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Hackers Exploit Critical Cisco Firewall Flaw to Gain Root Access and Deploy Malware

State-sponsored and ransomware actors actively exploit critical Cisco FMC flaws CVE-2026-20079 (CVSS 10.0) and CVE-2026-20316 to gain root access and deploy ransomware.

Cisco Talos confirmed in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2026-20079 (CVSS 10.0, unauthenticated authentication bypass enabling root command execution) and CVE-2026-20316 (CVSS 5.3, hard-coded static credentials) in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center. Three activity clusters were identified: UAT-12197 dropping a JSP web shell and credential harvester; UAT-11823, assessed as Sandworm, deploying a Cyclops Blink variant; and UAT-11988, a Qilin ransomware affiliate chaining the flaws before deploying ransomware. CISA added both CVEs to the KEV catalog with a September 12 remediation deadline for federal agencies.

Cyber Security Newsupdated · 2d agofirst · 6d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 11 sourcesCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-20316

Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

At least four China-aligned espionage groups chained three zero-days in Chromium browsers and Windows ALPC for espionage since late August.

Proofpoint observed at least four state-aligned threat groups, starting with TA412/Violet Typhoon/APT31 on August 28, chaining three zero-days in the 'BlueMoon' exploit chain targeting Chrome, Chromium-based browsers and Microsoft Windows. The chain includes RCE flaws in Chromium's JavaScript engine (CVE-2026-85046, CVE-2026-87491) and a Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call privilege-escalation zero-day (CVE-2026-85880), enabling sandbox code execution, sandbox escape and system privileges. APT31 delivered the chain via phishing links to NGOs, mining and commodity trading firms in the US, installing a browser extension disguised as Google Gemini to surveil activity and steal credentials. Other groups (UNK_LateNight, UNK_DoubleCheck, UNK_QuietRacket) targeted US aerospace, Vietnamese manufacturing, and Indonesian and Singaporean organizations; fewer than 20 victims were directly observed but the true count is likely higher.

CyberScoopupdated · 2h agofirst · 6d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 19 sourcesCVE-2026-85046CVE-2026-87491CVE-2026-858802· 1 read

Massive Redis Cryptojacking Campaign Hijacks Thousands of Linux Servers

RedisRaider cryptojacking campaign compromises thousands of exposed, unauthenticated Linux Redis servers using cron persistence to deploy XMRig Monero miners.

Hunt.io researchers track a large-scale cryptojacking operation named RedisRaider that scans IPv4 ranges for Redis services exposed on TCP port 6379 and targets instances accepting unauthenticated connections. From a master list of 12,966 candidate hosts, 2,342 were confirmed to accept commands without authentication. Attackers abuse Redis commands (CONFIG SET dir/dbfilename, SET, BGSAVE) to write malicious cron entries into /etc/cron.d or /var/spool/cron, launching XMRig-based Monero miners, with branches including SSH authorized-key injection, Lua probing, and WordPress spraying. The article also references CVE-2026-81934, a Redis TLS use-after-free allowing unauthenticated command execution, fixed in releases including 8.2.9, 8.4.6, 8.6.6, 8.8.2, and 8.10.1.

GBHackers · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-81934

Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

Microsoft patches 974 flaws in record Patch Tuesday, including two actively exploited Windows zero-days enabling privilege escalation.

Microsoft's largest-ever Patch Tuesday addresses 974 vulnerabilities, with CVE-2026-81963 (Windows Update Stack) and CVE-2026-85880 (Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call) exploited before disclosure. Both zero-days carry CVSS 7.8 ratings and allow privilege escalation. More than 10% of the defects are rated critical, and researchers attribute the record volume to AI-assisted vulnerability discovery without a matching rise in active exploitation.

CyberScoop · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-81963CVE-2026-85880

Modified ScreenConnect Clients Used in Worm-Like Campaign

Huntress warns of worm-like attacks using modified ScreenConnect clients to spread VBScript payloads; ConnectWise issued an advisory.

Campaigns starting in late August use social engineering, including Quick Assist abuse, to install rogue ScreenConnect clients that spawn wscript.exe and deploy four VBScript files for reconnaissance, staging, and PowerShell execution. The attackers persist via User Run Keys, attempt UAC bypass, install UltraViewer, and propagate the VBScript chain to other connected ScreenConnect endpoints. ConnectWise published an advisory about a file transfer behavior issue affecting cloud and on-premises ScreenConnect, with a CVE identifier and fix expected within a week; it recommends disabling file transfer meanwhile.

SecurityWeek · 9d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Two actively exploited SonicWall SMA 1000 zero-days chain to unauthenticated RCE; patches released and CISA added both to KEV.

SonicWall disclosed and patched two zero-days in SMA 1000 appliances: CVE-2026-83548, a maximum-severity pre-authentication SSRF, and CVE-2026-83549, a high-severity OS command injection. Rapid7 said chaining the flaws yields unauthenticated remote code execution, and CISA added both to its KEV catalog Wednesday. The vendor provided no IOCs or victim counts, urging customers to hunt for compromise, reimage or redeploy appliances, and reset all passwords and tokens. The product has faced repeated exploitation, including ransomware-linked flaws used by INC and Akira.

CyberScoop · 12d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-83548CVE-2026-83549

BGP hijack infecting networks caused by a comedy of errors that’s not funny at all

Attackers BGP-hijacked Softaculous IP space via Hetzner routing lapses to push malicious Virtualizor updates to hosting servers.

