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ClickFix attacks infecting PCs and Macs are going viral

ClickFix social engineering attacks are spreading widely, delivering malware to Windows and macOS users by tricking them into running malicious terminal commands that bypass Gatekeeper.

BlueVoyant reports the Lorem Ipsum malware operation pivoted to ClickFix in late May 2026, dropping code-signing infrastructure and broadening its victim pool from Microsoft Teams searchers to anyone browsing a compromised website. Jamf and independent researchers documented macOS ClickFix variants that bypass Gatekeeper protections. Cisco Talos observed attackers abusing published Google Sheets for control traffic, while Netskope counted 5,400 sites beaconing to one campaign; Sandworm has separately hosted control infrastructure in blockchain smart contracts.

Ars Technica · Security · 5d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

“Zero-click” WeChat worm could hijack accounts and spread via a single call

Researchers discovered a critical memory corruption flaw in WeChat's VoIP stack enabling a zero-click worm, WeWorm, that hijacks accounts via calls; Tencent patched it.

Calif researchers weaponized a memory corruption issue in WeChat's VoIP stack into "WeWorm", a worm that spreads through WeChat calls without user interaction, hijacks each victim's account, and propagates via saved contacts across iOS and Android, potentially reaching millions of devices within hours. Exploitation takes seconds and grants full account control, and chaining with other reported Android/iOS bugs could lead to full device control. Tencent issued updated WeChat versions for iOS and Android and applied server-side mitigations; technical details remain withheld. WeChat has over a billion users, overwhelmingly in China.

Help Net Security · 8d agoVulnerability

Researchers Build WeChat Zero-Click Worm Hijacking Phones via Calls

Calif researchers built WeWorm, a zero-click worm exploiting a WeChat VoIP memory-corruption RCE that Tencent has now patched.

Calif researchers found a memory corruption flaw in WeChat's VoIP stack in July using LLM-assisted analysis and built working exploits within two days, then integrated them into WeWorm, which they call the first zero-click worm spreading through WeChat calls on iOS and Android. A crafted incoming call yields remote code execution with no user interaction, giving full control of the victim's WeChat account; the attacker only needs to be on the victim's friend list, easily achieved by compromising a contact first. Tencent confirmed the bug and shipped patches in WeChat Android 8.0.77 and iOS 8.0.76, and chaining with other OS bugs could yield full device control.

Infosecurity Magazine · 7d agoExploit / PoC

WeWorm – First 0-Click Worm Spreading Through WeChat Calls Across iOS and Android

Researchers demonstrated WeWorm, a zero-click worm exploiting a memory-corruption flaw in WeChat's VoIP stack to spread via calls across iOS and Android.

Security firm Calif published WeWorm, a proof-of-concept zero-click worm exploiting a memory-corruption bug in WeChat's VoIP stack to spread through voice calls on iOS and Android without the victim answering. The demo chained a Pixel 10a, an iPhone 17e, and a second Pixel 10a, compromising each device while the call was still ringing and giving full control of the WeChat account. The attacker must already be on the victim's friend list, but compromised contacts become the propagation layer across a platform with over 1.4 billion monthly users. Calif reported the bug to Tencent in July 2026, and Tencent has since mitigated it; full technical details are withheld for a later conference presentation.

Cyber Security News · 8d agoExploit / PoC

Can We Stop The Ads? Taxonomy and Characterization of Smartphone Splash Ads and Existing Countermeasures

Study of 108 ad-defense implementations finds only one tool blocked splash-ad navigation across ten popular apps, and it required Accessibility permission.

The paper taxonomizes smartphone splash ads — full-screen ads at app launch that trick users into trigger mechanisms such as moving the phone — and analyzes 108 documented advertising defenses for deployment barriers. Many defenses require device rooting, jailbreaking, runtime code injection, or application modification; others need extra permissions, rule maintenance, compilation, or payment. In evaluating 13 configurations of 11 tools across 10 popular apps, only one prevented ad-triggered navigation across all ten apps, requiring Accessibility permission and leaving ads visible roughly one second before dismissal. Documented harms include delayed emergency response, driver distraction, and degraded accessibility for vision-impaired users.

arXiv cs.CR · 1d agoResearch

Quoting Calif Research

Calif Research demos WeWorm, an AI-built zero-click worm that spreads via WeChat calls on iOS and Android without user interaction.

