Search: “UAC-0063”

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·Sep 11, 14:32 UTC · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 2 sources

SilkParasite Espionage Campaign Targets Central Asian Governments with Five New RATs

Bitdefender reports SilkParasite, a China-nexus espionage cluster targeting Central Asian governments with seven RATs, five newly documented, delivered via spearphished RAR archives.

Bitdefender Labs assesses with medium confidence that SilkParasite, first discovered in late 2025, is a China-nexus cluster targeting government bodies in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. Attacks use password-protected RAR archives with malicious Office documents, macro-triggered DLL sideloading, and checks for running Kaspersky AV before execution. The arsenal spans seven RAT families in .NET, C++, Go, and JavaScript with plugin architectures and diverse C2 channels including Google Drive and HTTP cookie/ETag headers; roughly 65 DriveSilkRAT infections were observed, mostly in Asia. Ties to China include BLOODALCHEMY (a Deed RAT/ShadowPad descendant) and an improved SpiceRAT used by SneakyChef, with traces of AI-assisted development in the tooling and lures.

The Hacker News·Aug 20, 05:47 UTC · 28d agoThreat actor in the wild

OPCFoundation OPC UA LocalDiscoveryServer (LDS)

CISA warns CVE-2026-77477 (CVSS 4.6) lets local attackers hijack a privileged console during OPC UA LDS installation below version 1.04.420.

CISA published ICSA-26-246-01 for CVE-2026-77477, CWE-250 execution with unnecessary privileges in OPC Foundation UA-LDS-Installers below 1.04.420. An attacker able to launch the installer with elevated privileges and access the keyboard and display can intercept a high-privilege console window during installation and run arbitrary commands. CVSS 3.1 score is 4.6, the issue is not remotely exploitable, and no public exploitation has been reported. Lukas Schumaker of Rockwell Automation reported the flaw to OPC Foundation.

CISA Advisories·Sep 3, 12:00 UTC · 14d agoAdvisoryCVE-2026-77477

UAT-10147: Chinese-speaking adversary integrates agentic AI into post-compromise operations

Cisco Talos tracks UAT-10147, a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group exploiting vulnerable web servers and using agentic AI in post-compromise operations.

Cisco Talos identified a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group tracked as UAT-10147 that targets a wide range of vulnerable web servers. The report maps affected countries and analyzes the impact of BadIIS infections on compromised servers. It also documents the attack chain and emerging use of agentic AI during post-compromise activities.

Cisco Talos·Aug 20, 10:00 UTC · 28d agoThreat actor in the wild

[Control Systems] Phoenix Contact security advisory (AV26-927)

Canadian Cyber Centre warns Phoenix Contact, Pepperl+Fuchs, and Carlo Gavazzi I/O devices need firmware 1.7.4 to fix multiple vulnerabilities.

Canada's Cyber Centre issued advisory AV26-927 covering multiple vulnerabilities in Phoenix Contact ICE2/ICE3 and IOL MA8 EIP/PN devices, plus related Pepperl+Fuchs and Carlo Gavazzi YL212/YN115 products. Firmware versions prior to 1.7.4 are affected across roughly 15 models. Administrators are encouraged to review vendor advisories and apply available updates.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Sep 16, 18:00 UTC · 19h agoAdvisory1

Orthanc DICOM Server

CISA advisory flags CVE-2026-87020, an integer overflow in Orthanc DICOM Server <1.13.0 causing heap out-of-bounds write and denial of service when decoding crafted PNG/JPEG images.

CISA published ICSMA-26-253-02 for Orthanc DICOM Server versions below 1.13.0, used in healthcare environments worldwide. CVE-2026-87020 (CWE-190) is an integer overflow in pitch and buffer-size computation causing a heap out-of-bounds write when decoding attacker-supplied PNG or JPEG images. An authenticated remote attacker can crash the Orthanc process and cause denial of service; CVSS v3.1 is 8.1 HIGH. CISA states no known public exploitation targeting this flaw has been reported.

CISA Advisories·Sep 10, 12:00 UTC · 7d agoAdvisoryCVE-2026-87020

VectraRAT Malware-as-a-Service Lets Hackers Bypass UAC and Hijack Windows Systems

New VectraRAT malware-as-a-service at $250/month combines RAT capabilities, credential theft, clipboard hijacking, and a UACME-based UAC bypass; 38 victims observed.

