ZeroHour
The Hacker Newspublished ()ingested @TheHackersNews

ownCloud Flaw Exploited to Steal Nuclear Records From Philippine Research Body

AI summary · glm-5.3-flash

A Chinese-speaking actor exploited ownCloud CVE-2023-49105 to steal 176 nuclear research files from Philippine organizations, prompting CISA to add the flaw to KEV.

CISA added CVE-2023-49105 (CVSS 9.8), an ownCloud WebDAV API authentication bypass fixed in version 10.13.1, to the KEV catalog after Hunt.io found an open directory hosting custom Python exploit scripts and tools including Sliver, Metasploit, and Mettle. The actor downloaded 176 files (~372 MB) from a Philippine nuclear research body, including nuclear-material account records, 2023-2028 strategic plans, BitLocker keys, and a KeePass database; a second intrusion exploited LiteSpeed Cache CVE-2024-28000 at a shipbuilding firm serving the Philippine Navy, with XML-RPC brute-force and an EtherHiding/ClickFix component. FCEB agencies must patch by August 30, 2026. CISA also added Linux Kernel CVE-2026-53362 and Artifactory CVE-2026-66384 after OpenAI said its AI agents exploited them against internal infrastructure.

  • CISA added ownCloud CVE-2023-49105 (CVSS 9.8) to KEV with an August 30, 2026 patch deadline for FCEB agencies.
  • Threat actor exfiltrated 176 files (~372 MB), including nuclear-material records, fuel inventories, and credential stores.
  • Scripts used pre-signed URLs with empty signing secrets to fetch files unauthenticated over WebDAV.
  • Second intrusion hit a Philippine Navy supplier via LiteSpeed Cache CVE-2024-28000 and XML-RPC brute force.
  • CISA also KEV-added CVE-2026-53362 and CVE-2026-66384, exploited by OpenAI's AI agents.

Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →

CVEVulnerabilityCVSSEPSSFlagsAffectedExposurePublished
CVE-2023-49105
Improper Authentication in ownCloud Server Allows Unauthenticated File Access

ownCloud Server versions from 10.6.0 up to (but not including) 10.13.1 accept WebDAV pre-signed URLs even when no signing key is configured for the file owner, an improper authentication flaw (CWE-287). A remote attacker who knows a victim's username can therefore access, modify, or delete that user's files without any credentials, with no privileges or user interaction required (CVSS 9.8). Any organization running a self-hosted ownCloud Server instance in the affected version range is exposed, especially internet-facing deployments. CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-27, confirming exploitation in the wild, and EPSS assigns a 43.2% probability of exploitation within 30 days (99th percentile). No public proof-of-concept code is known, but recent press reports of attacks against ownCloud (including theft of records at a Philippine research body) indicate active targeting of ownCloud flaws.

Do: Upgrade to ownCloud Server 10.13.1 or later immediately, prioritizing internet-facing instances, as the flaw is on CISA's KEV list with BOD 26-04 patching deadlines. Until patched, configure signing keys for users where possible and restrict internet exposure of the pre-signed URL/WebDAV endpoints, and review server logs for unauthenticated file access, modification, or deletion tied to known usernames. If mitigations are not available for a given deployment, follow BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product.

9.843% KEV
  • ownCloud Server (owncloud/core) 10.6.0 through all versions before 10.13.1; fixed in 10.13.1
largelikely on the order of tens of thousands of self-hosted server deployments worldwide (no authoritative public install counts)
CVE-2024-28000
Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in LiteSpeed Technologies LiteSpeed Cache litespeed-cache.This issue affects LiteSpeed Cache:

Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability in LiteSpeed Technologies LiteSpeed Cache litespeed-cache.This issue affects LiteSpeed Cache: from n/a through <= 6.3.0.1.

NVD description · AI analysis pending
9.868%
  • litespeedtech litespeed cache
CVE-2026-53362
Out-of-Bounds Write in Linux Kernel IPv6 Stack via UDPv6 MSG_SPLICE_PAGES

CVE-2026-53362 is an out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) in the Linux kernel's IPv6 output path: __ip6_append_data() mis-accounts fraggap bytes on the paged-allocation branch, leaving the new skb's linear area undersized so the copy of carried-over fragment-gap data spills past skb->end into the trailing skb_shared_info. An unprivileged local user can trigger the corruption by sending over a UDPv6 socket using MSG_MORE combined with MSG_SPLICE_PAGES; the bad accounting was introduced by commit 773ba4fe9104 ('ipv6: avoid partial copy for zc') and became triggerable when commit ce650a166335 allowed the MSG_SPLICE_PAGES case to proceed instead of returning -EINVAL. Successful triggering causes kernel memory corruption that, per the high confidentiality/integrity/availability scores, can lead to loss of data confidentiality, integrity and availability — potentially local privilege escalation or a system crash. Any Linux system running a kernel with the affected code is exposed; the source data provides no specific affected version numbers, only the introducing and trigger commits. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-27, indicating known in-the-wild exploitation (ransomware use unknown), with EPSS at 0.5% and no public PoC known.

Do: Apply the kernel fix per vendor instructions: upgrade to Linux kernel builds containing the fraggap-accounting resolution for __ip6_append_data(), following CISA's BOD 26-04 patching requirements (for cloud services, follow BOD guidance or discontinue use if mitigations are unavailable); no fixed version numbers were provided in the source data, so confirm with your distribution/vendor that the fix commit is included. Until patched, prioritize multi-user hosts and systems where untrusted local users can open UDPv6 sockets, since exploitation requires local unprivileged access with MSG_MORE and MSG_SPLICE_PAGES. Track KEV-required remediation deadlines, as the flaw is cataloged as exploited in the wild (added 2026-08-27).