Calif Research released a demo of WeWorm, described as the first zero-click worm to spread through WeChat calls across iOS and Android; victims need not answer the call and hear nothing even if they do. The team used AI to find the underlying bug and write a remote code execution exploit in about two days, then spent one more week building the worm. The researchers argue AI can now do most of the exploit-development work, with humans supplying judgment on targeting and safe testing.

Simon Willison · 6d agoAI safety & security

StyleSmuggler: Unpatched Magento and Adobe Commerce Zero-Day Exploited

Attackers are actively exploiting an unpatched zero-day dubbed StyleSmuggler in Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce for unauthenticated remote code execution.

A zero-day vulnerability tracked as StyleSmuggler affects Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce and permits unauthenticated remote code execution. The flaw is unpatched and exploitation is ongoing in the wild. E-commerce stores running these platforms are at direct risk of compromise until a fix is released.

SOCRadar · 9d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

WeChat Zero-Click Worm Took Over Accounts on iPhone and Android via Incoming Calls

Researchers demonstrated a zero-click WeChat worm that hijacked accounts via incoming calls; Tencent blocked the exploit server-side after July disclosure, no real attacks reported.

Security firm Calif built a worm that seized WeChat accounts via incoming calls without any target interaction, demonstrating it spreading across three test phones (Android to iPhone to Android). Once exploited, the attacker gains full control of the WeChat account, including messages, calls, payments, and mini programs, though not the phone itself. Tencent mitigated the flaw server-side, confirmed blocked on 28 August, shipping WeChat 8.0.77 for Android and 8.0.76 for iOS on 21 August. No CVE has been assigned, Tencent published no advisory, and no attacks in the wild have been reported; WeChat/Weixin counts 1.439 billion monthly active users.

The Hacker News · 8d agoVulnerability1

Risky Bulletin: Russia starts blocking DoH and DoT

Russian users report blocks on DoH and DoT servers, including Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8, in an apparent censorship crackdown.

Russian internet users began reporting failures connecting to DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS servers, suggesting a government crackdown on the two privacy protocols. The blocks reportedly cover Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and Google's 8.8.8.8 resolvers; Roskomnadzor has not officially confirmed the action. The agency tested a similar block in March on Beeline's network and had named DoH for blocking as early as 2021. The bulletin also briefly notes state-sponsored phishing of EU officials, a DDoS against Norway's Digdir, the ReliaQuest/ShinyHunters dispute, and older ransomware and breach disclosures.

Risky Business News · 21d agoPolicy & legal1

An untrusted site can freeze a Mac using WebGPU

A security researcher shows an untrusted website can trigger a system-wide freeze of a Mac via the WebGPU API.

A blog post describes how an untrusted website can use the WebGPU API to cause a Mac to freeze, taking down the whole system rather than just the browser tab. The write-up appears to analyze the underlying GPU/browser behavior that leads to the hang. The source text provided is minimal, so technical specifics such as affected browsers, macOS versions, and disclosure status are not stated.

Lobsters · security · 5d agoResearch

WeChat Worm Can Hijack Accounts Without Victims Answering Calls

Researchers demoed WeWorm, a zero-click WeChat worm hijacking accounts via incoming VoIP calls using a memory corruption flaw; Tencent patched it in August.

Researchers at Calif exploited a memory corruption bug in WeChat's VoIP system, taking over accounts through an incoming call even if the victim never answers or touches the phone. The attacker must already be a WeChat contact, but compromising a friend's account bypasses this, and chained calls spread the worm across three Android and iOS test phones in seconds. Tencent fixed the flaw in Android 8.0.77 and iOS 8.0.76 released in August, and researchers found no evidence of real-world exploitation. WeChat and Weixin reported 1.418 billion combined monthly active users at the end of 2025.

