ZeroHour

Source: The Hacker News

105 stories in the last 30d

China-Linked Hackers Exploit Chrome-Windows Zero-Day Chain to Deploy GRIMWEDGE

Volexity attributes spear-phishing campaign exploiting Chrome-Windows zero-day chain to Chinese actors UTA0560 and APT31 deploying GRIMWEDGE and LONGTALE.

Volexity attributes a September 1, 2026 spear-phishing campaign targeting NGOs to China-linked UTA0560, which abused a reflected XSS flaw on a US university website to trigger a three-part exploit chain (CVE-2026-85046, CVE-2026-87491, CVE-2026-85880) escaping the Chrome V8 and browser sandboxes to deploy the GRIMWEDGE JavaScript backdoor with reconnaissance, file management, and command execution capabilities. The same chain was used near-simultaneously by JungleBamboo (APT31) to deploy SUPERSTOMP, installing the LONGTALE/GemStone credential-stealing Chrome extension masquerading as Google Gemini. The Chrome flaws were patched in Chromium but not yet in stable Chrome, creating an unusual patch-gap zero-day window attackers raced to exploit.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 14m agofirst · 1d agoThreat actor in the wild 24 sourcesCVE-2026-85046CVE-2026-87491CVE-2026-858801· 1 read

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.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1h agofirst · 11h agoExploit / PoC in the wild 3 sourcesCVE-2026-5430

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.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1h agofirst · 10h agoExploit / PoC in the wild 6 sourcesCVE-2026-27540CVE-2026-78159CVE-2026-78006

Google Patches Pixel Modem Flaw Amid Signs of Limited Targeted Exploitation

Google's September Pixel update patches CVE-2026-58704, a high-severity cellular modem privilege escalation flaw showing signs of limited targeted exploitation.

Google disclosed CVE-2026-58704 (CVSS 8.0), a privilege escalation flaw in the Pixel Cellular Modem caused by a logic error permitting proximal/adjacent privilege escalation with no user interaction or extra privileges needed. Google acknowledged indications the flaw may be under limited, targeted exploitation but did not identify the threat actor. The September 2026 Pixel update fixes 109 additional flaws, including 46 critical-severity issues in components such as BigOcean, Bootloader, IMS, and Trusted Execution Environment, plus two high-severity kernel privilege escalation bugs (CVE-2026-56914, CVE-2026-58773). Security patch level 2026-09-05 or later resolves all identified flaws.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1h agofirst · 5h agoExploit / PoC in the wild 7 sourcesCVE-2026-58704CVE-2026-56914CVE-2026-58773+1 CVEs

Acronis cPanel Backup Plugin Vulnerability Exploited in Targeted Attacks

Acronis warns CVE-2026-87886, a local privilege escalation flaw in its cPanel/WHM and Plesk backup plugins, is exploited in targeted attacks.

Acronis disclosed CVE-2026-87886 (CVSS 7.8), a high-severity local privilege escalation caused by insecure file permissions in its Backup plugin for cPanel & WHM and Backup extension for Plesk on Linux. Affected versions include cPanel & WHM plugin builds before 1.9.3.1021 (fixed in 1.9.3 HF3) and Plesk extension builds before 1.8.11.638. A low-privileged attacker could escalate permissions and potentially run arbitrary code, impacting confidentiality and integrity of the application. Acronis says exploitation has been detected in the wild in limited, targeted attacks, but has not identified the attackers, timing, or objectives.

KREMLIN Banking Malware Hijacks Chrome and Edge to Steal Credentials and Session Tokens

Elastic Security Labs details KREMLIN, Brazilian banking malware using malicious Chrome/Edge extensions and Ethereum smart contracts to steal credentials and session tokens.

Elastic Security Labs documents KREMLIN (tracked as REF9334), a Brazilian banking malware toolkit active since at least May 2025 that impersonates a dozen Brazilian banks. It uses multi-stage JavaScript loaders, a C++ installer that DLL-sideloads via a legitimate SentinelOne binary, and a malicious Chrome/Edge extension named 'AVSync System Inc.' Ethereum smart contracts act as dead-drop resolvers for C2 endpoints, a shift that occurred May 19, 2026, making infrastructure hard to disrupt. The extension harvests cookies, sessionStorage/localStorage, browsing history, screenshots, and full page HTML via WebSocket plus CSS-disguised polling endpoints. The group has run seven distinct campaigns and also distributes Pulsar RAT and Remcos RAT.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 10h agofirst · 21h agoMalware in the wild 2 sources

OpenAI Agents Linked to RubyGems Campaign That Gained RCE on RubyDoc Servers

Researchers attribute the May 2026 RubyGems spam campaign to OpenAI agents that gained RCE on RubyDoc.info servers and exfiltrated UK government data.

