber espionage clusters abusing legitimate authentication flows. Newly detailed clusters UNC7005 and UNC5976 conduct phishing, abuse OAuth flows, and/or deploy malware, alongside previously reported UNC6293 phishing operations. Targets include individuals in academia, aerospace and defense, governments, and think tanks across Europe, as well as academia and think tanks in the United States.
One actor compromised over 14,000 Dahua cameras in Ukraine and Russia using brute-force, authentication bypass, and cloud relay serial-number abuse.
Hunt.io reconstructed Operation CameraSwarm from an exposed operator directory, revealing one actor compromised 14,000+ Dahua cameras between June 17 and July 22, 2026, mainly in Ukraine and Russia. The toolkit included a brute-force engine, a two-flaw 2021 authentication-bypass chain planting a persistent backdoor account on 1,923 cameras, and abuse of Dahua's cloud relay where 89.4% of probed serials returned open, unauthenticated channels. A SalatStealer Windows binary and Defender-disabling PowerShell script were staged on the same server but appear unrelated to the camera campaign.
Slovakia's NBU found an SMS-triggered backdoor in Russian-made NERO R-ONE traffic cameras, pausing a 279-unit deployment.
Slovakia's national security service NBU issued an alert against NERO R-ONE high-speed traffic cameras after finding a backdoor that grants shell and network access via SMS from hardcoded Russian phone numbers. The cameras are a rebranded version of the Russian CORDON PRO.M model by St. Petersburg firm Semicon, purchased via a Cyprus shell company under a €30 million EU-funded project. The report also found SecureBoot disabled, vulnerable web management, and unauthenticated live streams; the Interior Ministry paused deployment of 279 cameras pending independent assessment.
Ukraine's ARMA asset agency reported a cyberattack amid selecting a manager for seized IDS Ukraine assets linked to sanctioned Russians.
Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), which manages assets seized from criminals and sanctioned individuals, said Tuesday it had been targeted by a cyberattack, with the SBU investigating. The attack coincided with preparations to select a manager for seized corporate rights in IDS Ukraine, a major beverage producer seized in late 2022 from Russian shareholders including sanctioned billionaire Mikhail Fridman. ARMA reported other suspected interference since spring, including unauthorized access to an internal database of agency officials, but did not attribute the attack or release technical details. In April, ARMA employees were targeted in a cyberespionage campaign attributed to Russia-linked APT28, which failed to penetrate internal systems.
Swiss prosecutors seek a 12-year sentence for a Ukrainian developer accused in LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim ransomware attacks causing roughly $160 million in losses.
A 52-year-old Ukrainian software developer went on trial at Zurich District Court over alleged involvement in ransomware attacks using LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim, with victims including Stadler Rail, Crealogix and Meier Tobler. Prosecutors allege he participated in attacks on 10 companies between December 2018 and May 2020, causing more than 130 million Swiss francs (~$160 million) in losses, and seek a 12-year sentence plus 1.8 million Swiss francs in proceeds. He denies developing malware, and his defense challenges digital evidence handling. The case ties to Oleksandr Ieremenko, who allegedly directed the attacks, was said to have FSB protection, and died falling from a Moscow window in 2022.
Fancy Bear (APT28) is reported exploiting a Microsoft Office flaw, per Infosecurity Magazine; details unavailable.
Infosecurity Magazine reports that Fancy Bear (APT28), the Russian state-sponsored threat group, is exploiting a Microsoft Office flaw. The article text was unavailable, so details on the specific CVE, affected versions, and victimology are not provided.
Recorded Future reports the Russian influence network CopyCop is targeting Western-backed AI and infrastructure projects in Armenia.
According to Recorded Future, the Russian influence network CopyCop is running a campaign against Western-backed AI and infrastructure initiatives in Armenia. Targets include the Firebird AI data center. The apparent goal is to undermine Armenia's westward geopolitical realignment by discrediting these projects.
