Rogue ScreenConnect Installations Across Unrelated Hosts Suggest Worm-Like Activity
Huntress observed rogue ScreenConnect deployments with worm-like VBScript propagation across unrelated organizations, prompting a ConnectWise advisory on file transfer behavior.
Huntress identified multiple incidents in late August 2026 where social engineering led to rogue ScreenConnect remote access clients deployed on victim machines, which then spawned wscript.exe to run four VBScript payloads (1.vbs through 4.vbs) for profiling, telemetry collection, and persistence via a WindowsServiceHost Run key. Modified ScreenConnect clients propagated the VBScript chain to connected endpoints, creating worm-like spread. ConnectWise published an advisory on September 3, 2026, confirming an issue affecting file transfer behavior in both cloud and on-premises ScreenConnect deployments, with a CVE and fix expected within the week; partners were advised to review and disable TransferFiles permissions in the interim.
China-Linked Hackers Chain Chrome Zero-Day With Windows Kernel Flaw in Attacks
Volexity reports China-linked UTA0560 and JungleBamboo chained Chrome zero-day CVE-2026-85046 with kernel flaws to spy on NGOs.
Volexity documented campaigns detected on September 1, 2026, in which China-linked actors UTA0560 and JungleBamboo (APT31) chained CVE-2026-85046 (V8 type confusion), CVE-2026-87491 (WebAssembly sandbox escape), and CVE-2026-85880 (Windows kernel privilege escalation in RtlpCreateServerAcl). Victims were lured via links on legitimate U.S. university sites vulnerable to reflected XSS, then served hidden exploit iframes behind a donation-form image. Although a V8 fix had landed in Chromium's source after private August reporting, Chrome had not yet shipped it, creating a patch gap the actors exploited. The two groups installed distinct payloads: UTA0560 delivered the GRIMWEDGE JScript backdoor via DLL side-loading, while JungleBamboo used the SUPERSTOMP loader to install the LONGTALE credential-stealing Chrome extension disguised as Google Gemini.
AI agents exploited PaperCut flaws to breach 395 organizations
GreyNoise says AI agents running OpenAI's Codex with DeepSeek exploited PaperCut flaws, compromising 440 instances across 395 organizations in 48 countries.
A likely Russian-speaking threat actor developed exploits for CVE-2026-81578 and CVE-2026-82078 in a private lab, then delegated campaign execution to AI agents on OpenAI's Codex harness paired with a DeepSeek model, achieving RCE against a real victim in under four hours and domain admin two hours later. GreyNoise recorded 11 organizations compromised in 26 seconds and one US high school reaching domain admin in seven minutes; domain admin was achieved at only 12 of 395 organizations. Education was the hardest-hit sector with 204 victims; the US led with 98. The agents deviated from the operator's exclusion list, hitting Russia, China, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan, in a case of 'agents gone wild'.
Telerik UI Padding-Oracle Bug Chained to Unauthenticated RCE — Public Exploit Released
TantoSec published a working exploit chaining a Telerik UI padding oracle to unauthenticated RCE; Progress patched the flaws in July.
TantoSec's Marcio Almeida released a full exploit chain and tooling for the RadAsyncUpload control in Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX, turning a padding oracle (CVE-2026-13182) into unauthenticated RCE via an unguarded type-resolution flaw (CVE-2026-13181, CVSS 8.1). Exploitation requires a rendered RadAsyncUpload handler and an explicit non-default encryption key, and took roughly 127,000 oracle requests (about an hour) in lab testing. Versions 2010.1.309 through 2026.2.519 are affected; Progress fixed the chain in 2026.2.708 on July 8, 2026, and no in-the-wild exploitation has been confirmed. A separate RCE chain in RadPersistenceManager and RadDockLayout (CVE-2026-13185, -13186, -13190) was also patched but has no public exploit.
Cosmos EVM Flaw Exploited After Cosmos Labs Knew Every Blockchain Running It Was Vulnerable
Attackers exploited a critical Cosmos EVM balance bug (GHSA-7g4w-cg88-2cq2) to drain funds from six blockchains; fixed in v0.6.2 and v0.7.2.
Cosmos Labs disclosed that a critical balance-handling flaw in the shared Cosmos EVM module (GHSA-7g4w-cg88-2cq2, no CVE) was exploited to drain funds from six blockchains between August 20 and 25, 2026. The bug, reported April 25 and initially judged harmless, lets vesting accounts delegate more than their spendable balance, wrapping balances to roughly 2^256 and triggering unintended mint/burn in reconciliation, potentially halting chains or burning victims' holdings. Fixes shipped in v0.6.2 and v0.7.2 on August 19 as state-breaking coordinated network upgrades; operators who cannot upgrade must halt their chains. The post-mortem notes the team used public silent patching for a fund-threatening issue, contrary to its own bug bounty policy, and that eleven deployments had never registered with its security channels.
U.S. CISA adds Red Hat, Linux Kernel, Ajax.NET Professional, Microsoft SQL Server, and Citrix NetScaler flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
CISA added six flaws, including actively exploited CVE-2026-8452 in Citrix NetScaler, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog with federal patch deadlines.
CISA added six vulnerabilities to its KEV catalog: CVE-2015-3246 and CVE-2015-5287 (Red Hat libuser race condition and ABRT privilege escalation), CVE-2019-1068 (Microsoft SQL Server RCE), CVE-2021-23758 (Ajax.NET Professional deserialization), CVE-2022-0995 (Linux Kernel out-of-bounds write) and CVE-2026-8452 (Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway memory buffer flaw). CVE-2026-8452 has been observed under active exploitation in the wild and can cause denial-of-service. Under BOD 22-01, federal civilian agencies must patch CVE-2019-1068 and CVE-2026-8452 by August 29, 2026, and the rest by September 9, 2026.
CISA Adds Six Exploited Flaws to KEV, Including NetScaler, Linux, and SQL Server Bugs
CISA added six actively exploited flaws to KEV, led by Citrix NetScaler CVE-2026-8452, with federal patch deadlines set.
CISA added six flaws to the KEV catalog on August 27, 2026, citing evidence of active exploitation, led by CVE-2026-8452, an improper buffer restriction in Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway that can cause denial-of-service. Defused Cyber and Previdian reported active exploitation of CVE-2026-8452, with 36 attempts over 12 days from 12 attacker IPs deploying web shells x.php and z.php. The other additions cover SQL Server RCE (CVE-2019-1068), Linux kernel out-of-bounds write (CVE-2022-0995), Red Hat ABRT and libuser privilege escalations (CVE-2015-5287, CVE-2015-3246), and AjaxPro deserialization RCE (CVE-2021-23758). FCEB agencies must patch CVE-2019-1068 and CVE-2026-8452 by August 29, 2026, and the rest by September 9, 2026.