BeyondTrust patches zero-day exploited in attacks since August

Ivanti Connect Secure (formerly Pulse Connect Secure) and Ivanti Policy Secure appliances contain a command injection flaw (CWE-77) in their web components, triggered when an authenticated administrator sends crafted requests to the appliance. The bug can be chained with the separate authentication bypass CVE-2023-46805, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to achieve the same result. Successful exploitation lets an attacker execute arbitrary commands and code on the appliance, providing a foothold into the networks behind the VPN or network access control gateway. Any organization running these appliances, typically enterprises and government agencies often deployed directly on the internet perimeter, is affected. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-01-10 with known ransomware use and EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days, although no public proof-of-concept is available.

Do: Apply Ivanti's mitigations or patched builds immediately per vendor instructions, addressing the chained authentication bypass CVE-2023-46805 at the same time, and discontinue or restrict use of any appliance for which mitigations are unavailable, especially if it is internet-facing. Because exploitation with ransomware use is known, assume compromise is possible: review appliance web logs for suspicious requests and run Ivanti's integrity-checking guidance to verify appliance images before and after remediation. Where feasible, restrict direct internet exposure of the appliance web interface and monitor for further vendor advisories.

Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway appliances contain a buffer overflow (CWE-119) that leaks sensitive information from device memory when the appliance is configured as a Gateway (VPN virtual server, ICA Proxy, CVPN, or RDP Proxy) or as an AAA virtual server. A remote attacker who can reach such a configuration can trigger the overflow and read memory contents, harvesting sensitive data such as session tokens (a technique that enables session hijacking which can bypass multi-factor authentication). Any organization running an affected NetScaler ADC or Gateway appliance in these configurations is exposed, with appliances deployed as VPN or access gateways being the primary concern. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: the flaw was added to CISA's KEV catalog on 2023-10-18 with known ransomware use and a 100% EPSS exploitation probability, although no public proof-of-concept is known at this time. Because tokens stolen from memory can remain valid even after patching, responders must terminate all active and persistent sessions as part of remediation.

Do: Upgrade affected appliances to the patched builds cited in Citrix's advisory, then immediately kill all active and persistent ICA/AAA sessions per the vendor instructions, since patching alone does not invalidate session tokens attackers may have already stolen. If patching is not immediately possible, discontinue use of the affected Gateway/AAA configurations as CISA directs. Given known ransomware abuse, also hunt for signs of exploitation such as logins from unexpected sources, anomalous session reuse, or suspicious mailbox changes, and reset credentials for potentially exposed accounts.

BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access (PRA) and Remote Support (RS) contain an unauthenticated command injection flaw (CWE-77) that allows a remote attacker to inject commands that are executed as a site user. The vulnerability is network-facing with low attack complexity and requires no privileges or user interaction (CVSS 3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N), so any attacker who can reach the affected PRA/RS interface can trigger it. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary command execution in the context of the site user, with high impact ratings for confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Any organization running BeyondTrust PRA or RS — particularly where those remote-access/remote-support services are exposed to the internet — is affected; the available data does not specify affected version ranges. The flaw is being actively exploited: it was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-12-19, carries an 88% EPSS probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile), and was reportedly used in the breach of the U.S. Treasury alongside a PostgreSQL vulnerability.

Do: Apply BeyondTrust's patches or vendor-specified mitigations immediately — remediation is mandatory for U.S. federal agencies under the KEV listing, and the source data does not include fixed build numbers, so confirm the correct upgrade version in BeyondTrust's security bulletin. As an interim measure, restrict or remove internet exposure of PRA/RS endpoints and hunt for signs of exploitation (unexpected commands executed as the site user), noting this flaw was used in the U.S. Treasury intrusion. If mitigations are unavailable, CISA's required action is to discontinue use of the product.

CVE-2024-12686 is an OS command injection flaw (CWE-78) in BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access (PRA) and Remote Support (RS) that is reachable over the network but requires the attacker to already hold administrative privileges in the product. By injecting commands through an administrative function, the attacker gets arbitrary commands executed on the underlying host as the site user, producing high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability in that context. Organizations running BeyondTrust PRA or RS — commonly deployed for privileged remote support and help-desk access — are affected. CISA added the flaw to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-01-13, confirming exploitation in the wild, and EPSS assigns a 13.8% probability of exploitation within 30 days (96th percentile). The flaw arrives amid a broader wave of BeyondTrust attacks, including the related zero-day CVE-2024-12356 tied to a compromised API key that exposed 17 SaaS customers and was used by a China-linked actor against U.S. Treasury systems, and reported chaining with a PostgreSQL flaw in targeted attacks.