Unit 42 analyzed 2.24 million web threat incidents, finding web skimmers increasingly hosted on cloud infrastructure to steal payment card data.
Palo Alto Unit 42 analyzed 2,241,354 web threat incidents and 831,550 unique URLs detected via Advanced URL Filtering between October 2020 and September 2021. Threat activity peaked from October 2020 to January 2021, coinciding with the holiday shopping season, with most malicious domains geolocated to the United States, Russia, and Germany. Web skimmers ranked third among the top five threat classes and showed the most code diversity, making detection harder. Researchers observed more web skimmer families being hosted on cloud platforms to steal payment data and PII.
Unit 42 tracked 533,000 malicious landing URL incidents from October-December 2021, showing web threats peaked during the holiday shopping season.
Unit 42 detected 533,452 malicious landing URL incidents (120,753 unique) and 2,906,875 malicious host URL incidents (165,255 unique) from October through December 2021. Threat activity peaked in November, likely tied to Black Friday in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. Most malicious domains appeared to originate in the United States, followed by Russia and Germany. Personal sites, blogs, business sites, and shopping sites were the most common apparently benign entry points for attacks.
Unit 42 detected 577,000 landing URL incidents in Q1 2022, with an old web skimmer family still actively stealing payment card data.
Palo Alto Unit 42 detected 577,275 landing URL incidents (116,643 unique) and 2,043,862 malicious host URL incidents (180,370 unique) between January and March 2022. Web threat volumes declined after the November 2021 holiday peak, but an old web skimmer family remained active. Business and economy sites overtook personal sites as the most common apparently benign entry points. Most malicious domains geolocated to the United States, Germany, and Russia, though proxy servers and VPNs obscure true locations.
Unit 42 detected 751,000 landing URL incidents in Q2 2022 and documented malicious JavaScript downloaders evolving to evade detection.
Unit 42 detected 751,331 landing URL incidents (253,644 unique) and 1,744,629 malicious host URL incidents (256,844 unique) from April through June 2022. Total landing URL incidents rose compared with Q1 2022, and unique host URL incidents grew 42%, indicating attackers deploying more variants. The report includes a case study of a JavaScript downloader campaign demonstrating new evasion techniques. Personal sites, blogs, and business sites were the top apparently benign entry points.
Unit 42 details a Bisonal malware variant, active since 2014, targeting Russian and South Korean defense organizations via PDF-disguised spearphishing emails.
In early May, Unit 42 discovered a campaign delivering a Bisonal malware variant against at least one Russian communications security and cryptography company and one unidentified organization in South Korea. The variant, in the wild since at least 2014, introduces a new C2 cipher and rewritten networking and persistence code, with only 14 samples collected to date. Attackers spoofed Russian state corporation Rostec in spearphishing emails carrying an executable disguised with a PDF icon; the dropper decrypts an RC4-encrypted DLL and establishes persistence via a registry Run key. Bisonal has been used since 2013 against government, military, and defense targets in South Korea, Russia, Japan, and India, alongside successors Bioazih and Dexbia.
Ukraine's HUR intelligence, with the Cyber Corps group, cyberattacked Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, disrupting payments and customer service to amplify drone strikes.
Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) claimed a cyberattack, carried out with the Cyber Corps hacker group, disrupted Russia's largest online marketplace, Wildberries, affecting customer service, contact centers, and payment infrastructure. The operation was designed to amplify kinetic drone strikes; Ukraine says seven of the company's 10 largest logistics centers have been knocked out of operation and more than 1.2 million square meters of warehouse space lost. The claims could not be independently verified and Wildberries has not commented. HUR cited the company's role in Russia's logistics network and in financing the war.
Unit 42 links NOKKI malware to North Korea's Reaper group, uncovering the Final1stspy dropper that deploys the DOGCALL RAT in politically motivated attacks.