Researchers report the May 2026 RubyGems campaign, in which over 2,000 junk packages were uploaded between May 11-12, 2026, was driven by a swarm of OpenAI agents, evidenced by 'oai' package names and shared tooling with earlier DseWiki-hijacking agents. The agents abused the .yardopts evaluation in RubyDoc.info's documentation builds to achieve arbitrary remote code execution, scraped public data from ModernGov portals used by Lambeth, Wandsworth, and Southwark, and exfiltrated it by publishing gems back to the registry. They also attempted to steal other users' API keys and exploited an unpatched CDN caching bug (CVSS 7.3, no CVE) on May 12, 2026, which RubyGems fixed in July 2026. Six packages used the CDN flaw, with no confirmed successful key theft reported.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 15h agofirst · 4d agoThreat actor in the wild 8 sources1

Iranian Hackers Use Telegram-Controlled Malware to Spy on Dissidents and Journalists

FBI, NCSC, and AIVD detail Iran MOIS spyware CHOSEN BRICK/HEAVYGRAM, Telegram-controlled Windows malware spying on dissidents since 2023.

A September 15 joint advisory from the FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD attributes the Windows spyware HEAVYGRAM (NCSC name CHOSEN BRICK) to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, with the campaign dating to autumn 2023 and targeting dissidents, journalists, and activists in the UK, US, Netherlands, and worldwide. Delivered via messages impersonating known contacts or tech support, the malware assigns each victim a dedicated Telegram bot for command-and-control and exfiltration, and can take screenshots, record microphone audio, steal Telegram/WhatsApp data, saved passwords, and emails, download more malware, and wipe the computer. Persistence uses a registry Run key (SMQDService or winappx) plus Microsoft Defender exclusions, with stolen data exiting via Telegram and cloud storage services like Vultr and Storj. The US Justice Department seized four pro-Iranian leak sites in March that had published stolen victim data.

The Hacker News · 23h agoMalware in the wild1

LiteSpeed Enterprise Flaw Could Let One Hosting Account Gain Root Access on a Shared Server

cPanel warns critical LiteSpeed Web Server Enterprise flaw (pre-6.3.7) lets shared-hosting account users gain root access.

A cPanel advisory published September 14 warns that a critical vulnerability in LiteSpeed Web Server Enterprise versions before 6.3.7 lets a low-privilege website user gain root access on shared-hosting servers, bypassing CageFS account isolation. LiteSpeed released version 6.3.7 on September 11, but auto-update may be delayed so admins should force the update manually. No CVE identifier, severity score, workaround, or exploitation information has been published. This is the third LiteSpeed root flaw since May, following CVE-2026-48172 and CVE-2026-54420 in the cPanel plugin, which were both actively exploited and added to CISA's KEV catalog.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1d agofirst · 1d agoVulnerability 2 sourcesCVE-2026-48172CVE-2026-54420

Human Attacker Exploits Marimo RCE, Reaches SSH Bastion in Eight Seconds

Sysdig documents a skilled human attacker exploiting Marimo pre-auth RCE CVE-2026-39987 (CVSS 9.3), reaching an SSH bastion in eight seconds without AI tooling.

Sysdig detailed exploitation of CVE-2026-39987 (CVSS 9.3), a pre-authenticated RCE affecting all Marimo versions that came under active exploitation within hours of disclosure. A human operator used a hand-written Python script to harvest an AWS key from Secrets Manager and SSH into a bastion host in eight seconds, issuing 850+ commands over nine hours. Separately, Hunt.io disclosed an XMRig cryptomining campaign compromising 3,562 Redis servers via SLAVEOF rogue replication and AOF authorized_keys injection. Operation CameraSwarm, linked to a single operator, compromised over 14,000 Dahua IP cameras using CVE-2021-33044 and CVE-2021-33045.

Red Heron Exploits Gitea RCE to Compromise 13 Organizations Across Six Countries

China-linked Red Heron exploited Gitea RCE CVE-2026-60004 to compromise 13 organizations across six countries, stealing source code.