Do: Upgrade all PRA and RS deployments to the fixed releases identified in BeyondTrust's security bulletin for CVE-2024-12686 (including any SaaS instances managed by BeyondTrust), and apply the mitigations required by the CISA KEV entry if patching must be deferred. Because exploitation requires administrative access, review and rotate privileged and API credentials — especially given the related API-key compromise behind CVE-2024-12356 — restrict administrative console exposure to trusted networks, and check logs for unexpected commands executed as the site user.

CVE-2025-0282 is a stack-based buffer overflow (CWE-121) in Ivanti Connect Secure, Policy Secure, and ZTA Gateways, reachable by unauthenticated network input. An attacker can trigger it remotely by sending crafted, unauthenticated traffic to a vulnerable gateway, overwriting stack memory and gaining code execution under the appliance's context. Successful exploitation yields unauthenticated remote code execution on the device, giving the attacker control of the VPN/secure-access gateway and a foothold into the protected network. Organizations running any of the affected Ivanti secure-access products are exposed; the source data specifies no version ranges, so defenders should consult Ivanti's advisory for exact affected and fixed releases. The flaw is being actively exploited: it was added to CISA KEV on 2025-01-08 with known ransomware use, and EPSS assigns a 100% probability of exploitation within 30 days (100th percentile), despite no public PoC being known.

Do: Apply the patched releases identified in Ivanti's advisory and follow CISA's required action: hunt for signs of compromise, remediate if indicators are found, and apply updates before returning any device to service. Because exploitation is active and ransomware use is known, treat any appliance that was internet-reachable before patching as potentially compromised (check integrity, rotate credentials). Exact fixed versions were not included in the source data, so verify the correct update path for your branch (including older Connect Secure/Policy Secure releases) against Ivanti's bulletin.

CVE-2026-102764 is a critical (CVSS 4.0 9.3) authentication-bypass-by-spoofing flaw (CWE-290) in internal components of BeyondTrust Remote Support. Those components do not adequately check the origin of messages they receive, so a remote attacker can, under the right conditions, send spoofed messages over the network with no privileges and no user interaction. Successful exploitation can allow file operations on the appliance, with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the vulnerable system and no stated impact on other systems. The provided data identifies BeyondTrust Remote Support but does not name affected version ranges. No public proof of concept is known and the CVE is not listed in CISA KEV; a related headline refers to “ARMORY CASTLE” exploiting BeyondTrust, but that report is not confirmed by the structured advisory data.

Do: Keep BeyondTrust Remote Support appliances off untrusted networks and allow management and support traffic only from trusted sources. Apply the vendor patch or hotfix for this issue as soon as BeyondTrust publishes it for your build, and review appliance logs for unexpected file operations or messages from untrusted origins. No fixed version is named in the provided data, so confirm the corrected release directly with BeyondTrust.

BeyondTrust Remote Support (RS) and certain older versions of Privileged Remote Access (PRA) contain a critical (CVSS 4.0: 9.9) pre-authentication operating system command injection vulnerability (CWE-78). By sending specially crafted requests to the appliance, an unauthenticated remote attacker can execute operating system commands in the context of the site user, gaining code execution without credentials or user interaction. Any organization running RS or PRA appliances that are reachable from the internet, which is their typical deployment mode for remote support and privileged access, is affected. Exploitation is active: the flaw was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-02-13 with known ransomware use, carries an EPSS of 89.5% (100th percentile), has a public proof-of-concept, and press coverage links the newly patched BeyondTrust RCE to fast-moving ransomware activity (Storm-1175). BeyondTrust has released fixes, so unpatched, internet-exposed instances should be treated as high-priority compromise targets.

Do: Upgrade all internet-exposed Remote Support and Privileged Remote Access appliances to the fixed releases in BeyondTrust's security advisory immediately, per the CISA KEV required action (apply vendor mitigations or discontinue use if mitigation is unavailable). Until patched, restrict network access to the appliance and review appliance/web logs for suspicious unauthenticated requests, given known ransomware exploitation and the availability of a public proof-of-concept.