Unit 42 analyzed the NOKKI malware family used in politically themed attacks against Russian and Cambodian speakers since July 2018. The researchers linked NOKKI to the Reaper group, publicly attributed to North Korea, whose custom DOGCALL RAT uses third-party hosting services to upload data and receive commands. A previously unreported family, Final1stspy, was found deploying DOGCALL, sharing a unique base64-to-hex deobfuscation routine with NOKKI droppers. Attacks used malicious Microsoft Word macros that download and execute payloads while opening decoy documents.
Ukrainian government sites were defaced via OctoberCMS CVE-2021-32648 while Microsoft-attributed actor DEV-0586 deployed destructive WhisperGate malware.
Unit 42 tracks January 2022 attacks against Ukrainian government websites that were defaced or made inaccessible, which Ukraine attributed to Russia. Attackers exploited CVE-2021-32648, an account takeover flaw in OctoberCMS prior to 1.0.472, by submitting a boolean true as the password reset code to bypass validation. Separately, WhisperGate malware, attributed by Microsoft to DEV-0586, disabled Windows Defender and corrupted files across multiple Ukrainian organizations, using a ransomware-appearing first stage and an HTTPS-beaconing second stage with LOLBINs and anti-analysis techniques.
Unauthenticated Confluence RCE CVE-2022-26134 was exploited in the wild; Volexity observed intrusions and Cerber ransomware on unpatched servers.
Volexity identified exploitation of CVE-2022-26134, an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center, during Memorial Day weekend 2022, with Atlassian issuing a patch. Cortex Xpanse found 19,707 potentially affected Confluence instances, concentrated in the US, Germany, China, and Russia, plus 1,251 end-of-life versions exposed. Unit 42 and Cortex Managed Threat Hunting observed successful exploitation leading to reconnaissance commands and a Cerber ransomware deployment that was blocked by Cortex XDR. A public PoC has increased exploitation risk.
Brazilian malspam campaigns continue evolving, abusing Google URL shortener and Dropbox and using Squiblydoo plus DLL side-loading to deploy likely infostealing botnet malware.
A June 2017 Brazilian malspam campaign spoofed IPTU tax notification emails, using the recipient's address as the sender, and abused Google's URL shortener and Dropbox to deliver a zip containing a malicious Windows shortcut (.lnk) file. The LNK used the Squiblydoo technique (regsvr32.exe) to download and execute a scriptlet with elevated privileges, retrieving a signed G-Buster Browser Defense executable alongside a malicious fltLib.dll loaded via side-loading, likely an information-stealing botnet. Post-infection HTTP traffic exposed over 400 infected Windows hosts, mostly in Brazil, with 2,132 Banload-tagged samples observed in the first half of 2017.
ETSI releases 17 draft cybersecurity standards vendors must meet when the EU Cyber Resilience Act takes effect in December 2027.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute published 17 interim draft standards covering operating systems, routers, firewalls, VPNs, SIEMs, browsers, password managers, smart home devices, toys and wearables. They mandate basic security features such as post-sale updates, shipped SBOMs, modern cryptography and secure-by-default settings; public comments run until November, with final versions expected in December, one year before CRA compliance begins in December 2027. The newsletter also reports Irregular taking responsibility for AI test-environment escapes involving Anthropic and Meta frontier models, a breach at France's tax agency exposing 678,000+ citizens' data claimed by hacker ZeroBytes, and Kazakhstan eGov data covering 15 million citizens listed for sale on an underground forum. Additional briefs cover a $3.2 million Harmony Protocol theft crashing the ONE token 40%, Columbus Police still restoring systems two years after ransomware, DDoS attacks on Threema's provider, and Ukraine's GUR claiming a cyberattack on Wildberries.
Infosecurity Magazine examines the Black Basta ransomware group's ties to Russia, informing attribution of the cybercrime operation.