Unknown attackers hijacked the 162.55.80.0/24 prefix used by Softaculous' Virtualizor update service by abusing lax routing security at hosting provider Hetzner Online, announcing the range through AS6204, AS62390, and AS24940 with a forged but RPKI-valid origin. The hijack pulsed intermittently over roughly 33 hours, delivering modified update packages to Virtualizor servers, which lacked cryptographic code signing for updates. Softaculous says only a small number of servers were likely affected but cannot produce a definitive list, urging administrators to treat every Virtualizor server as in scope for checks.

Ars Technica · Security · 14d agoExploit / PoC in the wild1

Attackers Exploit Critical Langflow and Rails Flaws in Credential

VulnCheck reports active exploitation of critical Langflow CVE-2026-0768 and Rails CVE-2026-66066 for credential harvesting, with detections rising to 360.

VulnCheck observed active exploitation of CVE-2026-0768 (CVSS 9.8) in Langflow and CVE-2026-66066 'KindaRails2Shell' (CVSS 9.5) in Ruby on Rails, with detections rising from 50 on August 30, 2026 to 360 by September 1. The Rails flaw allows unauthenticated arbitrary file reads, leaking secret_key_base, Rails master key, database passwords, cloud credentials and API tokens, ultimately enabling RCE; the patch still leaves the variation-key Marshal deserialization RCE gadget functional. Observed chains include a Python credential harvester with SimpleHelp remote access via CVE-2026-5027, and weaponization of CVE-2025-3248 to enlist hosts into an XMR mining botnet after disabling auditd. More than 7,100 exposed vulnerable Ruby on Rails instances and over 15,000 successful exploitation attempts across three Langflow flaws were recorded.

The Hacker News · 15d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-0768CVE-2026-66066CVE-2026-0769+2 CVEs1

GeoServer Zero-Day Targeted in Active Exploitation Attempts, Can Lead to RCE

A CVSS 9.8 SQL injection zero-day in GeoServer's PostGIS datastore enables RCE and drew active exploitation; fixes shipped in versions 3.0.1, 2.28.5, 2.27.6.

A SQL injection flaw in GeoServer's jsonArrayContains function within the GeoTools PostGIS datastore (GHSA-mqjf-5f49-2fjh, CVSS 9.8) was disclosed August 12, 2026, and saw hundreds of exploitation attempts within hours per watchTowr. An attacker-controlled value is interpolated into a PostgreSQL jsonb_path_exists() expression without escaping; with superuser or pg_execute_server_program privileges it escalates to OS command execution via WFS 1.0. GeoServer released versions 3.0.1, 2.28.5, and 2.27.6, and the flaw is a regression of CVE-2023-25158. GeoServer has a history of mass exploitation, including CVE-2024-36401 used for botnets and proxies.

The Hacker News · Aug 17, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2024-36401CVE-2023-25158CVE-2023-251571

Keys to the Kingdom: Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerability Analysis and Exploits Observed in the Wild

Attackers actively exploit CVE-2025-32433, a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated RCE in Erlang/OTP SSH, heavily targeting OT and critical infrastructure networks.

CVE-2025-32433 enables unauthenticated RCE in Erlang/OTP's SSH daemon via SSH connection protocol messages (codes >= 80) processed before authentication, affecting versions before OTP-27.3.3, OTP-26.2.5.11 and OTP-25.3.2.20. Unit 42 recorded a spike in exploitation between May 1-9, 2025, with 70% of detections on firewalls protecting OT networks, disproportionately affecting healthcare, agriculture, media and high technology. Observed payloads bind TCP-connected shells or launch Bash reverse shells to hosts like 146.103.40.203:6667, with randomized DNS lookups under dns.outbound.watchtowr.com indicating OAST-driven blind RCE validation.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2025-32433

CVE-2022-22965: Spring Core Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Exploited In the Wild (SpringShell) (Updated)

Attackers actively exploit Spring Framework RCE CVE-2022-22965 (SpringShell, CVSS 9.8) to deploy webshells; patches 5.3.18/5.2.20 shipped March 31, 2022.

CVE-2022-22965 enables unauthenticated remote code execution in the widely used Spring Framework (CVSS 9.8), which Unit 42 has observed being exploited in the wild. The flaw stems from getCachedIntrospectionResults exposing the class object during parameter binding, letting attackers manipulate the class loader to modify Tomcat logging and upload a JSP webshell. Public PoCs require JDK 9+, Tomcat, WAR packaging, and spring-webmvc or spring-webflux dependencies on Spring 5.3.0-5.3.17, 5.2.0-5.2.19, or older. Fixes shipped in Spring Framework 5.3.18 and 5.2.20; the related Spring Cloud Function flaw CVE-2022-22963 was patched March 29, 2022.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2022-22965CVE-2022-22963CVE-2010-16221

GeoServer Zero-Day Is Already Being Probed. That’s the Problem

Unpatched GeoServer zero-day enabling SQL injection and possible RCE is being actively probed across exposed systems.

A zero-day in GeoServer's jsonArrayContains functionality allows unauthorized SQL injection and, in some configurations, remote code execution. Disclosed on August 12, 2026 without a CVE ID, it drew hundreds of exploitation probes from watchTowr within hours. No patch is available yet; GeoServer was previously mass-exploited via CVE-2024-36401.

Security Affairs · Aug 15, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2024-36401