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⚡ Weekly Recap: VMware Exploits, Windows 0-Day, MCP Attacks, Browser Hijacks and More
Weekly recap: suspected China-nexus APT exploited VMware vCenter CVE-2026-59310, Lazarus used Windows zero-day CVE-2026-68820, and macOS flaw dropped Monero miners.
The week's top stories included a suspected China-nexus APT exploiting VMware vCenter CVE-2026-59310 (CVSS 9.8), a directory-traversal flaw enabling arbitrary code execution, with backdoors, reverse SSH and Babuk-derived ransomware deployed, per QUIRSO. NCSC-NL reported active exploitation of macOS Screen Sharing flaw CVE-2026-65400 (CVSS 9.8) to install Monero miners on systems with port 5900 exposed. Lazarus Group exploited Windows zero-day CVE-2026-68820 (CVSS 7.0) in Operation Dream Job, delivering ForestTiger and Troy backdoors to defense and aerospace targets. GeoServer patched a critical SQL injection flaw exploited within hours of disclosure, and Jamf analyzed the new Amnesia Stealer for macOS with live browser control.
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⚡ Weekly Recap: Instagram Account Hacks, Android Zero
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Attackers Exploit WooCommerce Wholesale Lead Capture Flaw to Plant PHP Web Shells
Attackers exploit CVE-2026-27540 in WooCommerce Wholesale Lead Capture to upload PHP web shells; Wordfence blocked 100,000+ attempts since June 2026.
Wordfence reports active exploitation of CVE-2026-27540 (CVSS 9.8), an unauthenticated arbitrary file upload in the wwlc_file_upload_handler AJAX action of the WooCommerce Wholesale Lead Capture plugin (versions through 2.0.3.1, 6,000+ installs), enabling remote code execution via uploaded PHP web shells. Over 100,000 exploit attempts were blocked since June 2026, including 99 in the last 24 hours, traced to ten listed IP addresses. Separately, two critical flaws (CVE-2026-78159 and CVE-2026-78006) in The Events Calendar, installed on 600,000+ sites, allow unauthenticated RCE and full site takeover via PHP object injection chains. StellarWP patched the affected plugin versions 6.17.3 and 6.17.4 in releases 6.17.3.1 and 6.17.4.1.
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AI-powered attack exploited PaperCut flaws to hack 395 organizations
AI-driven campaign exploited PaperCut flaws CVE-2026-81578 and CVE-2026-82078, compromising 440 servers at 395 organizations in 48 countries.
GreyNoise reports a likely Russian-speaking threat actor used hundreds of AI agents combining OpenAI Codex and DeepSeek models to build, test, and refine exploits for CVE-2026-81578 and CVE-2026-82078 in PaperCut NG/MF, launching the campaign on August 31. At least 440 PaperCut instances at 395 organizations across 48 countries were compromised, with the education sector accounting for roughly half of victims and the US most targeted. Attackers harvested credentials from 280 victims, obtained OS or domain secrets from 147, and gained admin privileges at 12 organizations, using LSASS dumping, pass-the-hash, noPac, and DCSync to dump NTDS.DIT. The adversary went from empty workspace to first RCE in under four hours, and compromised at least 11 organizations within 26 seconds once the campaign launched.
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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.
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BGP Hijack Delivers Malicious Virtualizor Update That Establishes Persistent Root Access
Attackers used a BGP hijack to divert Softaculous traffic and push a malicious Virtualizor update granting root persistence on some hypervisors.
Virtualizor reported that a BGP hijack between August 28 20:57 UTC and August 30 06:10 UTC diverted Softaculous update traffic to an attacker-operated server holding a valid Let's Encrypt certificate. Installations checking for updates during the window could receive a malicious package that added an attacker SSH key to root, created a proxyuser account, and installed a Java payload persisted via a systemd service. Hosting provider AlbaHost confirmed 5 of its 34 Virtualizor hypervisors were root-compromised. Virtualizor shipped Patch 9 with a Security Analyzer on September 1, but cryptographic package signing remains future work.
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Attackers plant remote access tools on compromised PaperCut servers
Attackers chained two PaperCut NG/MF zero-days for unauthenticated access, installing SimpleHelp and AnyDesk remote access tools on compromised servers.
An ongoing campaign exploits chained zero-days CVE-2026-81578 (improper access control) and CVE-2026-82078 (unsafe dynamic class loading) in internet-facing PaperCut NG and MF Application Servers, enabling authentication bypass and arbitrary Java bytecode execution. Post-compromise activity includes user and domain enumeration, payload download from sendit.sh, and silent installation of SimpleHelp and AnyDesk for redundant remote access; Defused observed CVE-2026-81578/CVE-2026-82078 exploit activity in honeypots since August 29, including data theft via Derby database dumps. Emergency patches were released August 28 and August 30, but 47% of roughly 2,500 PaperCut installs tracked by Huntress run v23 or older, for which no patch is available.
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U.S. CISA adds SolarWinds Web Help Desk, Sangoma FreePBX, and GitLab flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
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13 Malicious Packagist Packages Target Unpatched iPhones to Steal Crypto Wallet Seeds
Trojanized Packagist themes inject JavaScript into Vietnamese streaming sites, exploiting unpatched iPhone WebKit and kernel flaws to install spyware and steal crypto wallet seeds.