The article explores reported ties between the Black Basta ransomware operation and Russian actors, infrastructure, or state-linked context. Such reporting contributes to attribution and helps defenders understand the group's origins and support networks. Details were not available in the provided text.
Mustang Panda's updated CoolClient backdoor deploys a signed kernel driver to hide processes, files and network activity in Asian intrusions.
Kaspersky analysis shows Mustang Panda (HoneyMyte) upgraded its CoolClient espionage backdoor with a signed kernel-mode driver installed as a Windows service, communicating via IOCTL requests to hide processes, files and registry entries. In a Myanmar campaign the actor deployed PlugX first, then CoolClient via a fake Windows Defender directory and Sangfor defender.exe DLL sideloading, with scheduled task and AutoRun persistence and UAC bypass. The updated variant was observed in intrusions across Pakistan, Mongolia and Myanmar, with victims also in Russia including confirmed government entities.
Kaspersky reports Mustang Panda's updated CoolClient backdoor now deploys a signed kernel-mode Windows rootkit, hitting government victims in Myanmar, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Russia.
Kaspersky identified a new CoolClient variant attributed to HoneyMyte (Mustang Panda) that installs a digitally signed Windows kernel driver, msagent.sys, to hide and protect malicious processes, files, registry keys, and C2 network information. CoolClient is consistently deployed as a secondary backdoor after PlugX, with confirmed victims including government entities in Myanmar, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Russia. In a Myanmar campaign, PlugX was used to deploy CoolClient via a renamed Sangfor executable for DLL side-loading, a scheduled task for persistence, and RPC-based process creation with PPID spoofing. The driver, signed with a 2013 certificate issued to Nanjing Ranyi Technology, implements 33 IOCTL handlers, process hiding via unlinking, a filesystem minifilter, and registry callbacks.
Brazil's data protection authority orders Discord to disable its Go Live livestreaming feature nationwide until child-safety safeguards are demonstrated.
Brazil's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) found robust evidence that Discord failed to protect children from harmful content and ordered the Go Live feature suspended until effective safeguards are shown, following the July death of a 13-year-old girl during a roughly 45-minute livestream; five teenagers were arrested. Discord has three business days to implement the suspension and could face fines of up to 50 million reais (about $10 million) per violation. Regulators criticized the March addition of end-to-end encryption to Go Live for limiting real-time content detection, and are also investigating Discord's age-verification and content-removal practices, while a parallel probe tied neo-Nazi recruitment communities to Telegram.
Researchers found 737 Chrome VPN extensions, many impersonating brands like NordVPN, routing roughly 75,000 users' browser traffic through attacker-controlled SOCKS5 proxies.
Socket and researcher Kush Pandya identified 737 Chrome VPN and proxy extensions, published across at least 40 developer accounts with 75,486 installs, that route entire browser sessions through one provider's SOCKS5 proxies on port 1082. Of these, 274 impersonate 66 established brands including Proton VPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and Cloudflare 1.1.1.1. The proxy bypass list only excludes loopback addresses, exposing visited destinations, source IPs, TLS SNI values, and plain-HTTP request bodies to the operator. 221 extensions have been removed from the Chrome Web Store while 516 remain listed as active.
CERT-UA says Sandworm-linked UAC-0145 poses as recruiters in fake job interviews to deliver a trojanized WireGuard VPN that runs attacker commands on victims' hosts.
CERT-UA attributes the campaign, ongoing since May 2026, to UAC-0145, a subgroup within GRU-affiliated Sandworm (APT44). Posing as HR staff of firms like ATLAS Business Group and Sopra Steria Bulgaria, attackers lure Ukrainian IT specialists into Zoom interviews, then share failing WireGuard configs and push a custom SopraVPN client from SourceForge. The modified WireGuard build supports a non-standard SymmetricKey option holding AES-256-GCM-encrypted PowerShell, decrypted with the decoded PrivateKey and executed via runScriptCommand. A scheduled task then downloads a second-stage payload on Windows, while the Linux variant fetches it via cURL.