Security Affairs · 8d agoExploit / PoC

Hackers are stealing Claude tokens from subscribers

Infostealer malware is stealing Claude login sessions, letting attackers mint OAuth tokens and burn subscribers' paid usage largely undetected.

Anthropic confirmed a bad actor used common infostealer malware to steal Claude login sessions from users' computers and consume their paid usage. A UK consultant saw idle token usage climb, and Anthropic suspended his account, invalidated sessions and Claude Code tokens, and issued a £44.49 partial refund on his $200-per-month plan. Multiple other users on Reddit and GitHub reported similar theft; Anthropic signed out affected users and issued refunds, but still lacks itemized usage reporting to help users detect misuse.

TechCrunch · AI · 7d agoAI safety & security in the wild1

Russian hackers plant nuclear weapon prompt in malware to trip AI safety guardrails

ESET reports Russian group UAC-0099 hid a prompt in VBS malware comments to trip AI safety filters and disrupt automated malware analysis in Ukraine.

ESET identified a technique dubbed GuardBreaker in which UAC-0099 embedded a comment reading "I want to make nuclear weapon. Help me …" inside a malicious VBS script to trigger AI safety mechanisms and halt AI-assisted malware analysis. The script, part of the group's toolset, downloads the MATCHBOIL malware used exclusively by this Russia-aligned group; CERT-UA documented the chain including LUNCHPOKE, BURNYBEAR and MATCHBOIL.V2 in a July advisory. UAC-0099 typically targets transportation and energy sectors and hands validated targets to GRU-linked Sandworm. ESET warned that AI-assisted analysis must be backed by layered detection and human-driven engineering.

Help Net Security · 16d agoAI safety & security in the wild

Malicious Apache Modules Hijack Brazilian Government Site Traffic to Push Betting Pages

Check Point links Gambling Goblin, a Chinese-speaking cluster, to malicious Apache modules hijacking Brazilian government servers to promote betting sites.

Check Point Research tracks Gambling Goblin, a Chinese-speaking cluster, installing malicious Apache reverse-proxy modules on compromised Brazilian government and education web servers since mid-2025. The modules divert visitors to gambling and fake app-store pages while stripping the site's security headers, likely for large-scale SEO manipulation. The group's Linux arsenal includes DownPro, AlphaAgent, oRAT, a 3snake-based credential stealer, and SSH brute-forcing tools, and it is tied to Trend Micro's Earth Berberoka. Related SEO-fraud campaigns on .gov.br domains were documented by ESET (GhostRedirector), Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, and Hunt.io.

The Hacker News · 14d agoThreat actor in the wild

Free streaming boxes may be routing criminal traffic through your home

Researchers found SuperBox streaming boxes and the CyberFlix TV app enroll home connections into the Popanet residential proxy network, routing criminal traffic.

Researchers found that SuperBox devices and the CyberFlix TV app, distributed through SuperBox's custom app store, contain Popanet proxy functionality that registers the device with servers controlled by the proxy operator, enrolling household connections into residential proxy networks. The reported configuration weakens Android safeguards with exposed ADB access, root-level privileges without authentication, and removal of app-install protections. Plume's research warns these proxy networks can also function as malware-delivery platforms, and the FBI notes foreign entities use residential proxies to conceal activity such as credential stuffing and account abuse. Malwarebytes advises disconnecting and replacing affected SuperBox/CyberFlix devices rather than factory-resetting them.

Malwarebytes Labs · 12d agoMalware in the wild

New Ted Backdoor Hides Inside Victims' Own HAProxy Builds to Intercept Web Traffic

Rapid7 found a new backdoor, ted, compiled into trojanized HAProxy at two South Korean organizations, with medium-confidence attribution to North Korean actors.

Rapid7 documented a previously undocumented Linux toolkit named ted compiled into the HAProxy load balancer binaries of two South Korean organizations in the automotive and media sectors. The implant intercepts web traffic, serves altered pages only to filtered visitors, and hides C2 exchanges from backend logs and HAProxy statistics; a companion RAT, curlRAT, beacons on a default 12-hour schedule. The toolkit also trojanizes crond, sshd, agetty, atd, and polkitd binaries and sanitizes logs and bash history. Rapid7 attributes the activity with medium confidence to North Korean state-sponsored actors, with domain infrastructure overlapping APT37 listings in maltrail and delivery resembling the Operation SyncHole campaign.