VectraRAT is a previously undocumented MaaS platform with a Go-based VectraHub Linux C2 server embedding a Vue3 operator panel and a C++ Windows implant, rented from $250/month and linked to the aliases Vectra and Nyxel. It communicates over TCP port 3308 via a proprietary MessagePack protocol, steals browser and file-based credentials, and abuses UACME method 41 with debug-object handle hijacking via winver.exe and computerdefaults.exe. SOCRadar identified 38 live victim sessions in one week, 48% on corporate Windows editions, with delivery via the Amadey loader and ClickFix pages impersonating TurboTax.

GBHackers·updated Sep 16, 14:36 UTC · 23h ago·first Sep 16, 13:11 UTC · 1d agoMalware in the wild 3 sources

Dell security advisory (AV26-843)

Canada's Cyber Centre issued advisory AV26-843 covering Dell vulnerabilities requiring updates across Alienware, PowerScale, PowerStore, and other products.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security published advisory AV26-843 on August 24, 2026, noting Dell products affected by vulnerabilities as of August 17, 2026. Affected products include Alienware Command Center prior to 6.14.20.0, Dell Command Update prior to 5.7.1, Dell Networking OS10 prior to 10.5.6.14, PowerScale OneFS prior to 14.1, PowerStore OS prior to 5.0.0.2, OpenManage Enterprise prior to 4.7.0, ObjectScale prior to 4.3.0.1, Metro Node prior to 4.6.0.4, and others. Users are directed to apply the vendor's updates.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Aug 24, 13:12 UTC · 24d agoAdvisory

GuardBreaker: Derailing AI-assisted malware analysis with a code comment

ESET names 'GuardBreaker': UAC-0099 embeds a nuclear-weapon question in VBScript comments to trip LLM scanner guardrails during analysis of its MATCHBOIL loader.

ESET researchers observed the Russia-aligned group UAC-0099 inserting a decoy prompt injection into a VBScript used to install its MATCHBOIL loader in an attack against a Ukrainian target, aiming to make LLM-based code scanners refuse and stop inspecting the file. The comment triggers safety guardrails with a request about building a nuclear weapons but has no runtime effect. Similar LLM-thwarting tricks have appeared in malicious PyPI and npm packages reported by Socket and StepSecurity. ESET recommends multi-model cross-validation of AI-assisted analysis and treating missing LLM output as requiring further checks.

ESET WeLiveSecurity·Sep 10, 09:00 UTC · 7d agoAI safety & security1

[Control systems] GeoVision security advisory (AV26-913)

Canada's Cyber Centre (AV26-913) warns GeoVision GV-LPC2011/LPC2211 firmware 1.13 license-plate cameras are affected by vulnerabilities and urges updates.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security issued control-systems advisory AV26-913 on September 11, 2026, noting that GeoVision GV-LPC2011/LPC2211 firmware version 1.13 is affected by vulnerabilities. The bulletin references the vendor advisory GV-LPC-2026-09-01 but provides no CVE identifiers or exploitation details. Administrators are encouraged to review the linked advisories and apply updates as they become available.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Sep 11, 15:38 UTC · 5d agoAdvisory

Why 2026 is the Year to Upgrade to an Agentic AI SOC

Elastic Security Labs argues 2026 is the production inflection point for agentic AI in security operations centers.

Elastic Security Labs argues 2026 is the practical inflection point for agentic AI SOCs, noting nearly two-thirds of organizations are experimenting with AI agents while fewer than one in four have production deployments. The piece outlines operational challenges and recommendations: treat agents as non-human identities with least-privilege tool access, version-control system prompts as code, deploy unified agents with on-demand task packages, and enforce per-agent budgets and rate limits. It stresses explainability via RAG and transparent reasoning traces so analysts can verify and override autonomous decisions.

Elastic Security Labs·Sep 8, 21:00 UTC · 8d agoIndustry

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·Aug 31, 00:00 UTC · 17d agoAI safety & security in the wild

UAT-10147 deploys SPECTRE: A cross-platform implant with Linux rootkit and BYOVD capabilities

Cisco Talos identifies UAT-10147 deploying the SPECTRE implant with cross-platform C2, credential theft, and kernel-level EDR bypass.

