CLOSEDQUORUM (Malware): news timeline & CVEs

In Other News: Clop Leak Site Takeover, Docker Botnet Hunts AI Keys, Water Utility Exposure

Roundup: ShinyHunters defaced Cl0p’s leak site, new secret-stealing implants emerged, and US water credentials were exposed.

SecurityWeek’s weekly roundup reports that ShinyHunters defaced the Cl0p ransomware gang’s Tor leak site, claiming theft of logs, source code and onion-service keys, and demanded an eight-figure payment. Malicious MemOS packages on npm and PyPI carry a Go implant named sckit that steals developer and cloud secrets, while Cisco Talos documented CLOSEDQUORUM, which has DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral and Gemini vote on credential theft and persistence. SpyCloud found infostealer exposure at 1,787 of about 10,000 US water-sector organizations, including OT or remote-access credentials at 258. Separately, CVE-2026-42542 is an unauthenticated denial-of-service flaw in TDengine 3.4.0.0 through 3.4.1.5.

SecurityWeekSep 25, 15:07 UTC · 1d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2026-42542

CLOSEDQUORUM, the malware that asks four AI models what to do next

Cisco Talos says CLOSEDQUORUM lets four commercial AI models vote on credential and wallet theft.

Cisco Talos documented CLOSEDQUORUM, a Windows implant that sends host context to DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, and Google Gemini and executes the majority vote among steal, inject, persist, or move. The steal path dumps LSASS credentials, saved passwords from Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, and wallets such as MetaMask and Exodus, then exfiltrates AES-256-GCM data through a Discord webhook. The public sample is inert with placeholder API keys, while development builds embed real credentials. Talos found it with the CAIRN toolkit and linked artifacts to carding-forum posts from 2025.

Security AffairsSep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agoMalware 13 sources

This Windows Malware is Built to Let Up to Four AI Models Vote on Its Next Move

Talos analyzed CLOSEDQUORUM, Windows malware that lets up to four AI models vote on its next action.

Cisco Talos describes CLOSEDQUORUM, Windows malware that asks up to four AI models—DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, and Gemini—to vote on steal, inject, persist, or move, then runs the majority choice. Steal dumps LSASS, copies Chrome, Edge, and Firefox passwords, and collects MetaMask, Exodus, and Ethereum wallet data, sending results through a Discord webhook. Talos has not seen the full chain work, and public builds contain placeholder API keys. The code dates to at least June 17, 2026; Talos published Snort rule 1:66984, YARA logic, six SHA-256 hashes, and the CAIRN hunting tool.

The Hacker Newsupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 23, 14:17 UTC · 3d agoMalware 13 sources

Cisco Talos Launches CAIRN Tool to Hunt and Track AI-Integrated Malware

Cisco Talos released CAIRN, an open-source toolkit to identify AI-integrated malware by analyzing metadata for 'cognitive artifacts' from LLMs.

Cisco Talos has launched CAIRN, an open-source research toolkit designed to help defenders hunt and track malware that integrates AI and large language models. The tool uses a metadata-first approach to identify 'cognitive artifacts' like prompt templates and API endpoints left by developers. CAIRN analyzes data from sources like VirusTotal without executing binaries, using filters to flag AI provider domains and frameworks. It was released with an analysis of CLOSEDQUORUM, a malware sample that uses commercial LLMs for autonomous C2 decisions.

GBHackersupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 23, 07:39 UTC · 4d agoTools 13 sources

Researchers Find Malware That Uses AI Models Instead of Human Hackers for Control

Researchers find CLOSEDQUORUM, a Windows malware that uses commercial LLMs as an autonomous decision engine for post-compromise actions like credential theft.

Cisco Talos researchers identified CLOSEDQUORUM, a Windows malware implant that uses commercial large language models as an autonomous command-and-control layer. The malware gathers host context, queries a panel of LLM providers (DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, Gemini), and executes prebuilt malicious capabilities like credential theft and process injection based on model votes. While not yet observed in active attacks, the sample is linked to criminal-forum activity from 2025, demonstrating a shift from human-driven to AI-driven attack phases.

GBHackersupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 23, 05:52 UTC · 4d agoMalware 13 sources

New ClosedQuorum Windows malware uses AI for attack decisions

ClosedQuorum, a Go Windows implant, lets several LLMs choose post-compromise actions without a human operator.