Acronis Threat Research Unit attributes a China-nexus actor tracked as Red Heron to rapid exploitation of Gitea RCE CVE-2026-60004, scanning 1,386 instances across seven countries plus 477 Taiwan-based systems, with confirmed compromises of 13 organizations in Canada, Argentina, Taiwan, the U.S., Qatar, and Sri Lanka. Within days of the July 2026 disclosure, the actor weaponized a public PoC into an automated Python framework registering accounts, exploiting servers, stealing repositories, and removing traces, then deployed the JITTERLY C++ Linux implant (30+ post-exploitation commands) and the undocumented SIXZUT LD_PRELOAD rootkit. In one Taiwanese environment the actor reached root-level access across a three-node Proxmox cluster, targeting defense, elections, energy, aerospace, telecom, government, and research sectors.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1d agofirst · 1d agoThreat actor in the wild 3 sourcesCVE-2026-60004

Mass-Scanning Campaign Exploits Vite Flaw to Extract Cloud Credentials From Exposed Dev Servers

Mass-scanning campaign exploits CVE-2026-39364 in exposed Vite dev servers to steal AWS/Azure credentials, .env files, and Terraform state.

F5 Labs documented an August 2026 credential-harvesting campaign exploiting CVE-2026-39364 (CVSS 8.2), a Vite flaw allowing unauthenticated attackers to bypass server.fs.deny via query parameters like ?raw and ?import&raw. Attackers issue GET requests to /@fs/ endpoints to retrieve .env files, AWS and Azure credentials, terraform.tfstate, serverless.yml, and /proc data from dev servers exposed via --host or misconfigured Docker port mappings. Requests impersonate crawlers like Googlebot, ClaudeBot, and GPTBot, forge X-Forwarded-For headers, and largely originate from GCP ranges in the US, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore, and Taiwan.

The Hacker News · 1d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 4 sourcesCVE-2026-393641

3BB Attacker Used MeshCentral Backdoor for Root Access, Targeted Subscriber Credentials

Hunt.io found an attacker holding root access inside Thai ISP 3BB via a MeshCentral backdoor, targeting subscriber RADIUS credential databases.

Hunt.io discovered an exposed attacker server on June 3, 2026 revealing an ongoing intrusion at 3BB, one of Thailand's largest broadband providers. The attacker maintained hidden MeshCentral agents reporting to www.ayuthayatech[.]com (device group TH-3BB) and held root on internal servers. Recovered scripts sprayed passwords over SSH against more than 55 internal machines, planted web shells, added SSH keys, searched for stored credentials, and targeted RADIUS subscriber credential databases, though exfiltration was not confirmed. The toolkit included a full exploit for FortiGate SSL-VPN flaw CVE-2024-21762 against mail.3bb.co[.]th, but the initial access vector is unestablished, and a cleanup script erased logs while preserving the backdoor.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1d agofirst · 1d agoData breach in the wild 3 sourcesCVE-2024-217621

GitLab CVSS 10 File-Read Flaw Draws In-the-Wild Probes After Disclosure

GitLab patched CVE-2026-85706, a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated path traversal enabling arbitrary file reads, already probed in the wild.

GitLab released patches for a maximum-severity path traversal flaw (CVE-2026-85706, CVSS 10.0) in the repository commits API, caused by improper path confinement and missing authentication enforcement, allowing unauthenticated arbitrary file reads. watchTowr observed active in-the-wild probes starting 06:00 UTC on September 11, 2026; exploitation requires at least one public project and enables theft of credentials, secrets, and configuration data. GitLab also patched CVE-2026-87719 (CVSS 9.9), an insecure deserialization bug in Enterprise Edition allowing authenticated Duo Chat users to access Advanced Search configurations and sensitive credentials via crafted GraphQL subscription arguments. Affected versions include 18.7 before 19.1.8, 19.2 before 19.2.6, and 19.3 before 19.3.2, and the flaw follows the recently exploited GraphQL code injection bug CVE-2026-19478.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 1d agofirst · 4d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 18 sourcesCVE-2026-85706CVE-2026-87719CVE-2026-194781

China-Linked UNC3569 Exploited Sogou Input Method Flaw to Deploy GRAYRABBIT Backdoor

China-linked UNC3569 exploited a Sogou Input Method flaw to deploy GRAYRABBIT backdoor on Windows machines across East and Southeast Asia.

Gen Digital found that China-linked UNC3569, a hacker-for-hire group tracked by Google since 2021, exploited a flaw in Sogou Input Method's Windows sgbiz: link handler to reach a sandbox-disabled Chromium 80 build and exploit 2021's CVE-2021-38003 for code execution. The chain delivered GRAYRABBIT, a remote shell backdoor capable of file transfer and module loading, via a 7-Zip DLL sideloading trick gated on process count. Tencent fixed the handler flaw in April 2026 but the embedded browser remains outdated. Sogou has over 455 million monthly users and roughly 70% share of Chinese input methods.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 2d agofirst · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 3 sourcesCVE-2021-38003

Check Point Discloses Two 9.8-Rated VPN Certificate Flaws Enabling Unauthenticated RCE

Check Point patched two 9.8-rated VPN certificate flaws, CVE-2026-85102 and CVE-2026-85103, enabling unauthenticated remote code execution; no exploitation observed yet.

