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CVE-2026-82617: Apache OpenNLP: ReDoS / stack exhaustion in RegexNameFinderFactory built-in EMAIL and URL patterns

Apache OpenNLP CVE-2026-82617: built-in EMAIL and URL regex name-finder patterns enable regular expression denial-of-service and stack exhaustion in affected releases.

CVE-2026-82617 affects Apache OpenNLP opennlp-core 3.0.0-M1 before 3.0.0-M6 and opennlp-tools 2.0.0 before 2.5.12. The DEFAULT_REGEX_NAME_FINDER.EMAIL and DEFAULT_REGEX_NAME_FINDER.URL patterns in RegexNameFinderFactory contain ambiguous nested quantifiers. Applications using these built-in finders on attacker-controlled input can be forced into regular expression denial of service or stack exhaustion. Fixes shipped in opennlp-tools 2.5.12 and 3.0.0-M6.

oss-securitySep 11, 19:24 UTC · 5d agoVulnerability 2 sources CVE-2026-826171

ZDI-26-653: TrendAI Apex One Security Agent Cache Mechanism Time-Of-Check Time-Of-Use Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI-26-653: TOCTOU race in Trend Micro Apex One cache mechanism, CVE-2025-71415, enables local privilege escalation, rated CVSS 7.8.

The Zero Day Initiative published advisory ZDI-26-653 for the Trend Micro Apex One Security Agent. A time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) flaw in the cache mechanism, tracked as CVE-2025-71415, allows local attackers to escalate privileges after gaining low-privileged code execution. ZDI assigned a CVSS 7.8 rating. A vendor patch is available for affected installations.

ZDI Published AdvisoriesSep 10, 05:00 UTC · 6d agoAdvisory 3 sources CVE-2025-71415

US Indicts 17 Iranians Over Years

US unsealed superseding indictment charging 17 Mabna Institute Iranians for IRGC-linked espionage stealing 31TB from universities, companies, and government agencies.

The Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment charging 17 members of the Iran-based Mabna Institute, which conducted hacking campaigns since at least 2013 on behalf of the IRGC and other Iranian clients. The group compromised 144 US and 178 foreign universities, at least 42 US companies, and multiple government agencies, stealing over 31 terabytes of academic data and IP plus employee email inboxes. Hackers breached roughly 8,000 of 100,000 targeted professor accounts across 24 countries, selling stolen research through Megapaper.ir and Gigapaper.ir. Behzad Mesri, tied to the HBO breach and $6 million Bitcoin extortion, is among eight new defendants, and five defendants carry State Department Rewards for Justice bounties up to $10 million.

Security AffairsAug 20, 08:36 UTC · 27d agoThreat actor in the wild

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.

SOCRadarSep 4, 09:50 UTC · 12d agoMalware

ThreatsDay: Gogs 10.0 RCE, n8n Workflow-to-RCE, $10M Reward, GLM

Hacker News ThreatsDay roundup: Defender BTR.sys driver abuse, DoJ charges 17 Mabna Institute members over IRGC-linked intrusions, Grandoreiro sideloading, OpenAI monitoring.

Check Point researchers showed Microsoft's signed Defender Boot-Time Removal driver (BTR.sys) can be repurposed as a universal kernel operation engine to bypass endpoint security without BYOVD. The DoJ charged 17 members of Iran's Mabna Institute, which on behalf of the IRGC stole over 31 TB of academic data from 144 US universities and compromised roughly 8,000 of 100,000 targeted professor accounts; the State Department offered a $10 million reward for five defendants. Separately, Acronis tracked a Grandoreiro campaign abusing DLL sideloading in the Duplicate Files Finder app across Latin America and Spain, while ErrTraffic ClickFix campaigns deliver Cruciferra (BYOVD) and Remus Stealer. OpenAI also previewed Private Safety Processing, a privacy-centric approach to monitoring model misuse without retaining customer content.

The Hacker NewsAug 21, 05:39 UTC · 26d agoThreat actor1

DPRK APTs: Ted backdoor and curlRAT target South Korean media and automotive sectors

Rapid7 uncovered a DPRK-linked Linux toolkit using a HAProxy-embedded ted backdoor, SSH keylogger, and curlRAT against South Korean media and automotive firms.