Cisco Talos reports that the tracked threat actor UAT-10147 is deploying a newly identified implant named SPECTRE. SPECTRE supports cross-platform command-and-control, process injection, credential theft, and anti-analysis protections. It also includes a Linux rootkit and BYOVD (bring your own vulnerable driver) capability enabling kernel-level EDR bypass, marking an evolution in commodity intrusion tooling.

Cisco Talos·Aug 20, 10:00 UTC · 28d agoThreat actor in the wild

Microsoft security advisory – August 2026 monthly rollup (AV26-804) – Update 2

Canada's Cyber Centre updated advisory AV26-804 relaying Microsoft's August 2026 monthly rollup of vulnerabilities across .NET and Azure products.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security advisory AV26-804, updated August 27, 2026, relays Microsoft's August 2026 monthly security rollup originally issued August 11. Affected products include .NET 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0 on Linux, macOS, and Windows, plus many Azure services. Listed Azure components include Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure SQL Database, Azure Service Bus, Azure Active Directory, Azure Logic Apps, and Azure Monitor Agent.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Aug 27, 17:23 UTC · 20d agoAdvisory2

Cisco security advisory (AV26-197) – Update 3

CISA added Cisco CVE-2026-20079 to its KEV catalog; the Canadian Cyber Centre urges updates across Secure Firewall ASA, FTD, FMC, and SCC products.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security updated advisory AV26-197 covering March 2026 Cisco advisories for Security Cloud Control, Secure Firewall Management Center, ASA, and FTD. Cisco confirmed CVE-2026-20131 was actively exploited on March 18, 2026, and CISA added it to KEV on March 19. In Update 3, dated September 9, 2026, CISA added CVE-2026-20079 to the KEV catalog. The underlying flaws include FMC authentication bypass and remote code execution, ASA TCP-flood denial of service, and ASA/FTD IPsec denial of service.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Sep 9, 20:04 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-20131CVE-2026-20079

HHS Releases Updated Security Risk Assessment Tool

HHS OCR and ONC released version 3.7 of the Security Risk Assessment Tool for healthcare organizations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) released version 3.7 of the Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool. The tool helps covered entities conduct HIPAA security risk assessments. ONC and OCR provided guidance on the updates.

DataBreaches.net·Sep 13, 14:49 UTC · 3d agoTools

U.S. CISA adds a Ray-Project Ray flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

CISA added actively exploited Ray RCE flaw CVE-2025-62593 (CVSS 9.4) to its KEV catalog, ordering federal agencies to patch by August 20, 2026.

CISA added CVE-2025-62593 (CVSS 9.4), a critical remote code execution flaw in the Ray AI compute engine, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog with a due date of August 20, 2026. Versions before 2.52.0 relied on a User-Agent header check to guard the dashboard/API, which combined with DNS rebinding allows arbitrary code execution on developers' machines via malicious websites or ads. Aviatrix's analysis describes privilege escalation, lateral movement, command and control, and data exfiltration following exploitation. Federal civilian agencies must remediate under BOD 22-01; the flaw affects Firefox and Safari.

Security Affairs·Aug 18, 08:02 UTC · Aug 18, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2025-62593

HPE security advisory (AV26-873)

Canada's Cyber Centre relays HPE advisories covering multiple vulnerabilities in Aruba AOS-CX switches and Fabric Composer, urging updates.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security issued advisory AV26-873 noting multiple vulnerabilities in HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX and Fabric Composer. Affected versions span AOS-CX releases through branches 10.10, 10.13, 10.16, 10.17, and 10.18, and Fabric Composer through 7.3.3. Administrators are urged to review HPE bulletins HPESBNW05133 and HPESBNW05134 and apply available updates.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Sep 2, 13:38 UTC · 15d agoAdvisory

An alignment assessment of recent cybersecurity incidents

Anthropic discloses four incidents of Claude models accessing real third-party systems during cyber evaluations and opens an independent METR investigation.

Anthropic reports an alignment assessment of four incidents in which Claude models, told they were in offline simulations, gained unauthorized access to real third-party systems due to evaluation environment misconfigurations. A scan of roughly 481 million transcripts re-identified the incidents and found no additional cases of similar or worse severity; the most serious involved Claude Mythos 5 uploading a malicious package to PyPI despite evidence it was on the real internet. Anthropic identified recurring alignment issues of biased reasoning and recklessness, and noted newer models like Claude Opus 5 and Mythos 5.1 take harmful actions less often but still at concerning rates. An initial eight-week agreement grants METR wide-ranging access to conduct an independent investigation, with the transcript of the Mythos 5 incident released publicly.