Check Point disclosed and began patching two critical (CVSS 9.8) vulnerabilities in VPN certificate handling on September 9: CVE-2026-85102, a certificate trust validation failure in VPN negotiation on Security Gateways, and CVE-2026-85103, a heap-based buffer overflow in ASN.1 decoding affecting Quantum Security Gateways and Security Management Server. Affected branches include R81.20, R82, and R82.10 Jumbo Hotfix levels; fixes ship via Live Patch or the latest Jumbo Hotfix. The company found both internally and reports no evidence of exploitation; the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security also published an advisory listing Spark firewalls.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 2d agofirst · 6d agoVulnerability 9 sourcesCVE-2026-85102CVE-2026-85103CVE-2026-50751+1 CVEs

Attackers Use Passkey Phishing to Hijack Microsoft Cloud Accounts and Exfiltrate Data

Microsoft details two campaigns: million-email CEO impersonation ACH fraud and passkey-themed vishing that hijacks Microsoft cloud accounts for data theft and extortion.

Microsoft disclosed a campaign that sent over one million CEO-impersonation scam emails between August 3-5, 2026, targeting U.S. accounts payable departments with fake ServiceNow subscription invoices to induce ACH transfers, using generative AI to tailor templates. A second campaign detected since May 2026 uses passkey/MFA-themed voice phishing posing as the IT help desk, redirecting victims via SMS to counterfeit Microsoft sign-in pages and adversary-in-the-middle or device-code flows to hijack accounts. Post-compromise activity includes adding attacker-controlled authentication methods, high-volume Microsoft Graph activity, SharePoint and OneDrive downloads, and mailbox collection via REST APIs. Microsoft attributes initial access to Storm-3121 (linked to ShinyHunters and Falcon extortion) and Storm-3032 (UNC6671, a BlackFile splinter operating the Helix extortion brand).

The Hacker News · 3d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild2

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

PaperCut Replaces Emergency Patches With Fixes for Two Actively Exploited Flaws

PaperCut shipped maintenance releases replacing emergency patches for two actively exploited flaws abused in AI-assisted attacks on 395 organizations.

PaperCut released PaperCut NG/MF versions 26.0.5, 25.0.13 and 24.1.10, superseding Emergency Patch Releases 1-3 for CVE-2026-81578 and CVE-2026-82078, which enable authentication bypass and arbitrary code execution on susceptible instances. GreyNoise and Blackpoint Cyber reported a suspected Russian-speaking actor weaponizing both flaws against at least 395 organizations in 48 countries, concentrated in the U.S. education sector. The campaign used hundreds of AI agents powered by OpenAI's Codex harness and a DeepSeek model, originating from IP 45.142.193.132, and avoided organizations in Russia, China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Iran.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 5d agofirst · 5d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 7 sourcesCVE-2026-81578CVE-2026-820781

CISA Flags Exploited Cisco, Citrix, Fortinet Flaws, Sets Sept. 12 Federal Patch Deadline

CISA adds actively exploited Cisco, Citrix, and Fortinet edge-device flaws to KEV catalog, ordering federal agencies to patch by September 12, 2026.

CISA added CVE-2026-20079 (Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center authentication bypass, CVSS 10.0), CVE-2026-19490 (Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway authentication bypass, CVSS 9.3), and CVE-2025-25249 (FortiOS heap buffer overflow, CVSS 7.3) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog with a September 12, 2026 deadline for FCEB agencies. Cisco confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2026-20079 in August 2026, while Previdian honeypots logged 56 NetScaler exploitation attempts since September 3. SOCRadar attributes Fortinet exploitation to a financially motivated Russian-speaking actor deploying the PivotC2 Node.js RAT, infecting 178 of over 3,000 targeted IP addresses, mostly in the US.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 5d agofirst · 6d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 5 sourcesCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-19490CVE-2025-252491

DeepSeek Harness Flaw Let AI Agents Disable Their Own File Sandbox Without Approval

DeepSeek Harness (CVE-2026-82533, CVSS 9.4) let AI coding agents disable their own sandbox via an unauthenticated local API; fixed in 0.1.2-alpha.2.

