New 'BlueMoon' kit exploited Windows and Chrome zero-day flaws
Multiple China-linked espionage groups share the BlueMoon exploit kit chaining Chrome V8 zero-days and a Windows ALPC LPE to deploy backdoors.
Proofpoint and Volexity report that multiple espionage clusters share the BlueMoon exploit kit, chaining Chrome V8 zero-days CVE-2026-85046 and CVE-2026-87491 with the Windows ALPC local privilege escalation CVE-2026-85880. Proofpoint observed spearphishing use since August 28 by JungleBamboo (APT31), while Volexity saw UTA0560 targeting NGOs from September 1; UNK_LateNight hit US aerospace/defense with ShadowPad and UNK_DoubleCheck targeted Vietnamese manufacturers. The kit's maintainers reverse-engineer public Chromium fixes before stable Chrome releases, and Proofpoint suspects the ALPC exploit has existed since 2025.
Multiple Chinese hacking groups seen using identical Chrome zero-day exploit
Four China-linked espionage groups share identical BlueMoon Chrome zero-day exploit kit targeting US defense contractors and Asian government agencies.
Proofpoint identified at least four Chinese-aligned espionage groups (TA412/RedBravo, UNK_LateNight, UNK_DoubleCheck, UNK_QuietRacket) using an identical Chrome zero-day exploit kit dubbed BlueMoon in late August through this week. Targets include US defense contractors, NGOs, mining companies, and Southeast Asian government agencies. The exploit chains a Chromium patch-gap vulnerability with a Windows flaw, delivering malware such as ShadowPad and a fake Gemini browser extension backdoor, with possible AI-assisted exploit development.