CERT.PL disclosed that Russian-linked hackers accessed a Polish combined heat and power plant's OT network through a private APN in 2025.
Poland's CERT (CERT.PL) released details of a 2025 attack on a Polish combined heat and power plant. Russian-linked hackers accessed the plant's OT network through a private APN. The disclosure adds to a series of intrusions against Polish critical infrastructure attributed to Russian-linked actors.
Unit 42 details Kimwolf v7, an Android TV botnet upgrade using HTTP/2 Chrome-fingerprint DDoS floods and Ethereum ENS-based C2 across 1.8M+ infected devices.
Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 identified Kimwolf v7 on February 3, 2026, an upgrade to an Android TV botnet active since August 2025 and linked to the AISURU botnet, which has infected over 1.8 million devices. The new version adds an HTTP/2-based DDoS flood that mimics full Chrome browser fingerprints, consolidates 43 attack commands into 15 methods covering layers 3-7, and resolves C2 addresses via Ethereum Name Service using five hard-coded public blockchain RPC endpoints, backed by a Tor hidden service and a local proxy on 127.0.0.1:23075. It spreads through residential proxies to Android TV boxes with ADB enabled on port 5555 and masquerades as netd_service. The botnet is associated with the record 31.4 Tbps DDoS attack in November 2025.
Palo Alto Unit 42 reports the Kimwolf/Aisuru botnet now uses HTTP/2 Chrome-impersonation floods and Ethereum blockchain-based command resolution to survive takedowns.
Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 says a new Kimwolf/Aisuru botnet version active since February conducts DDoS floods over HTTP/2 with full Chrome browser fingerprints, making attack traffic hard to distinguish from real users. The malware resolves command servers via the Ethereum Name Service using five shuffled Ethereum endpoints, with a Tor hidden service fallback, so authorities cannot seize a domain or serve a takedown order. The botnet, powered mostly by hijacked Android TV boxes and IoT devices, previously had servers seized and an alleged operator arrested; new C2 infrastructure traces to a single network in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is unclear whether the same developers built the new version.
Lazarus' Operation Dream Job targets the defense sector with fake job offers, a Windows LPE zero-day (CVE-2026-68820), and new Troy and RelayShell backdoors.
Check Point documented two parallel infection chains in Lazarus' Operation Dream Job: a digitally signed PDF viewer with DLL sideloading delivering the MISTPEN in-memory downloader, and a trojanized SecurityPDF viewer, distributed via fake Enveil websites, installing the newly documented Troy backdoor. A component exploits CVE-2026-68820, a local privilege escalation zero-day in the Windows AFD.sys driver used since at least early July, which Microsoft patched on August 11, 2026, enabling deployment of the FudModule kernel-mode rootkit. Lazarus also compromised Roundcube webmail servers vulnerable to CVE-2025-49113 to deploy the RelayShell PHP web shell and relay C2 traffic, targeting defense-sector organizations primarily in Western Europe and India. Separately, CERT-UA documented Sandworm's UAC-0145 using fake job offers against IT professionals since May 2026.
Zscaler details CaptiveCrunch: Midnight Blizzard's Storm-2945 compromises hotel Wi-Fi captive portals to redirect guests and harvest Microsoft 365 credentials via device code phishing.
Zscaler ThreatLabz analyzed the CaptiveCrunch credential theft campaign first reported by Microsoft on July 31. Microsoft attributes the activity to Storm-2945, a sub-cluster of Russia-linked Midnight Blizzard (APT29, Cozy Bear, NOBELIUM, BlueBravo). The actor manipulates DNS and HTTP traffic on captive portal networks at hotels and conference centers, redirecting victims to attacker-controlled infrastructure for Microsoft 365 credential harvesting, device code phishing, and malware delivery. Evidence indicates shared captive portal services were compromised rather than each venue being breached individually.