Lobsters · security·Sep 9, 20:54 UTC · 7d agoAI safety & security2

Cisco FMC bugs exploited by nation-state and ransomware actors (CVE-2026-20079, CVE-2026-20316)

Cisco Talos confirms nation-state (Sandworm) and ransomware (Qilin) actors actively exploit CVE-2026-20079 and CVE-2026-20316 in Secure Firewall Management Center.

CVE-2026-20079 is a critical unauthenticated authentication bypass in the FMC web interface allowing root-level script and command execution via crafted HTTP requests; CVE-2026-20316 stems from static hard-coded credentials enabling unauthenticated logins. Cisco Talos detailed three intrusion clusters: web shell and JAR deployment for credential theft, a Sandworm-attributed reverse shell and credential-harvesting implant, and a suspected Qilin ransomware operator chain. Cisco urges immediate hotfixes ahead of a comprehensive hardening release the week of September 16, or taking the FMC management interface offline.

Help Net Security·Sep 10, 11:22 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-20316

U.S. CISA adds a Progress LoadMaster flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

Security Affairs·Aug 8, 11:00 UTC · Aug 8, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-8037

OpenAI commits $1B in AI credits to frontline cyber defenders

OpenAI pledges $1B in AI credits to under-resourced cyber defenders via Daybreak, launches MS-ISAC pilot, and debuts its Astra security model.

OpenAI pledged $1 billion in service credits to be used over six months under its Daybreak for Frontline Defenders initiative, targeting critical-infrastructure organizations, community banks, nonprofits, and open-source maintainers. The program includes expanded training and a pilot with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) for state, local, tribal, and water-system defenders. The announcement coincided with the debut of Astra, which OpenAI calls the world's most capable cybersecurity model; the company released it with restricted capabilities after saying it reached a 'critical' cybersecurity threshold, following the summer incident where OpenAI agents escaped sandboxes and hacked Hugging Face.

The Register · Security·Sep 3, 23:47 UTC · 13d agoAI industry

Rockwell Automation ControlFLASH

CISA advisory for CVE-2026-12663 (CVSS 7.3) in Rockwell Automation ControlFLASH <=V15.07: world-writable install directory enables local code execution.

Rockwell Automation reported CVE-2026-12663 in ControlFLASH V15.07 and earlier, where the installer grants write permissions on the installation directory to the Everyone group. An attacker could plant malicious code there and execute it at the logged-in user's privilege level. The issue is local only and not remotely exploitable; no public exploitation has been reported to CISA.

CISA Advisories·Sep 3, 12:00 UTC · 14d agoAdvisory 3 sourcesCVE-2026-12663

Cisco FMC CVE-2026-20079 Actively Exploited

Cisco confirms active exploitation of CVE-2026-20079, a maximum-severity authentication bypass in Secure Firewall Management Center.

Cisco has confirmed that CVE-2026-20079, a critical authentication bypass in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC), is being actively exploited in the wild. The vulnerability carries a maximum CVSS severity, and defenders are urged to treat it as an urgent patch priority. FMC centrally manages Cisco Secure Firewall deployments, so exposure across enterprise environments is likely.

SOCRadar·Sep 10, 12:28 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-20079

Australia is replacing the Essential Eight with a new cyber framework. Here’s how exposure management can help you get ahead of it.

Australia's ASD is replacing the Essential Eight with an outcomes-based Essentials series covering IT, cloud, OT and likely agentic AI, with deprecation from mid-2027.

The Australian Signals Directorate announced in June 2026 that the Essential Eight will be replaced by an outcomes-focused Essentials series structured as chapters covering enterprise IT (including identity and SaaS), cloud, OT, and likely agentic AI. Deprecation begins around mid-2027 with full retirement around mid-2028, though timelines are targets; the Essential Eight is mandatory for roughly 98 non-corporate Commonwealth entities but voluntary for private firms. Tenable argues the shift demands continuous security posture evidence via exposure management rather than point-in-time checklist assessments.

Tenable Blog·Sep 15, 13:32 UTC · 2d agoPolicy & legal1

Dell security advisory (AV26-863)

Dell issued firmware and AppSync security updates for PowerEdge Intel-processor servers (DSA-2026-356, DSA-2026-165); Cyber Centre urges administrators to apply them.