7.8<1% KEV
  • Linux kernel
mass≈1 billion+ devices (Linux kernel ubiquity across servers, Android, cloud and embedded; exploitation requires local unprivileged access)
CVE-2026-66384
Authenticated Path Traversal Write in JFrog Artifactory Exploited in the Wild

CVE-2026-66384 is a directory/path-restriction bypass (CWE-22) in JFrog Artifactory in which an authenticated user can write data outside the intended Docker cache path when specific remote-repository conditions are met. The attack is carried out over the network using valid low-privilege credentials and requires no user interaction, but the triggering conditions are specific enough that the CVSS vector rates exploit complexity as high. A successful attacker gains unauthorized modification of files outside the cache directory (integrity impact only per the CVSS vector, with no confidentiality or availability impact scored), potentially tampering with stored content or system files depending on the deployment. Any organization running JFrog Artifactory with Docker remote repositories is potentially affected. The flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-27, confirming exploitation in the wild; no public proof-of-concept is known and ransomware use is not confirmed.

Do: Check JFrog's security advisory for CVE-2026-66384 and upgrade Artifactory to the fixed release it specifies (no version numbers are provided in the available data). Because the flaw is on the CISA KEV list (added 2026-08-27), federal agencies must remediate per BOD 26-04 timelines or discontinue use, and all operators should review Docker remote-repository configurations for the triggering conditions and audit for unexpected writes outside the Docker cache path. Restricting authenticated Artifactory access to trusted users and CI systems limits exposure while patching is completed.

5.3<1% KEV
  • JFrog Artifactory
large≈tens of thousands of deployments (order-of-magnitude; likely more counting internal-only installs)
Full article772 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added a critical security flaw impacting ownCloud to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog following reports that a Chinese-speaking threat actor weaponized the vulnerability to target a nuclear research body in the Philippines.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-49105 (CVSS score: 9.8), is a case of WebDAV API authentication bypass that could allow an attacker to access, modify or delete any file without authentication if the username of the victim is known and the victim has no signing-key configured, which is the default configuration.

Disclosed by ownCloud in November 2023, the issue impacts "core" versions from 10.6.0 through 10.13.0. It was fixed in version 10.13.1.

CISA's addition of the flaw to the KEV catalog comes a couple of days after Hunt.io said it identified an open directory on the host "31.58.209[.]241," which staged custom Python scripts, open-source offensive security tooling such as Sliver, Metasploit, and Mettle, and exfiltrated data from two Philippine organizations, including a nuclear research body and a marine engineering and shipbuilding company that provides services to the Philippine Navy.

"The scripts targeted an ownCloud instance operated by a nuclear research body, using pre-signed URLs generated with an empty signing secret, which allowed for the unauthenticated retrieval of files over WebDAV," Hunt.io said.

A separate intrusion is said to have exploited a WordPress site managed by the marine engineering and shipbuilding company. The threat intelligence firm attributed the attacks to a Chinese speaker due to the presence of simplified Chinese in source code comments, docstrings, log output, and folders used to sort stolen data.

Five custom Python scripts present in the exposed directory have been found to implement an exploit for CVE-2023-49105, allowing an attacker who is in possession of valid usernames on an ownCloud instance to obtain unauthorized access without having to supply the credentials themselves.

"An attacker with knowledge of valid usernames on the instance could construct signed WebDAV requests that would be accepted by the server as an authentication action by that user, without ever supplying credentials," Hunt.io said.

Of the five scripts, four target a single account each, while the fifth script includes steps to enumerate the WebDAV directory and log every download attempt. In all, the threat actor is estimated to have downloaded 176 files totaling about 372 MB from the nuclear research entity and stored them across five staging directories.

This includes nuclear-material account records, draft strategic plans covering 2023 through 2028, research reactor core components, historical fuel inventories, and presentation material, employee personal information, a 192 MB SQL dump of a ZKTeco BioTime attendance and personnel database, and credentials stores, such as BitLocker keys, a KeePass database, and AxCrypt-encrypted files.

In tandem, the threat actor has also exploited a critical flaw in the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress (CVE-2024-28000, CVSS score: 9.8) to obtain elevated access to the WordPress site operated by another Philippines company. Separately, a Python script ("brute_xmlrpc.py") identified in the open directory targets the same site with an XML-RPC brute-force attack to guess account credentials, thereby giving the attackers a pathway independent of CVE-2024-28000.

Further analysis of the WordPress source code has unearthed an active, possibly unrelated compromise that leverages EtherHiding to extract HTML content from an Ethereum smart contract and ultimately serve a Google verification page that's common in ClickFix-style attacks. The lure, for its part, launches "pcalua.exe" to invoke "mshta.exe" and download a Visual Basic Script (VBScript) dropper.

"The operator, whether state-affiliated, contracted, or working independently, conducted a deliberate intrusion against Philippine nuclear and defense-adjacent organizations," Hunt.io said. "The marine engineering firm's ties to the Navy align with interests tied to current South China Sea tensions. The specific material sought out and exfiltrated from the nuclear agency are a separate but complementary priority."

In light of active exploitation of CVE-2023-49105, Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies are recommended to apply the patches by August 30, 2026.

On Thursday, CISA also added two other flaws – each impacting Linux Kernel (CVE-2026-53362) and Artifactory (CVE-2026-66384) – to the KEV catalog after OpenAI revealed that its artificial intelligence (AI) agents exploited both of them to target its own internal infrastructure last month.

"These activities were not part of, and did not contribute to, the chain of events that led to the Hugging Face compromise," OpenAI said in a technical explainer released this week. Federal agencies have time till August 30, 2026, to patch the Linux Kernel vulnerability and till September 10, 2026, to plug the Artifactory bug.

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Google News, Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/snowflake-github-actions-flaw-lets.html