Nearly 800 typo-squatted npm packages deliver WEL1DROPPER, a cross-platform downloader installing RAT and infostealer payloads on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Researchers found roughly 800 npm packages with AI-generated typo-squat names that trigger a WEL1DROPPER downloader when loaded via require() rather than install hooks. The downloader fetches payloads from Cloudflare Workers hosts, falling back to DNS TXT records from wel1.ru, then achieves persistence, sandbox checks, ETW/AMSI patching and Sliver C2 deployment on Linux. Domains like tcsbank.ru suggest targeting of Russian financial institutions; Sonatype tracks the campaign as Flooding Dropper, a possible evolution of the Moika dependency-confusion campaign. Unit 42 separately documented npm/PyPI crypto stealers and malicious Chrome extensions that turn browsers into residential proxy crawlers.
Unauthenticated RCE in Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (BlueKeep)
CVE-2019-0708 is a use-after-free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, formerly Terminal Services, in which an unauthenticated attacker can connect to a target system over RDP and send specially crafted requests to trigger the flaw. Because the trigger requires no authentication, the flaw is wormable: a successful exploit grants remote code execution on the target host, potentially with elevated privileges, and could allow self-propagating attacks similar to WannaCry. Organizations running the affected Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, particularly legacy Windows releases still accepting inbound RDP connections, are in scope. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw (nicknamed BlueKeep) is listed in CISA's KEV catalog (added 2021-11-03), CISA notes known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns it a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days.
· Microsoft Remote Desktop Services KEV ransomware PoC ×4mass
RCE in Microsoft Exchange Server from Shared Install-Time Validation Keys
CVE-2020-0688 is a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange Server caused by the validation key not being uniquely created at install time, leaving deployments with a predictable, shared key (CWE-287, improper authentication). A remote attacker who can reach an affected Exchange server and knows the common install-time key can supply maliciously crafted, cryptographically signed payloads that the server trusts, triggering code execution without needing per-server secrets. Successful exploitation gives the attacker code execution on the Exchange server, which can be used to access mail data, move laterally, and stage follow-on activity; CISA notes known use in ransomware campaigns. All organizations running the affected on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server are in scope per CISA's listing, though the affected version range is not specified in the source data. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's KEV on 2021-11-03 with known ransomware use, and EPSS rates 30-day exploitation probability at 100% (top percentile).
· Microsoft Exchange Server KEV ransomware PoC ×2mass
Authentication bypass to root access in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
CVE-2026-20079 is an authentication bypass (CWE-288) in the web interface of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software, caused by an improper system process created at boot time. An unauthenticated, remote attacker can exploit it by sending crafted HTTP requests to the FMC web interface, which allows the execution of script files and commands on the device. A successful exploit grants the attacker root access to the underlying operating system, giving full control of the management platform (CVSS 3.1: 10.0, network-exploitable, no privileges or user interaction required, scope changed). The flaw affects Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) and Security Cloud Control (SCC) Firewall Management deployments. Cisco has confirmed the vulnerability is being exploited in active attacks, it carries a 35.9% EPSS score (98th percentile), and CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-09-09.
Hard-Coded Password Vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC), formerly Firepower Management Center, contains a use of hard-coded password vulnerability (CWE-259) that allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log in to an affected system. By authenticating with the built-in hard-coded credentials for a low-privileged account, the attacker can gain access to sensitive data within the impacted systems. Any organization running an affected Cisco FMC deployment is exposed, particularly where the management interface is reachable from untrusted networks. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-07-29, indicating active exploitation in the wild, and related reporting describes active exploitation of FMC vulnerabilities. No CVSS score or public proof-of-concept is yet available, but EPSS assigns a 9.8% probability of exploitation within 30 days (95th percentile).
· Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) KEV ransomwarelarge
Langflow code Code Injection Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Langflow. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the handling of the code parameter provided to the validate endpoint. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of a user-supplied string before using it to execute Python code. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. . Was ZDI-CAN-27322.
rejetto HFS (aka HTTP File Server) 3 before 0.52.10 on Linux, UNIX, and macOS allows OS command execution by remote authenticated users (if they have Upload per
rejetto HFS (aka HTTP File Server) 3 before 0.52.10 on Linux, UNIX, and macOS allows OS command execution by remote authenticated users (if they have Upload permissions). This occurs because a shell is used to execute df (i.e., with execSync instead of spawnSync in child_process in Node.js).
Authenticated Path Traversal Arbitrary File Write in Langflow Files API
CVE-2026-5027 is a path traversal flaw (CWE-22) in the 'POST /api/v2/files' endpoint of Langflow, the open-source platform for building AI/LLM agent workflows. The endpoint fails to sanitize the 'filename' field supplied in multipart form data, so an attacker who submits a name containing '../' sequences can direct the resulting file write to arbitrary locations on the server's filesystem. The CVSS vector (network-accessible, low complexity, low-privilege account required, no user interaction) indicates an authenticated user can abuse this to overwrite or create files at attacker-chosen paths, which can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability — for example by overwriting configuration, credentials, or executable content that leads to code execution depending on deployment. Any organization running a self-hosted Langflow instance that exposes the files API, even to low-privileged accounts, is affected. No public proof-of-concept or confirmed in-the-wild exploitation is known for this specific CVE, and it is not yet on CISA's KEV list, but its elevated EPSS (36.1%, 98th percentile) and active exploitation of other Langflow vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2026-0768) suggest near-term exploitation risk.
A vulnerability exists in certain Dahua embedded products.
A vulnerability exists in certain Dahua embedded products. Third-party malicious attacker with obtained normal user credentials could exploit the vulnerability to access certain data which are restricted to admin privileges, such as system-sensitive files through specific HTTP request. This may cause tampering with admin password, leading to privilege escalation. Systems with only admin account are not affected.
Unauthenticated OGNL Injection RCE in Atlassian Confluence Server/Data Center
Atlassian Confluence Server and Data Center contain an unauthenticated remote code execution flaw caused by improper neutralization of expression-language (OGNL) input (CWE-917): an attacker with network access to the application can submit a crafted request that is evaluated as an expression and executed by the server. Successful exploitation lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker run arbitrary code with the privileges of the Confluence process, without any credentials. All organizations running self-managed Confluence Server or Data Center are affected, particularly instances exposed to the internet; Confluence Cloud is not listed among the affected products. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's KEV on 2022-06-02 with ransomware use marked as known, and EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile). CVSS has not yet been scored in this data, but the KEV listing and known ransomware use make unpatched, internet-facing instances a top-priority patching target.
· Atlassian Confluence Server · Atlassian Confluence Data Center KEV ransomware PoC ×2large
Authentication Bypass in Dahua IP Cameras, NVRs and Video Intercoms
Dahua IP cameras, network recorders and video-intercom devices are affected by a critical identity authentication bypass (CWE-287) in the login process. By constructing malicious data packets sent to a device during the login process, an attacker can bypass device identity authentication entirely, yielding full unauthenticated access with high impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability (CVSS 3.1: 9.8). The flaw spans a broad set of Dahua firmware, including IPC-HUM7xxx/HX3xxx/HX5xxx cameras, NVR-1xxx/2xxx/4xxx/5xxx/6xx and XVR-4x04 recorders, and the VTH-542XH, VTO-65xxx and VTO-75x95x video-intercom units. Public proof-of-concept exploits have been available since October 2021, and CISA added the bug to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-08-21; public reporting describes 14,500+ Dahua devices compromised via credential attacks, auth bypasses and P2P abuse, and EPSS assigns a 99.6% probability of exploitation within 30 days.
· Dahua IPC-HUM7xxx IP camera firmware · Dahua IPC-HX3xxx IP camera firmware KEV PoC ×2mass
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