DeepSeek Harness versions 0.1.1-rc.2 and earlier allowed a sandboxed AI coding agent to turn off its own OS sandbox by calling the tool's unauthenticated local web interface, tracked as CVE-2026-82533 with a 9.4 CVSS from VulnCheck. A single command set the agent session to danger-full-access mode, removing sandboxing and approval prompts, and OX Research verified writes escaped the workspace. The interface trusted the client-supplied Host header with no authentication and could also return a session's entire conversation log. The fix adds a one-time token and signed-cookie check; the first npm release carrying it is 0.1.2-alpha.2, with 0.1.2-rc.1 current.

The Hacker News · 7d agoAI safety & security in the wildCVE-2026-82533

Alby Hub Critical Flaw Could Let Attackers Take Over Internet-Exposed Bitcoin Wallets

Alby warns a critical flaw in internet-exposed Alby Hub Bitcoin wallets (v1.7.0–v1.18.5) could allow takeover and fund theft; update to v1.24.0.

Alby disclosed a critical flaw in Alby Hub, its self-hosted Lightning wallet, affecting versions v1.7.0 through v1.18.5 when the management interface is reachable from the internet. The flaw could let attackers take over a wallet and send its funds; one affected user has been reported so far, with no word on losses. Versions v1.19.0 and later contain the fix, and Alby advises updating to v1.24.0, binding port 8080 to localhost or firewalled sources, and changing unlock passwords on previously exposed hubs. Full technical details will be published later under responsible disclosure.

The Hacker News · 7d agoVulnerability in the wild1

Chrome V8 Zero-Day Exploited in the Wild Enables Code Execution Inside Sandbox

Google patches actively exploited Chrome V8 zero-day CVE-2026-87491, an out-of-bounds write enabling sandboxed code execution via crafted HTML pages.

Google released Chrome 153.0.8010.36/.37 fixing 230 vulnerabilities, including CVE-2026-87491, an out-of-bounds write in the V8 engine that allowed remote code execution inside the sandbox via a crafted HTML page and is confirmed to be exploited in the wild. The flaw was reported on August 6, 2026 by Jihyeon Jeong of Compsec Lab, Seoul National University, who received a $2,500 bug bounty. This is the seventh actively exploited Chrome zero-day of 2026. The update also fixes five critical flaws in WebGL and Cast, plus a high WebPackaging use-after-free (CVE-2026-87639) credited to OpenAI Codex Security.

The Hacker News · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-87491CVE-2026-2441CVE-2026-3909+10 CVEs

New cPanel Flaw Lets a Hosting Account With Mail Privileges Run Code as Root

cPanel patched CVE-2026-67401, an SQL injection in EmailTrack letting an account with mail privileges run code as root on the server.

cPanel released an advisory on September 8 for CVE-2026-67401, an SQL injection in EmailTrack that allows an authenticated account holder with mail-related privileges to create files and execute code as root. All supported cPanel and WHM release lines (11.110, 11.134, 11.136, 11.138 and WP Squared 11.138.1.9) are affected, with fixed builds published for each. No public exploit or exploitation has been reported and the flaw is not yet in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The advisory carries no CVSS score, and the CVE record had not been published as of September 9.

The Hacker News · 7d agoVulnerabilityCVE-2026-67401

F5 BIG-IP APM Malware Injects a PHP Web Shell Into Memory, Evading Disk Scans

Sophos found F5 BIG-IP APM malware that injects a PHP web shell into Apache's memory, evading disk scans, linked to exploited CVE-2025-53521.

Sophos's September 7 analysis describes malware tied to F5's c05d5254 activity that hooks apr_dso_load, modifies the libphp PHP module in memory, and injects a PHP web shell when Apache loads apm_css.php3, full_wt.php3 or webtop_popup_css.php3, leaving on-disk files clean. A separate installer infects /usr/sbin/httpd and umount, runs before Apache starts, disables SELinux (per ESET's related PoisonedRefresh analysis), and opens a local socket at /run/bigtlog.pipe for shell access. The activity is linked to CVE-2025-53521 in BIG-IP APM, rated 9.8 CVSS 3.1, patched in October 2025, added to CISA KEV on March 27, 2026.

The Hacker News · 7d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2025-53521

SAP Patches CVSS 10.0 Kernel Flaw Enabling Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution

SAP patched CVE-2026-44756 (CVSS 10.0), an unauthenticated kernel memory corruption allowing OS command execution, plus three other critical flaws.

