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.
FBI Seizes China-Linked Hacking Platforms QScan and QTRouter Used Against Critical Infrastructure
FBI seizes China-linked QScan and QTRouter hacking platforms used by QTFY to obfuscate intrusions against US federal agencies.
The DOJ and FBI seized domains hard-coded into QScan and QTRouter, two platforms operated by China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company on behalf of state-sponsored group QTFY. QScan automatically infected thousands of IoT devices which were added to QTRouter, an obfuscation network routing malicious traffic through compromised and proxy devices outside China. Targets included NASA, the Federal Reserve, Departments of Energy, Justice, and HHS, NIH, and the US Senate, exploiting flaws in Fortinet SSL-VPN, Citrix ADC, Microsoft Exchange, F5 BIG-IP, Log4j, and others.
FBI Disrupts China-Linked QTFY Infrastructure Used to Steal Data From U.S. Organizations
FBI and Lumen disrupted QTFY's QScan and QTRouter botnet platforms used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to conceal intrusions into U.S. agencies.
The U.S. DoJ announced court-authorized seizure of domains behind QScan and QTRouter, operated by the Chinese state-sponsored group QTFY and employed by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company. QTFY has been active since May 2018 and targeted NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, DoJ, HHS, NIH, the U.S. Senate, and academic institutions. QScan exploits vulnerable IoT devices, feeding them into QTRouter, an OpenWrt-based proxy obfuscation network likened to an operational relay box (ORB) that masks attack origins. The group exploited zero-days such as Ivanti CSA flaws CVE-2024-8190, CVE-2024-8963, and CVE-2024-9380, plus numerous N-days, and maintained persistence with RATs, web shells, and legitimate credentials.
DragonForce Hackers Abuse Microsoft Teams Relays to Hide Backdoor.Turn C2 Traffic
Symantec and Carbon Black found DragonForce-linked hackers using Backdoor.Turn, a Go RAT tunneling C2 through Microsoft Teams TURN relays via QUIC.
Broadcom's Symantec and Carbon Black documented Backdoor.Turn, a Go-based RAT associated with the DragonForce ransomware group, deployed at a major U.S. services firm where attackers remained on the network for one to two months. The backdoor obtains an anonymous Teams visitor token from Microsoft's Skype-backed identity services, uses a legitimate Microsoft TURN relay for connection setup, and runs a QUIC session to the attacker's C2 server, so defenders see only outbound traffic to legitimate Teams servers. Initial access is suspected to involve exploiting a SQL/MS-SQL vulnerability or an access broker, followed by a PowerShell-dropped ZIP, DLL side-loading, and BYOVD evasion using a Huawei driver; the RAT is injected into DbgView64.exe after DragonForce ransomware deployment for continued access. First publicly documented TURN abuse by the group, it leverages Praetorian's Ghost Calls technique and supports command execution, network scanning, LDAP/AD search, lateral movement, and browser credential theft.
Iranian APTs increased activity against US industries in late spring, researchers say
Nozomi Networks recorded 28 Iran-linked attacks on US customers in May-June, up 133%, mostly hitting transportation and manufacturing.
Nozomi Networks telemetry showed 28 Iran-linked attacks against customers in May and June versus 12 in the prior two months, a 133% increase focused on transportation and manufacturing. MuddyWater was the most active group, targeting at least five US companies, followed by APT33 with at least three; OilRig, CyberAv3ngers, FoxKitten and Homeland Justice were also active. In a separate report, Morphisec said Fox Kitten is recruiting ransomware affiliates with an 80% share of proceeds for attacks against Iran's adversaries, including the US and Israel. The activity comes amid heightened concerns over Iranian cyber retaliation after US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
U.S. CISA adds Gitea flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
CISA added the actively exploited Gitea RCE flaw CVE-2026-60004 (CVSS 9.8) to its KEV catalog, with federal patching due by August 28, 2026.
CISA added CVE-2026-60004, a critical remote code execution flaw in Gitea (CVSS 9.8), to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The flaw affects Gitea versions since 1.17, fixed in 1.27.1, and lets attackers with repository write access execute shell commands via the diffpatch API and Git hooks. Open registration allows unauthenticated attackers to create accounts and exploit exposed instances, with a reported attack deploying a cryptocurrency-miner-like payload.
Microsoft’s massive Patch Tuesday releases continue as AI reshapes bug discovery
Microsoft patches 419 vulnerabilities in record-breaking Patch Tuesday; Windows Winsock zero-day CVE-2026-68820 is actively exploited by Lazarus Group.
Microsoft's August Patch Tuesday fixes 419 vulnerabilities (62 critical, 357 important), among the largest monthly counts on record, following 206 fixes in June and 622 in July as AI-assisted discovery drives unprecedented volume. Three flaws are zero-days; Windows Winsock bug CVE-2026-68820 is exploited in the wild by Lazarus Group in job-themed attacks using PDFs with a trojanised reader. CVE-2026-62832, publicly disclosed by researcher Nightmare Eclipse via the LegacyHive PoC, is also patched. Microsoft now lists bugs by product family instead of itemized CVEs, which defenders warn complicates triage.
How hackers used Claude for missiles, drone swarms, and surveillance, while Chinese labs mined it for training data
Anthropic's threat report details eight months of Claude misuse: AI-assisted espionage against 20+ organizations, self-rewriting malware, and Chinese labs distilling Claude via fraudulent accounts.
Anthropic's threat intelligence report covering December 2025 through August 2026 documents Claude misuse across seven categories including cyber operations, surveillance, fraud, and unauthorized model distillation. A Russian-speaking espionage actor tracked as GTG-20006 used AI agents to rewrite and recompile malware evading antivirus detection, targeting more than 20 organizations in Ukraine and Europe and stealing a drone vision system SDK. Alibaba's Qwen lab ran the largest distillation campaign, with over 151 million exchanges between May and July 2026 peaking near 3 million per day to train Qwen 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7. DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Xiaomi, and Zhipu also relayed customer or replayed traffic to Claude, including PLA-linked users analyzing CCTV footage and users with credentials tied to the Russian Ministry of Defense.