Rapid7 Labs identified a previously undocumented framework attributed with medium confidence to DPRK actors, targeting South Korean automotive and media organizations likely since early 2025. The toolkit embeds a backdoor compiled into HAProxy 2.8.12 using its filter API, plus trojanized crond, agetty, atd, sshd, and polkitd, an SSH keylogger storing credentials under /var/lib/sshd/, and a curl-based RAT with a watchdog thread. It enables remote command execution, malicious script injection into served webpages (a watering-hole loop), credential harvesting, and long-term surveillance. Hardcoded C2s are associated with APT37 via ThreatFox, and exposed groupware portals and mail servers align with Kimsuky tradecraft; the initial access vector and any CVE remain unconfirmed.

Rapid7 BlogSep 4, 12:00 UTC · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild1

PEEP Turns Chrome and Edge Into Post-Compromise Backdoors for Host Command Execution

SOCRadar disclosed PEEP, a post-exploitation Chromium extension toolkit that turns Chrome and Edge into host-level backdoors via native messaging and C2 polling.

SOCRadar researchers detailed PEEP, a Chromium-based post-exploitation toolkit masquerading as a 'Smart Bookmarks' extension injected directly into Chrome and Edge profiles by forging Secure Preferences integrity values, bypassing Web Store checks. A native-messaging host binary (nm_host.exe) extends the browser agent to host-level command execution, file management, credential theft, and session hijacking, while the extension polls C2 endpoints at 206.237.30.232 or xfjcc.fun every 30 seconds over plaintext HTTP and exfiltrates browsing history, cookies, and tab metadata. PEEP is derived from the open-source RedExt red teaming framework, adds PowerShell persistence scripts, and includes a Linux-targeting Python script, suggesting cross-platform intent. The activity is unattributed but contains Chinese-language artifacts; a C2 /health endpoint showed 34 agent entries and 10 active sessions.

The Hacker NewsSep 7, 18:12 UTC · 9d agoMalware in the wild1

ZDI-26-575: Linux Kernel Net Scheduler Packet Classifier API Time-Of-Check Time-Of-Use Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI publishes ZDI-26-575, a CVSS 7.5 TOCTOU local privilege escalation in the Linux kernel net scheduler packet classifier API.

The Zero Day Initiative disclosed a time-of-check time-of-use flaw in the Linux kernel's net scheduler packet classifier API that permits local privilege escalation. Exploitation requires the attacker to first execute high-privileged code on the target system. ZDI assigned a CVSS rating of 7.5; no CVE id is provided in the text.

ZDI Published AdvisoriesAug 13, 05:00 UTC · Aug 13, 2026Advisory1

PoisonedRefresh: A Fileless Linux Rootkit That Injects PHP Web Shells Into F5 BIG-IP APM Server Memory

Sophos details PoisonedRefresh, a fileless Linux rootkit that injects a memory-resident PHP web shell into F5 BIG-IP APM after exploitation of CVE-2025-53521.

On September 8, 2026, SophosLabs published an analysis of Linux/Agnt-IC (dubbed PoisonedRefresh by ESET) found in compromised F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager environments. Initial access leverages CVE-2025-53521, an unauthenticated RCE in BIG-IP APM when an access policy is configured on a virtual server; F5 confirmed exploitation and links the activity to cluster c05d5254, while Shadowserver observed 795 exposed vulnerable endpoints. A first stage hidden in a modified umount binary modifies /usr/sbin/httpd and SELinux configuration and embeds itself in BIG-IP upgrade images for persistence. The second-stage ELF intercepts __libc_start_main, hooks apr_dso_load, and injects a PHP web shell into libphp memory via mmap manipulation, leaving no disk artifacts, and exposes a /bin/bash shell via a local UNIX domain socket instead of a TCP port.

Security AffairsSep 9, 08:50 UTC · 7d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2025-53521

ZDI-26-609: Linux Kernel Net Scheduler Packet Classifier Use-After-Free Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

The Linux kernel net scheduler packet classifier has a use-after-free (CVSS 7.8) allowing local attackers to escalate privileges from low-privileged code.

ZDI-26-609 describes a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's network scheduler packet classifier, with a CVSS score of 7.8. An attacker must first be able to execute low-privileged code on the target system before escalating privileges. The advisory text does not list an assigned CVE identifier.

ZDI Published AdvisoriesAug 24, 05:00 UTC · 23d agoVulnerability

ZDI-26-569: Linux Kernel Net Scheduler True Link Equalizer Race Condition Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI publishes ZDI-26-569, a CVSS 7.5 race condition local privilege escalation in the Linux kernel net scheduler true link equalizer.