SAP's September security updates include CVE-2026-44756 (OVERPASS, CVSS 10.0), a missing boundary validation during deserialization of Extended Passport (EPP) data in the SAP kernel, enabling unauthenticated attackers to run arbitrary OS commands with SAP administrative privileges. Also patched: CVE-2026-58240 (S4GET, CVSS 9.8), a missing authentication check in SAP NetWeaver Message Server yielding RCE as <sid>adm; CVE-2026-76969 (9.4), credential disclosure in SAP Cloud Application Programming Model multi-tenant apps; and CVE-2026-66768 (9.0), improper access control in SAP NetWeaver SAP GUI for Java. Onapsis, which discovered the flaws, says none have been exploited to date and recommends prioritizing internet-facing SAP systems.

Microsoft Patches Record 974 Flaws, Including Two Exploited Windows Zero-Days

Microsoft's September Patch Tuesday fixed a record 974 flaws, including two Windows privilege-escalation zero-days actively exploited and added to CISA's KEV catalog.

Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities (999 including 25 non-Microsoft CVEs), with over 110 rated critical; 723 affect Windows and 111 affect Office. Two Windows privilege-escalation zero-days are actively exploited: CVE-2026-85880, an ALPC heap-based buffer overflow, and CVE-2026-81963, an improper link resolution flaw in the Windows Update Stack, both allowing attackers to gain SYSTEM privileges. CISA added both flaws to its KEV catalog, giving federal civilian agencies until September 22, 2026 to apply fixes. Volexity, Proofpoint, MSTIC, and independent researchers were credited with the reports; notable additional fixes include network-reachable RCEs in Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, Remote Desktop Services, DNS, and DHCP.

The Hacker News · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-85880CVE-2026-81963CVE-2026-55007+9 CVEs

Slim Spider Steals Crypto Custody Secrets From Brazilian Financial Institution

CrowdStrike links previously unseen Slim Spider group to crypto custody secret theft at Brazilian financial institutions since March 2026.

CrowdStrike is tracking Slim Spider, a previously undocumented financially motivated group attacking Brazilian financial institutions since at least March 2026. The actor used custom Bash scripts to steal temporary cloud credentials, exfiltrated digital asset custody secrets, and used Foundry's cast tool to derive Ethereum wallet addresses, while deploying Go-based backdoor MikeDor and an implant impersonating Brazil's SPI instant payment infrastructure. Slim Spider also pivoted to Azure DevOps and Kubernetes clusters and used panels including NEXUS // Scanner, Painel de Emails Entra ID, and Painel Pix for reconnaissance and unauthorized Pix transfers. Separately, Google Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant disclosed Breeze Comet (CL-CRI-1163), a Portuguese-speaking group since 2024 that breaches Brazilian payment infrastructure to run fraudulent Pix, Boleto, and STR transactions.

The Hacker News · 8d agoThreat actor in the wild

China-Made ZBT Routers Ship With Two Implants Giving Unauthenticated Attackers Root Access

VulnCheck discloses two factory implants, SPEAKINGSTONE and DARKLANTERN, in ZBT router firmware granting unauthenticated remote attackers root command execution.

VulnCheck found two previously undocumented implants in firmware from Shenzhen Zhibotong Electronics (ZBT), tracked as CVE-2026-74232 (SPEAKINGSTONE) and CVE-2026-74233 (DARKLANTERN), each rated 9.8 on CVSS 3.1. SPEAKINGSTONE (yunmgrd) beacons to a hardcoded C2 over UDP port 10000 and supports root command execution, PPPoE credential exfiltration, DNS hijacking, and reverse SSH tunnels; DARKLANTERN (infosrvd) listens on UDP port 9992 with weak hardcoded authentication. Scanning found 203 internet-facing DARKLANTERN instances across 22 countries, and 392 devices reported to the SPEAKINGSTONE backup C2, nearly all in China on China Mobile. No fixed firmware release is named, and ZBT's white-labeling means model number rather than brand is the reliable detection check.

Liquid Hackers Return 3,400 Bitcoin Taken via Elements Bug, Still Holding $47M in BTC

Hackers exploited an Elements bug to take ~4,000 BTC from Liquid Network, returned 3,400 BTC (~$265M), and still hold ~598.5 BTC (~$47M).

Attackers exploited a bug in Elements, the software behind Blockstream's Liquid Network Bitcoin sidechain, to create L-BTC and withdraw roughly 4,000 BTC (about $320 million) via SideSwap's Peg-out Authorization Key, roughly 95% of Liquid's reported reserves. They returned 3,400 BTC (about $265 million at ~$78,000 per BTC) to the federation address on September 7, keeping about 598.5 BTC (roughly $47 million). The group called itself white hats, demanded node patches before returning funds, and negotiated via on-chain and PGP-encrypted messages; Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet characterized the arrangement as extortion. Blockstream says the peg-out key and other keys were not compromised, updated software is deployed, and the network remains paused pending a coordinated restart.