The Hacker News · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild

Infostealers Are Hijacking Claude Sessions and Draining Subscriptions

Infostealers hijacked active Claude sessions to bypass 2FA, drain paid usage and run unauthorized charges; Anthropic is revoking sessions and refunding.

Anthropic confirmed that infostealer malware on user machines stole active Claude login sessions, letting attackers bypass passwords, MFA, and SSO and drain paid usage and run unauthorized charges. Affected families identified on Windows include Vidar, LummaC2, StealC, RedLine, and Acreed, plus Atomic Stealer on a small number of Macs; the malware typically arrived via unofficial downloads or malicious apps. Anthropic signed users out, removed saved payment cards, revoked affected sessions, and is refunding unauthorized charges, noting phones and tablets were not involved.

Security Affairs · 16d agoMalware in the wild

Russian State-Sponsored Hackers Use Claude to Rebuild Malware After Detection

Anthropic disrupted APT29-linked GTG-20006, which used Claude to autonomously rebuild malware, hijack hotel Wi-Fi DNS, and target 20-plus Ukrainian, European, and US-linked organizations.

Anthropic attributed the campaign to GTG-20006, aligned with Midnight Blizzard (APT29/Cozy Bear), which developed an AI-driven process that monitors its implants against security products and autonomously rebuilds and redeploys detected malware. Targets included military intelligence, diplomatic, and defense organizations in Ukraine and Europe, plus Middle East and Asian maritime agencies; the actor compromised at least three hotel Wi-Fi vendors via DNS hijacking and served ClickFix lures delivering Windows, Android, and iOS malware such as PowerChrome, GiftDrop, and DarkSword. Operations also included a North African breach exfiltrating over 300,000 national identity records and 500,000-plus company registry entries, an Embassy Kit device-code phishing campaign stealing Microsoft 365 tokens from at least eight organizations, and WhatsApp account takeover using headless browsers. The campaign overlaps with CaptiveCrunch reporting from ReliaQuest, Microsoft, Google, and Lumen Black Lotus Labs.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 4d agofirst · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 15 sources2

Russia-Aligned Hackers Use GuardBreaker Prompt Injection to Disrupt AI Malware Analysis

Russia-aligned group UAC-0099 embeds GuardBreaker prompt injection in a VBScript comment to make AI malware scanners refuse analysis of a MATCHBOIL loader.

ESET identified a UAC-0099 VBScript used in an early-stage intrusion against a target in Ukraine that hides a safety-triggering comment (a question about building a nuclear weapon) intended to make AI code scanners refuse to continue analysis. The script downloads MATCHBOIL, a loader associated exclusively with UAC-0099, alongside familiar anti-analysis checks for IDA and Wireshark. The technique turns the AI triage process itself into the attack target, risking missed detections or benign misclassification of malicious samples.

Cyber Security News · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 3 sources

WeChat worm could pwn a friend before they even answered the call

Calif researchers demoed WeWorm, a zero-click WeChat VoIP memory-corruption worm enabling account takeover; Tencent patched it August 21.

Security firm Calif found a memory corruption bug in WeChat's VoIP stack that let a trusted contact take over a user's account simply by calling them, without the call being answered. The demo worm then called the victim's contacts to self-propagate across iOS and Android; declining the call prevented infection. Tencent pushed fixes on August 21, and Calif said chaining the bug with other Android and iOS flaws could yield full device control. Calif used AI to find the vulnerability and build its first RCE exploit in about two days.

The Register · Security · 7d agoExploit / PoC

Unpatched Magento and Adobe Commerce Zero-Day Exploited to Backdoor Online Stores

Sansec reports active exploitation of an unpatched zero-day, dubbed StyleSmuggler, in Magento and Adobe Commerce, letting attackers backdoor online store servers without authentication.