The Zero Day Initiative disclosed a race condition in the Linux kernel's net scheduler true link equalizer component enabling local privilege escalation. Exploitation requires the attacker to first run high-privileged code on the target system. The advisory carries a CVSS rating of 7.5; no CVE id is listed in the disclosure text.

ZDI Published AdvisoriesAug 13, 05:00 UTC · Aug 13, 2026Advisory

Hackers deploy Linux rootkit on F5 BIG-IP APM devices, hiding web shell in memory

Sophos analyzed a Linux rootkit, tracked as PoisonedRefresh, on hacked F5 BIG-IP APM devices hiding an in-memory web shell linked to exploited CVE-2025-53521.

Sophos and ESET analyzed an implant (named PoisonedRefresh by ESET) deployed on compromised F5 BIG-IP APM appliances, which serves enterprise, financial, government, and public sector deployments. The second-stage payload intercepts __libc_start_main, hooks Apache's APR module loader (apr_dso_load), RC4-encodes key strings, and rewrites PHP file reads in memory to embed a web shell inside legitimate scripts like apm_css.php3, full_wt.php3, and webtop_popup_css.php3, leaving on-disk files unchanged. A related installer component infects /usr/sbin/httpd, persists across BIG-IP upgrade images, modifies SELinux configuration, and deploys the payload. The malware also creates a Unix domain socket at /run/bigtlog.pipe that hands authenticated local connections to /bin/bash; F5 links the activity to CVE-2025-53521, an unauthenticated RCE in BIG-IP APM already exploited in the wild.

Help Net SecuritySep 9, 11:05 UTC · 7d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2025-535211

[AINews] Jev: a “System One Model” that only decides/classifies/routes/scores — >100x faster, >200x cheaper than small frontier LLMs

TypeSafe launches Jev, an RLCD-trained decision model claiming 20-200x faster, 40-400x cheaper classification than frontier LLMs, alongside Gemini 3.8 Live and Neon.

TypeSafe's Jev is a 'System One' decision model trained with RLCD, claiming 20-200x faster and 40-400x cheaper classification and routing than frontier LLMs with free output tokens and no hallucinated text. Google launched Gemini 3.8 Live and 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, supporting 97 languages and async tool calls, debuting #1 on Artificial Analysis' speech-to-speech index at 82.6. Periodic Labs' Neon is a ~1T-parameter XRD analysis model trained with RL on proprietary lab data using 1,300 H200s, lifting FrontierXRD success from 2.7% to 55.3% and beating GPT-6 Astra at lower inference cost.

Latent SpaceSep 16, 11:09 UTC · 14h agoModel release1

ZDI-26-706: (0Day) CrewAI crewAI Framework Agent Loading Unsafe Reflection Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

ZDI discloses unpatched unsafe reflection RCE vulnerability CVE-2026-92206 (CVSS 8.8) in the CrewAI agent framework.

Zero Day Initiative published ZDI-26-706, an unsafe reflection remote code execution vulnerability in the CrewAI framework, tracked as CVE-2026-92206 with a CVSS score of 8.8. Exploitation requires user interaction: the target must load a malicious agent configuration from the repository. As a 0day advisory, no patch is indicated at publication.

ZDI Published AdvisoriesSep 16, 05:00 UTC · 20h agoVulnerability CVE-2026-922061

Re: Linux kernel LPEs: ZcopyReaper (CVE-2026-43502) and 20 more

Linux kernel developers discuss a batch of 21 local privilege escalation CVEs, including ZcopyReaper (CVE-2026-43502) in the RDS networking driver.

An oss-security thread examines newly published Linux kernel local privilege escalation issues tracked in the kernel.org security vulnerabilities git repository. CVE-2026-43502, dubbed ZcopyReaper, affects the net/rds (Reliable Datagram Sockets) subsystem. The discussion references roughly 20 additional kernel LPE CVEs published in the 2026 Q3 window.

oss-securitySep 8, 21:32 UTC · 8d agoVulnerability CVE-2026-43502

Mirai Variant V3G4 Targets IoT Devices

Unit 42 tracked the Mirai variant V3G4 exploiting 13 vulnerabilities across IoT devices and servers from July-December 2022 to build a DDoS botnet.

From July to December 2022, Unit 42 observed three campaigns spreading V3G4, a Mirai botnet variant, by exploiting 13 vulnerabilities, including CVE-2022-26134 in Atlassian Confluence and CVE-2019-15107 in Webmin. The campaigns shared the same C2 domains containing the string 8xl9, nearly identical shell script downloaders, and the same XOR keys, suggesting a single threat actor. The malware brute-forces telnet and SSH credentials, terminates rival botnet processes via a stop list, and receives DDoS commands from its C2. Compromised servers and networking devices are absorbed into the botnet for further attacks.