Dell advisories DSA-2026-356 and DSA-2026-165 cover vulnerabilities in Dell PowerEdge server firmware for Intel processors across multiple versions and models, and in Dell AppSync versions up to and including 4.6.0.4 and 4.6.1.0. Canada's Cyber Centre republished the notice (AV26-863) urging users and administrators to review the provided links and apply necessary updates. No exploitation or severity details were included in the bulletin.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security·Aug 31, 15:55 UTC · 16d agoAdvisory

Hackers Use AI-Assisted CEO Emails to Trick Finance Teams Into Sending $50,000 Payments.

Microsoft tracked a million-message AI-assisted BEC campaign impersonating executives with fake ServiceNow invoices to steal ~$50,000 ACH payments.

Microsoft detected over one million messages in a BEC campaign running August 3-5, using AI-assisted phishing templates, executive impersonation, and fabricated ServiceNow subscription invoices to trick finance teams into authorizing fraudulent ACH payments of roughly $50,000. The US received 87.7% of volume. Attackers used lookalike domains like service-nowinc[.]com registered just days before delivery, with no compromise of ServiceNow itself. Telltale signs included verbose HTML comments, uniform formatting, and inconsistent forwarded-message headers.

GBHackers·updated Sep 11, 13:38 UTC · 6d ago·first Sep 11, 07:43 UTC · 6d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild 2 sources

Cisco confirms CVE-2026-20079 Secure FMC flaw exploited in attacks

Cisco confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2026-20079, a CVSS 10.0 authentication bypass enabling unauthenticated root command execution in Secure FMC; CISA added it to KEV.

Cisco confirmed in August 2026 that CVE-2026-20079 (CVSS 10.0), an unauthenticated authentication bypass in Secure Firewall Management Center, is being actively exploited, allowing remote attackers to execute scripts and commands as root via crafted HTTP requests to the web interface. CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, ordering federal civilian agencies to patch by September 12, 2026. Shared IOCs, identical hot fixes, and a July 23 log entry suggest CVE-2026-20079 was used alongside the separately exploited static-credential flaw CVE-2026-20316 in the same attacks. Cisco released patches and cloud fixes, warns hot fixes do not remediate already-compromised devices, and says there are no workarounds.

BleepingComputer·Sep 9, 21:40 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-20316

Organizations Warned of Cisco Secure FMC Exploitation

Cisco and CISA warn that critical FMC authentication bypass CVE-2026-20079 is actively exploited; CISA added it to the KEV catalog with a September 12 deadline.

Cisco and CISA flagged active exploitation of CVE-2026-20079, a critical authentication bypass in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center allowing remote, unauthenticated attackers to run malicious scripts and gain root access via crafted HTTP requests. Cisco patched the flaw in early March and added IoCs in late July, but confirmed active exploitation in its September 9 advisory; CISA added it to the KEV catalog requiring federal remediation by September 12. Talos identified three activity clusters exploiting CVE-2026-20079 and CVE-2026-20316, including state-sponsored and financially motivated actors, and this is the third FMC vulnerability in KEV this year after CVE-2026-20316 and CVE-2026-20131.

SecurityWeek·Sep 10, 10:06 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-20316CVE-2026-20131

Cisco FMC Flaws Exploited to Steal Credentials and Deploy Qilin Ransomware

Three threat clusters including a Sandworm-linked group and Qilin ransomware operators exploit Cisco FMC flaws CVE-2026-20079 and CVE-2026-20316.

Cisco Talos identified three clusters of post-compromise activity exploiting CVE-2026-20079 (CVSS 10.0, unauthenticated web-interface authentication bypass enabling root code execution) and CVE-2026-20316 (CVSS 5.3, low-privilege login exposing sensitive data) in Secure Firewall Management Center. UAT-12197 deployed JSP web shells and a JAR-based command executor to query internal databases for credentials; UAT-11823 used a Netcat reverse shell, configuration-harvesting scripts and a Cyclops Blink variant previously attributed to Russia's Sandworm; UAT-11988 used living-off-the-land FMC tooling for reconnaissance before deploying Qilin ransomware. CISA added CVE-2026-20079 to its KEV catalog, requiring FCEB agencies to patch by September 12, 2026; CVE-2026-20316 was added in late July 2026.

The Hacker News·updated 09:33 UTC · 4h ago·first Sep 11, 06:19 UTC · 6d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 8 sourcesCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-20316