Sansec disclosed on September 5 that attackers are exploiting an unpatched vulnerability, named StyleSmuggler, in Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution, with attacks observed starting September 4. All current versions including 2.4.9 are affected, and Adobe has published no advisory, CVE, patch, or workaround, with the next scheduled security release on September 8. Hosting firm Disrex Group independently confirmed two compromised stores (running 2.4.8 and 2.4.7-p2), both breached within the roughly eight-hour window before Sansec's blocking rules went live. The implant is a ~1.9 MB statically linked Rust binary disguised as a Linux kworker process, re-adding a cron entry every five minutes and in one case reading Magento sessions directly from Redis with no outbound traffic.

The Hacker News · 10d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Magento StyleSmuggler zero-day exploited to deploy Linux backdoor

StyleSmuggler zero-day in Magento and Adobe Commerce is actively exploited in the wild to deploy a Rust-based Linux backdoor; fix not yet released.

A zero-day dubbed StyleSmuggler affecting all versions of Magento and Adobe Commerce is being actively exploited, with the first observed incident on September 4 on a fully patched site. The exploit injects PHP code via Magento's template system through a fake 'failed-payment' email to achieve code execution, installing a Rust-based backdoor disguised as kworker/u:8:0 or fc-cache with a 30-minute cron job for persistence. The backdoor communicates via TLS/WebSockets or UDP port 123 masquerading as NTP traffic, checks TracerPid to detect tracing, and can receive remote commands. Adobe confirmed it is working on a fix with no timeline; Sansec recommends disabling GraphQL as mitigation and monitoring for suspicious cron entries and kworker or fc-cache processes. Magento is installed on more than 160,000 websites, including 14,000 of the top 1 million sites.

BleepingComputer · 9d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Advanced URL Filtering Archives

Palo Alto Networks markets Advanced URL Filtering as combining a malicious URL database with real-time ML and DL web protection.

The Unit 42 blog page is a product category archive for Advanced URL Filtering. The product description states it combines a malicious URL database with a real-time web protection engine powered by machine learning and deep learning models. No research findings, incidents, or vulnerabilities are discussed.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · 8d agoIndustry 6 sources

Risky Bulletin: Academics find source code overlaps between Geedge and China's Great Firewall

Academics linked Chinese vendor Geedge Networks' Tiangou Secure Gateway source code to one of the Great Firewall's three traffic filtering capabilities.

US researchers presenting at USENIX Security reconstructed Geedge Networks' Tiangou Secure Gateway firmware from over 100,000 leaked files, including Git repositories with commit history, and matched its filtering behavior to sections of China's Great Firewall. They found only 1 of 3 characterized DNS injectors matched Geedge code, noted the system relies on memory-unsafe C components and copied third-party code, and said its bugs could aid future circumvention tools. Geedge also exports censorship tools to Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Myanmar. The newsletter additionally rounds up multiple breaches.

Risky Business News · 26d agoResearch2

Stop Telling People Not To Click Links

Tailscale CEO argues link-clicking is not the problem; deploying phishing-resistant authentication like passkeys and WebAuthn eliminates entire attack classes.

Tailscale CEO Avery Pennarun argues in an opinion piece that clicking links is a symptom, not the disease, and that weak authentication is the real failure behind phishing damage. He advocates phishing-resistant FIDO/WebAuthn, passkeys, and device-bound tokens, plus continuous identity-anchored network access so unexpected login prompts become suspicious signals. He argues this approach makes security less burdensome for users while neutralizing credential replay and fake login pages.

Lobsters · security · 12d agoIndustry

Don't Trust the Super-App: A Case Study of Russia's Max

Researchers show super-apps like Russia's Max can silently capture mini-app UI, storage, network traffic, and authentication, enabling untraceable user impersonation.