Socket researchers found 13 malicious Composer theme packages across five vendor namespaces (including vsmov, vsphim, and ophimcms) that inject JavaScript into Vietnamese movie and comic streaming sites. On iPhones running iOS 18.4-18.6.x, the injected code fires a WebKit-to-kernel exploit chain using CVE-2025-31277 and CVE-2025-43529, pivoting through the GPU process and the AppleM2ScalerCSCDriver IOKit user client to gain kernel read/write. Since around August 12, 2026 the payload also steals cryptocurrency wallet seeds and mnemonics from Bitget, BitKeep, Bitpie, Phantom, Tonkeeper, Trust Wallet, and OKX, alongside keychain databases, Wi-Fi passwords, SMS, photos, cookies, and location history, uploaded via HTTPS to rotating C2 domains. The group is believed to be Vietnamese-operated, hosts exploits on Funnull infrastructure, and Apple patched the kernel escape flaw in iOS and macOS 26.1.
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Cisco FMC flaws exploited by ransomware gang, state-sponsored hackers
Cisco Talos confirms ransomware and state-sponsored groups exploited CVE-2026-20079 and CVE-2026-20316 in Secure Firewall Management Center, deploying Qilin ransomware and Cyclops Blink.
Cisco Talos identified three threat clusters (UAT-12197, UAT-11823, UAT-11988) exploiting CVE-2026-20079, a CVSS 10.0 authentication bypass, and CVE-2026-20316, a CVSS 5.3 static-credential flaw, in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center. Qilin affiliates used static credentials for reconnaissance and deployed Qilin ransomware; a Sandworm-linked cluster deployed a Cyclops Blink backdoor via a malicious license.tmp file; a third cluster stole credentials through a JSP web shell. Cisco has released hotfixes and urges immediate installation, with broader patches expected next week.
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LiteLLM Flaws Let Attackers Execute Code as Root and Steal Cloud Credentials
Wiz disclosed LiteLLM flaws including CVE-2026-59822 MCP auth bypass, now in CISA KEV, enabling root RCE and AWS credential theft from exposed gateways.
Wiz researchers disclosed weaknesses in the open-source LiteLLM AI gateway: CVE-2026-59821 allows authenticated administrators to execute code as root via the Custom Code Guardrails feature, while CVE-2026-59822 is an MCP authentication bypass where a meaningless Bearer token establishes a valid session. The MCP bypass was observed in the wild through Wiz honeypots and added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on September 2. A scan of 3,074 internet-facing instances found 294 (9.6%) accepting the default master key sk-1234 or lacking authentication. Fixes shipped in LiteLLM 1.82.0 (guardrail hardening) and 1.84.0 (MCP bypass); exposed instances can leak provider API keys and temporary AWS IAM credentials via the pass-through feature and metadata service, with a related config-check issue tracked as CVE-2026-35029.
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Attackers Exploit PaperCut Flaws to Steal Credentials From Schools and Universities
Attackers exploit newly disclosed PaperCut auth bypass CVE-2026-81578 and RCE CVE-2026-82078 to steal credentials from schools and universities in the US and Europe.
Arctic Wolf observed threat actors chaining CVE-2026-81578 (authentication bypass) and CVE-2026-82078 (remote code execution) in PaperCut to execute commands, perform reconnaissance, and create privileged accounts on servers at K-12 schools and universities in the US and Europe. Post-exploitation includes registry hive collection with lsa_collect.exe delivered via certutil, Meterpreter Java payloads from 194.180.48.134, and searches of PaperCut config files for passwords, LDAP bindings, and tokens. Stolen logins could provide a pathway into other critical systems across compromised environments.
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Off Guard: Breaking LiteLLM from authentication bypass to cloud compromise
Wiz found LiteLLM auth bypass (CVE-2026-59822) and post-auth RCE (CVE-2026-59821) chainable to cloud compromise; the bypass is in CISA KEV with in-the-wild exploitation.
Wiz scanned roughly 3,074 internet-facing LiteLLM deployments and found 9.6% accepted the default master key sk-1234 or required no authentication, making post-auth attacks effectively pre-auth. The MCP endpoint accepts any Bearer token and grants a valid session (CVE-2026-59822), confirmed exploited in the wild via honeypots and added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Custom code guardrails allow post-auth root-level RCE via exec(compile(...)) (CVE-2026-59821), while pass-through endpoints lack URL validation, enabling cloud credential theft in post-auth scenarios. All assigned vulnerabilities have been patched; the research was presented at DEF CON 34.
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Hackers Drain $320 Million From Liquid Network, Then Return Most of It
Hackers exploited an Elements bug to drain about 4,000 BTC (~$320M) from Liquid Network's federation wallet, then returned 3,400 BTC after Blockstream patched.
An attacker drained roughly 4,000 of 4,200 BTC (~$320M) from Bitcoin's Liquid Network federation wallet on September 6 by exploiting a bug in Elements, the open-source code powering the sidechain, which allowed unbacked L-BTC tokens that were redeemed for real Bitcoin through SideSwap's authorized peg-out mechanism. The self-described white-hat attackers negotiated publicly via OP_RETURN on-chain messages, demanding the bridge nodes be patched before returning 3,400 BTC (~$262.6M) and keeping about 598 BTC (~$47M). Blockstream confirmed the affected bridge nodes were patched; the network remains paused while federation members complete security work, and experts debate whether the act legally constitutes extortion.
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Active Exploitation Attempts Target WSO2 API Manager JWT Bypass With Forged Admin Tokens
watchTowr observed active exploitation of CVE-2026-5430, a WSO2 API Manager JWT bypass using forged admin tokens, risking credential theft and account takeover.
CVE-2026-5430 (CVSS 9.8-10.0), an improper cryptographic signature verification flaw in WSO2 API Manager, lets JWT authentication be bypassed with unsupported algorithms, enabling administrative account takeover. watchTowr honeypots captured forged JWT tokens with baked-in administrator privileges on September 13, 2026, which could expose API credentials, consumer keys, and secrets for every registered application. Affected products include WSO2 API Manager 4.1.0-4.6.0, API Control Plane, Traffic Manager, and Universal Gateway. Fixes are available via GitHub pull requests and subscription update levels, and users are urged to patch immediately.
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