Weekly digest: exploited Metabase zero-day breached Framework; Salesforce/ServiceNow portals read for 17 months; Microsoft patched 400+ flaws.
Help Net Security's week in review aggregates top stories: a 'City-Forum' campaign tracked by Reco has been pulling records from Salesforce and ServiceNow portals worldwide for 17 months, and Framework suffered a breach via an exploited Metabase zero-day exposing customer contact and IP data. It also covers Microsoft's August 2026 Patch Tuesday fixing 400+ flaws including exploited zero-day CVE-2026-68820, Cisco's fix for exploited firewall DoS bug CVE-2026-20349 (added to CISA KEV), and a second N-able N-central hotfix for actively exploited CVE-2026-18577. Other items include GitHub expanding Dependabot malware alerts to eight package ecosystems and EU AI Act enforcement beginning on 2 August 2026.
Metabase warns an actively exploited zero-day (CVE-2026-72898, CVSS 10.0) grants unauthenticated admin access; Framework, n8n, and Kilo Code disclosed data exposure.
Metabase disclosed a maximum-severity SQL injection affecting versions x.58 through x.63 that lets unauthenticated attackers inject SQL via the /api/session/reset_password endpoint and gain administrator access to Metabase instances. Metabase Cloud was attacked, patches were released, and CISA added CVE-2026-72898 to the KEV catalog with a federal remediation deadline of August 14, 2026. Downstream victims include Framework (customer names, IPs, addresses, phone numbers, and emails accessed), n8n (136 customer records, five with bcrypt-hashed passwords), and Kilo Code (Slack access tokens). Wiz estimates roughly 13% of cloud environments run self-hosted Metabase, with about 2,500 instances internet-accessible.
Unauthenticated SQL Injection in Metabase Grants Admin Access
CVE-2026-72898 is a critical SQL injection flaw (CWE-89, CVSS 4.0 score of 10) in Metabase, a widely used open-source business intelligence platform. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can send crafted input to the '/reset_password' database endpoint to inject arbitrary SQL into the underlying database. Successful exploitation grants the attacker administrator access to the connected Metabase instance, with confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts rated high in the CVSS 4.0 vector. Any organization running an affected Metabase instance, particularly one exposed to the internet, is at risk. The flaw is a zero-day being exploited in the wild, was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-11, and carries a 94.2% EPSS probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile).
Unauthenticated Remote DoS in Cisco ASA/FTD SSL VPN Service
CVE-2026-20349 is a vulnerability in the Remote Access SSL VPN service of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Threat Defense (FTD) software, caused by insufficient error checking when processing HTTP requests. An unauthenticated, remote attacker can trigger it by sending a crafted HTTP request to the SSL VPN service on an affected device. A successful exploit causes the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial-of-service condition; no credentials or user interaction are required, and confidentiality and integrity are not affected. Any organization running ASA or FTD software with the Remote Access SSL VPN service enabled is affected, especially devices whose VPN interface is reachable from the internet. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-11 and is reported as exploited in the wild, though no public proof-of-concept is known.
Authentication Bypass and Account Takeover in N-able N-central (Incomplete Patch)
CVE-2026-18577 is an authentication bypass (CWE-288) in N-able's N-central RMM platform caused by an incomplete patch for the earlier vulnerability CVE-2026-18556. Because the original fix can be bypassed via an alternate path or channel, a remote, unauthenticated attacker needs no privileges or user interaction, though the attack requires meeting exploit-specific conditions (high attack complexity, CVSS 4.0: 8.2 High). Successful exploitation lets the attacker bypass authentication and take over N-central accounts, gaining high-impact access to the management console with limited direct effects on downstream services. All N-central versions through 2026.3.1 are affected. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's KEV on 2026-08-03, EPSS estimates a 54.1% chance of exploitation within 30 days (99th percentile), and news reports say attackers kept exploiting it even as N-able shipped successive hotfixes; ransomware use is currently unknown.
· N-able N-central all versions through 2026.3.1 (incomplete patch for CVE-2026-18556) KEVmoderate
Use-After-Free Local Privilege Escalation in Microsoft Windows WinSock AFD Driver
CVE-2026-68820 is a use-after-free (CWE-416) in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (afd.sys), the kernel component that handles Winsock socket operations. A local, authenticated attacker can trigger the memory corruption through crafted socket activity, and the high attack-complexity score (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L) indicates exploitation requires a specific, likely race-sensitive sequence of operations. Successful exploitation elevates privileges to SYSTEM, giving the attacker full control of the host, and public reporting describes deployment of a backdoor after privilege escalation. Virtually every Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server (2012-2022) installation ships this driver, so the affected population is essentially the entire supported Windows installed base. The flaw is being exploited in the wild: CISA added it to the KEV on 2026-08-11, Microsoft fixed it in the August 2026 Patch Tuesday release, and reporting ties active exploitation to North Korea's Lazarus group, who paired the zero-day with fake job-offer lures.
· Microsoft Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (afd.sys) as shipped with the Windows versions listed below · Microsoft Windows 10 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2 KEVmass
Metabase open source before 0.46.6.1 and Metabase Enterprise before 1.46.6.1 allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the server, at the server's privil
Metabase open source before 0.46.6.1 and Metabase Enterprise before 1.46.6.1 allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the server, at the server's privilege level. Authentication is not required for exploitation. The other fixed versions are 0.45.4.1, 1.45.4.1, 0.44.7.1, 1.44.7.1, 0.43.7.2, and 1.43.7.2.
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