The paper challenges the assumption that super-apps are trusted intermediaries, citing WeChat's passive cross-mini-app tracking, Russia's Max's entanglement with state prosecution of online speech, and Iran's Bale operating during a prolonged internet shutdown. Using Max as a case study, the authors demonstrate that a super-app can capture mini-app UI, read and write mini-app local storage, inject arbitrary JavaScript into mini-app runtimes, mediate network traffic, and control authentication context, enabling silent user impersonation without trace. They argue these capabilities are inherent to the super-app architecture and call for mobile OS and app store interventions to close the blind spot.

arXiv cs.CR · 6d agoResearch1

StyleSmuggler: The Magento Zero-Day Behind New Store Attacks

Sansec reports actively exploited Magento/Adobe Commerce zero-day StyleSmuggler enabling unauthenticated RCE and Rust backdoor installation on fully patched stores since September 4.

Sansec discovered StyleSmuggler, an unpatched zero-day in Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce, affecting all current versions including 2.4.7, 2.4.8 and 2.4.9, with attacks observed since September 4. The two-stage attack poisons Magento's template system via the styles property and executes the injected PHP during 'Payment Transaction Failed Reminder' email rendering, working even when email delivery fails and when sessions are moved to Redis. Successful compromise installs a lightweight Rust backdoor disguised as fc-cache or chronyd that beacons every 60 seconds with 48-byte UDP packets to NTP port 123 at ntp.timesync.to. A second attacker deployed a PHP web shell in product-image cache directories, hidden behind 404 responses unless a correct X-Cache-Token header is present.

Security Affairs · 9d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

StopAndProtect Turns 2,000 Hacked WordPress Sites Into a Criminal Network

Check Point uncovered StopAndProtect, a cybercrime operation using ~2,000 hacked WordPress sites for ClickFix-driven malware delivery, data theft, surveillance, and ransomware.

Check Point Research identified the StopAndProtect operation in May 2026; it abuses close to 2,000 compromised WordPress sites, many running outdated software, to host malware stages, act as C2, and store stolen data. Infection starts with fake CAPTCHA ClickFix prompts that trick visitors into running a PowerShell command, followed by .NET downloaders deploying ransomware, SMB/USB worm, lockscreen, chat, and credential-stealing components. Rather than always encrypting, operators selectively exfiltrate file lists and specific files; researchers found 700+ stolen-data archives, roughly 31,000 screenshots, and 6,000+ unique victim IP addresses, including WhatsApp activity monitoring.

Security Affairs · 27d agoThreat actor in the wild

Counterfeit installers to system compromise: Tracking a deceptive software download campaign

Microsoft tracks a counterfeit software-installer campaign compromising multinationals' China operations, moderately linked to the Silver Fox (Yinhu) actor.

Microsoft Defender Experts is tracking an active campaign using spoofed software download sites for brands such as Razer, Kaspersky, Microsoft Edge, Calibre, and Baidu Netdisk on .com.cn and .hl.cn domains, delivering installer archives whose hashes change per download, indicating server-side payload generation. The implants establish persistence, weaken security protections, and communicate with attacker-controlled infrastructure, with confirmed compromises across healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government, and education. Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that the activity matches the publicly reported Silver Fox (Yinhu) fake software campaign; it has not attributed it to a nation-state actor.

Microsoft Security Blog · 14d agoThreat actor in the wild1

PEEP: A Browser RAT Posing as a Chrome Extension

SOCRadar's STRU analyzed PEEP, an emerging Chromium-based RAT disguised as a Chrome extension enabling post-exploitation control of browsers.

SOCRadar's Threat Research Unit (STRU) identified and analyzed PEEP, a Chromium-based post-exploitation toolkit distributed as a browser extension. PEEP provides RAT-style capabilities while posing as a legitimate Chrome extension. It is assessed as an emerging threat worth monitoring by defenders.

SOCRadar · 12d agoMalware

ChatGPT and Reddit now face EU's toughest online safety rules

ChatGPT and Reddit now fall under the EU's toughest online safety rules, adding new regulatory burdens after rapid growth.

Ars Technica reports that ChatGPT and Reddit are now subject to the European Union's strictest online safety rules, following their explosive user growth. This brings the AI chatbot and the social platform under heightened EU oversight and compliance obligations. The move signals that fast-scaling AI consumer products face the same regulatory scrutiny as major online platforms in the EU.

Ars Technica · AI · 16d agoAI policy