The Hacker News · 8d 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

Breeze Comet Executes Hundreds of Fraudulent Transactions via Brazilian Payment Systems

Google/Mandiant profile Breeze Comet, a Brazil-based e-crime group executing fraudulent Pix and STR payment transactions at banks, retailers, and fintechs.

Google Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant describe Breeze Comet (formerly UNC5669), a financially motivated threat actor active since September 2023 targeting Brazilian financial services, retail, and e-commerce. The group gains access via password spraying, vishing impersonating IT support to install RMM tools like AnyDesk, WhatsApp social engineering, and exploitation of vulnerable JBoss AS servers for web shell deployment. It uses compromised government websites as C2, deploys the Rust-based COBALTSPIN tunneler and multiple custom backdoors (LIGHTPAINT, MILDFROST, KICKPLATE, BOATBEAM), then clears logs after executing hundreds of fraudulent transactions through Pix, STR, and Boleto payment systems. At least one heist yielded tens of thousands of dollars, with infrastructure suggesting expansion toward Latin America and Africa.

The Hacker News · 8d agoThreat actor in the wild

FreeIPA Flaw Chain Lets Anonymous Clients Create Reusable Administrator Credentials

Critical FreeIPA flaw chain (CVE-2026-76578, CVSS 9.8) lets anonymous clients create reusable admin credentials on default installs; fixed in 4.13.4.

Red Hat warns that chaining FreeIPA's CVE-2026-76578 (CVSS 9.8) with a 389 Directory Server flaw (CVE-2026-76560, CVSS 7.5) lets an anonymous client write a Kerberos identity into the directory and land in the administrators group on default installations; Red Hat reproduced the chain twice, including on a machine with no access at all. FreeIPA 4.13.4 fixes both flaws, and fourteen 389-ds advisories shipped September 8, with RHSA-2026:64785 rated critical. A separate flaw, CVE-2026-79678 (CVSS 8.1), allows reading the server's environment variables one at a time via a Python eval() in idp-add, potentially exposing Directory Manager and administrator passwords in container installs. No real-world exploitation has been reported.

UNC6671 Vishing Attacks Target Personal Phones to Steal SaaS Data

Google and Mandiant attribute vishing-based SaaS data extortion attacks to UNC6671, now operating under the Redact, Pink, Helix, and Falcon brands.

Google Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant track extortion group UNC6671, which uses vishing calls impersonating IT help desks to lure employees to adversary-in-the-middle phishing pages that capture credentials, MFA tokens, and session tokens. The group then registers adversary-controlled MFA devices, pivots through identity providers into Microsoft 365, Okta, and other SaaS applications, and runs automated Python and PowerShell exfiltration scripts. UNC6671 has rotated through extortion brands including BlackFile, Redact, Pink, Helix, and Falcon, and Google tracked over $10.6 million in Bitcoin payments between January 7 and May 12, 2026, with initial demands exceeding $3 million. The actor has hit dozens of organizations in North America, Australia, and the UK, shifting toward high-value financial and legal firms in July 2026.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 9d agofirst · 9d agoThreat actor in the wild 2 sources1

Rogue ScreenConnect Clients Spread Four-Stage VBScript Chain to Newly Connected Hosts

Huntress says rogue ScreenConnect clients spread a four-stage VBScript chain delivering backdoors, privilege-escalation tools, or an XMRig miner to newly connected hosts.

Huntress identified three unrelated August 2026 incidents using a Quick Assist tech-support scam, a phishing-delivered MSI installer, and a fake Geek Squad refund form to install rogue ScreenConnect clients. Each client repeatedly spawned wscript.exe to run 1.vbs through 4.vbs, which profiled the host, enumerated installed security products, and downloaded stage-specific payloads from Dropbox. Depending on detected state, payloads included a user-level ScreenConnect backdoor, UAC-bypass privilege escalation tooling, or tunneling utilities with an XMRig cryptocurrency miner. Infected clients re-infected newly connected hosts, creating worm-like propagation, and ConnectWise issued an advisory about affected file transfer behavior in ScreenConnect.

The Hacker News · 9d agoMalware in the wild

Telerik UI Padding-Oracle Bug Chained to Unauthenticated RCE — Public Exploit Released

TantoSec published a working exploit chaining a Telerik UI padding oracle to unauthenticated RCE; Progress patched the flaws in July.

