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.
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.
AI-Generated Exploit Scripts Target Siemens S7 PLCs in U.S. Critical Infrastructure
NSA, CISA, FBI, DOE and EPA warn that actors use AI-generated Python scripts to exploit internet-exposed Siemens S7 PLCs at U.S. critical infrastructure.
A joint advisory from NSA, CISA, FBI, DOE and EPA describes an active threat in which AI-generated exploit scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools target Siemens S7 Series PLCs (S7-200 through S7-1500, including F-series safety controllers). The actors use Censys and ZoomEye scanning to find internet-exposed, outdated PLCs and a custom Python script using snap7 libraries over the S7comm protocol for initial access, credential access and denial of service; no attribution was given. Targeted sectors include Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater, Chemical, Food and Agriculture, and Commercial Facilities, with potential for process disruption and cascading impacts. A related Dream report details a near-autonomous AI-agent campaign (July 1-4, 2026, 12 waves) against Taiwan government entities, using Hermes and OpenClaw agents with eight parallel sub-agents to crack 85 accounts via password spraying and exfiltrate over 2,564 personnel records, SSO client secrets and database credentials.
⚡ 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.