ZeroHour

Source: The Register · Security

3 stories in the last 24h

Cisco email security boxes can be rooted by... an email

Attackers actively exploit critical Cisco Secure Email Gateway flaw CVE-2026-76461, turning a malicious email into unauthenticated root access.

Cisco Secure Email Gateway appliances are being actively exploited via CVE-2026-76461, a CVSS 9.8 AsyncOS flaw requiring no authentication—a crafted email can yield root command execution with no workarounds. Cisco's PSIRT became aware of active exploitation in September; some Secure Email Cloud customers showed indicators of compromise and all cloud devices were upgraded to AsyncOS 16.5.0-780. The bug is in CISA's KEV catalog with federal agencies ordered to remediate by September 17; Shadowserver counted 400+ exposed appliances. Fixes are available in AsyncOS 15.5.5-014, 16.0.4-302, and 16.5.0-780, and attackers with root may tamper with logs to hide activity.

The Register · Securityupdated · 2h agofirst · 7h agoExploit / PoC in the wild 15 sourcesCVE-2026-76461CVE-2025-20393

Low-quality casino sites conceal highly dangerous threat actors

Infoblox reveals China-aligned APT groups hiding PeckBirdy malware C2 domains inside roughly 1.7 million Chinese-language illegal casino websites.

An Infoblox report says it tracks about 1.7 million Chinese-language casino sites enabling illegal gambling, some of which double as command-and-control infrastructure. China-aligned APT groups have hidden PeckBirdy framework C2 domains inside these low-quality casino sites since 2023, injecting scripts that display fake software update pages to deliver malware. Over 3 percent of Infoblox enterprise customers resolved at least one PeckBirdy C2 domain, and some sites rely on US cloud providers via 'infrastructure laundering.' Infoblox urges defenders not to dismiss casino-domain alerts as mere employee browsing violations.

The Register · Security · 3h agoThreat actor in the wild

Iranian spies hit Windows machines with Chosen Brick data-stealing malware

FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD warn Iranian intelligence uses Chosen Brick spyware against dissidents, stealing contacts, emails, and messaging data.

A joint advisory from the FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD says Iranian state cyber actors have used the Chosen Brick Windows malware since at least 2025 to surveil dissidents, activists, and journalists. Attacks begin with heavily researched WhatsApp and Telegram messages impersonating trusted contacts, tricking victims into opening fake installers resembling Pictory, RunwayML, Norton Antivirus, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, and KeePass. The malware persists via the HKCU Run registry key, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, uses victim-specific Telegram bots for C2, captures screen and audio, steals emails and Telegram/WhatsApp data, and can wipe systems.

The Register · Security · 5h agoThreat actor in the wild