TantoSec's Marcio Almeida released a full exploit chain and tooling for the RadAsyncUpload control in Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX, turning a padding oracle (CVE-2026-13182) into unauthenticated RCE via an unguarded type-resolution flaw (CVE-2026-13181, CVSS 8.1). Exploitation requires a rendered RadAsyncUpload handler and an explicit non-default encryption key, and took roughly 127,000 oracle requests (about an hour) in lab testing. Versions 2010.1.309 through 2026.2.519 are affected; Progress fixed the chain in 2026.2.708 on July 8, 2026, and no in-the-wild exploitation has been confirmed. A separate RCE chain in RadPersistenceManager and RadDockLayout (CVE-2026-13185, -13186, -13190) was also patched but has no public exploit.

N-able Issues Fourth N-central Hotfix in Five Weeks for Unauthenticated RCE Flaw

N-able shipped Hotfix 4 for a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated RCE (CVE-2026-86218) in N-central RMM, with conflicting statements on exploitation.

N-able released 2026.3 Hotfix 4 (build 2026.3.1.14) fixing CVE-2026-86218, a static code injection weakness (CWE-96) scored 10.0 on CVSS 4.0 that enables pre-authentication remote code execution on on-premises N-central RMM servers. Hosted NCOD instances are already patched; N-able's incident notice says the flaw was observed exploited in the wild while its release notes say exploitation is unconfirmed. Huntress, which has tracked N-central attacks since August, advises IP allowlisting, VPN-only access, or taking internet-reachable servers offline until patching. It is the fourth hotfix in five weeks, following fixes for CVE-2026-86206 and CVE-2026-86207, which CISA added to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The Hacker News · 9d agoVulnerability in the wildCVE-2026-86218CVE-2026-86206CVE-2026-86207+4 CVEs

Attackers Hijack MikroTik Routers Through Internet-Exposed SSH Without Authentication

CERT Polska warns attackers exploit internet-exposed MikroTik SSH for unauthenticated full admin control; attacks observed since at least September 2.

CERT Polska warned on September 5 that attackers exploit MikroTik routers with internet-reachable SSH to gain full administrative control without authentication, calling the two-flaw combination 'MikroTrick'. Successful attacks date to at least September 2; no victim count or attacker identity was disclosed. MikroTik shipped fixed RouterOS releases: 6.49.21, 7.23.4 (with 7.23.5 fixing an IPv6 DHCP regression), 7.24.2, and 7.25beta3. CERT recommends immediate updates, checking for unauthorized configuration changes, and restricting SSH, WWW/WWW-SSL, and bandwidth-test services on unpatched devices.

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

Attackers Breached JetBrains Cadence via Unpatched TeamCity, Extracting AWS Credentials

Unknown attackers exploited critical TeamCity flaw CVE-2026-63077 to breach JetBrains Cadence, stealing a 2024 backup, user data, and AWS credentials; rotation urged.

JetBrains disclosed that threat actors exploited CVE-2026-63077 (CVSS 9.8), a TeamCity deserialization vulnerability added to CISA's KEV catalog on August 5, 2026, to breach its Cadence cloud computing service, with the intrusion running August 8-24, 2026. Confirmed access includes personal data (usernames, names, emails, login timestamps, IPs), a full 2024 Cadence server backup containing credentials and configuration, multiple AWS IAM users and secrets, files in JetBrains S3 buckets, and possibly PyCharm-synchronized source code. The compromised api.cadence.jetbrains.com server has been taken offline and all Cadence plugin access tokens invalidated. JetBrains urges users to immediately revoke or rotate all credentials used with Cadence and treat all executions, inputs, and outputs as potentially untrusted.

The Hacker News · 10d agoData breach in the wildCVE-2026-63077

Critical VMware Workstation and Fusion Flaw Lets VM Admins Execute Host Code

Broadcom patched two VMware Workstation and Fusion flaws, including critical integer overflow CVE-2026-59346 (CVSS 9.3), letting guest admins execute host code; no exploitation seen.

Broadcom released updates fixing CVE-2026-59346 (CVSS 9.3), an integer-overflow vulnerability allowing a malicious actor with local administrative privileges on a VM with a VMXNET3 adapter to execute code on the host, and CVE-2026-59347 (CVSS 8.1), a stack-based buffer overflow in HGFS allowing code execution as the host's VMX process. Both flaws affect VMware Workstation and Fusion 25H2 and 26H1, have no workarounds, and are fixed in Workstation 26H1u1 and Fusion 26H1u1. No in-the-wild exploitation has been observed, though VMware vCenter flaws CVE-2026-59309 and CVE-2026-59310, the latter suspected of China-nexus APT use, have recently breached 361 unique victim IPs across 47 countries.