Cisco Talos analyzed ClosedQuorum, a Go Windows implant that asks Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, and Mistral to vote on steal, inject, persist, or move, with DeepSeek breaking ties. Steal simultaneously dumps LSASS, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox credentials, and MetaMask, Exodus, and Ethereum wallets, then sends results to a Discord webhook. Injection generates shellcode for process hollowing or Early Bird APC injection; the studied build has no lateral-movement handler. Talos reports no confirmed in-the-wild use, only placeholder API keys and a dummy webhook, and linked artifacts to 2025 carding-forum posts.

BleepingComputerupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 22, 18:04 UTC · 4d agoMalware 13 sources

A New Tool for Tracking AI Malware Uncovers Malware That Operates Without Human Control

Cisco Talos releases CAIRN to track AI malware and documents CLOSEDQUORUM, an unconfirmed Windows implant steered by LLMs.

Cisco Talos released CAIRN, an open-source toolkit that hunts AI-integrated malware by scoring prompt templates, provider endpoints, API-key prefixes, libraries, and sandbox metadata without downloading or executing binaries. Its launch describes CLOSEDQUORUM, called the first publicly documented Windows implant to delegate tactical decisions to a panel of commercial models: DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, and Google Gemini. Static analysis shows prompts that can select LSASS dumping, browser-password and cryptocurrency-wallet theft, process hollowing, APC injection, persistence, and encrypted exfiltration through Discord. Talos has not confirmed real-world use, and the public build is nonfunctional.

Cyber Security Newsupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 22, 15:27 UTC · 4d agoMalware 13 sources

Researchers uncover malware that uses AI to choose its next move

Cisco Talos documents CLOSEDQUORUM, a Windows implant that lets commercial LLMs vote on its next action.

Cisco Talos released CAIRN, an open-source framework that hunts AI-integrated malware using file metadata such as prompts, provider endpoints, and sandbox-evasion text, without executing samples. Its first highlighted find is CLOSEDQUORUM, a 16.4 MB Go Windows implant that asks DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, and Gemini to vote on stealing data, injecting code, or establishing persistence, with the goal of harvesting credentials and crypto wallets. The examined copy contained placeholder API keys and a dummy webhook, so researchers did not observe a complete live operation. Talos linked the broader hunt to LAMEHUG, which CERT-UA reported in July 2025 as an early AI-integrated malware sample.

Help Net Securityupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 22, 13:56 UTC · 4d agoMalware 13 sources1

The Closed Quorum: Inside the first reported autonomous AI C2 implant

Cisco Talos discovered CLOSEDQUORUM, the first autonomous AI-driven malware C2 implant using multiple LLMs for independent decision-making.

Cisco Talos has identified CLOSEDQUORUM, a Windows malware implant that utilizes a panel of four commercial LLMs for autonomous command-and-control decisions, removing the need for continuous human operator input. This represents a shift towards 'effort displacement' in offensive AI, enabling the malware to execute attack phases independently. The researchers also released CAIRN, an open-source toolkit designed to hunt and classify AI-integrated malware.

Cisco Talosupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 22, 10:00 UTC · 4d agoAI safety & security 13 sources

Introducing CAIRN: Frontier tracking for AI-integrated malware

Cisco Talos releases CAIRN, an open-source framework for tracking and classifying AI-integrated malware using metadata analysis.

Cisco Talos has introduced CAIRN (Cognitive Artifact Intelligence Research Network), an open-source research toolkit designed to hunt, classify, and track AI-integrated malware by analyzing metadata artifacts. The framework operates entirely from metadata without requiring binary downloads, using a three-layer ontology to identify AI-related artifacts and classify malware. CAIRN is intended to help defenders track the emerging trend of attackers operationalizing AI in their tooling.

Cisco Talosupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 22, 10:00 UTC · 4d agoAI tools & infra 13 sources

A New Tool Found Malware That’s Guided by an AI Hive Mind—No Humans in Sight

New tool uncovers CLOSEDQUORUM, malware using a hive-mind of four LLMs for autonomous command-and-control decisions.

Cisco Talos researchers have used their CAIRN framework to identify CLOSEDQUORUM, a Windows malware tool that uses multiple LLMs as a hive-mind command-and-control system. The malware polls DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, and Google Gemini to reach a consensus on its next actions, operating autonomously without human intervention. This discovery highlights the evolution of AI integration from productivity enhancement to full operationalization in offensive cyber operations.

WIRED · Securityupdated Sep 24, 05:44 UTC · 3d agofirst Sep 22, 10:00 UTC · 4d agoMalware 13 sources

CLOSEDQUORUM

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