Palo Alto Unit 42Aug 17, 13:05 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Malware in the wildCVE-2012-4869 CVE-2014-9727 CVE-2017-5173+6 CVEs

Keys to the Kingdom: Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerability Analysis and Exploits Observed in the Wild

Attackers actively exploit CVE-2025-32433, a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated RCE in Erlang/OTP SSH, heavily targeting OT and critical infrastructure networks.

CVE-2025-32433 enables unauthenticated RCE in Erlang/OTP's SSH daemon via SSH connection protocol messages (codes >= 80) processed before authentication, affecting versions before OTP-27.3.3, OTP-26.2.5.11 and OTP-25.3.2.20. Unit 42 recorded a spike in exploitation between May 1-9, 2025, with 70% of detections on firewalls protecting OT networks, disproportionately affecting healthcare, agriculture, media and high technology. Observed payloads bind TCP-connected shells or launch Bash reverse shells to hosts like 146.103.40.203:6667, with randomized DNS lookups under dns.outbound.watchtowr.com indicating OAST-driven blind RCE validation.

Palo Alto Unit 42Aug 17, 13:03 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2025-32433

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 NewsSep 4, 14:51 UTC · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild

Hackers breach F5 BIG-IP APM devices to deploy Linux rootkit

Sophos analyzed a Linux rootkit on F5 BIG-IP APM devices that injects a fileless PHP web shell, likely after CVE-2025-53521 exploitation.

Sophos analyzed a Linux rootkit targeting F5 BIG-IP APM environments, also tracked by ESET as PoisonedRefresh, which hijacks Apache's apr_dso_load module loader to inject a fileless PHP web shell into memory. The implant intercepts __libc_start_main, hides strings with RC4, creates a password-protected local UNIX socket backdoor for interactive Bash access, and persists across BIG-IP upgrade images while modifying SELinux configuration. It is likely a second-stage payload following exploitation of CVE-2025-53521, a critical RCE flaw F5 reclassified from a DoS issue in March. The ShadowServer Foundation tracked 795 F5 BIG-IP APM endpoints exposed online.

BleepingComputerSep 8, 20:08 UTC · 8d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2025-53521

$536 and 8 Hours: AI Learns to Attack a Different PLC

Forescout used Claude to port a WAGO PLC exploit for $536 in 8 hours, and an AI-generated payload later permanently bricked the test device.

Forescout researchers used Claude Code with Ghidra, terminal access, and physical hardware to port CVE-2021-31886, a pre-authentication buffer overflow in the Nucleus FTP server, from a WAGO 750-852 PLC to the WAGO 750-831 without source code or debugger access. The final RCE development stage cost $535.74 in API fees over an 8-hour, 32-minute session (2.6k input and 1.3M output tokens) and required heavy researcher guidance. Claude produced working ICMP and UDP beacon exploits in 12 minutes after identifying that normal FTP command completion was overwriting its shellcode, fixed by omitting the CRLF terminator. A follow-up session extending the payloads toward a C2 implant wrote to flash-mapped memory and permanently bricked the PLC, underscoring the risks of autonomous agents operating against physical infrastructure.

Security AffairsSep 2, 13:50 UTC · 14d agoResearch CVE-2021-318861

USN-8750-1: FFmpeg vulnerabilities

Ubuntu USN-8750-1 fixes multiple FFmpeg memory-handling flaws that allow denial of service via crafted files.

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8750-1 patches several FFmpeg vulnerabilities related to incorrect memory operations, reported by Seung Min Shin, Xinghang Lv, and others. If a user or automated system is tricked into opening a specially crafted file, an attacker could cause a denial of service. Affected CVEs include CVE-2026-12706, CVE-2026-30999, and CVE-2026-58049.

Ubuntu Security NoticesSep 14, 03:25 UTC · 2d agoAdvisory CVE-2026-12706 CVE-2026-30999 CVE-2026-58049

The 12 Best Managed Detection & Response (MDR) Services, Compared and Priced

Buyer's guide compares 12 MDR services, naming Huntress best value, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete for response authority and Expel for transparency.

The article compares 12 managed detection and response providers across response authority, tool bundling and pricing, highlighting Huntress for published SMB pricing and CrowdStrike Falcon Complete for unilateral containment. It stresses the consolidation landscape: Sophos completed its acquisition of Secureworks in February 2025 for approximately $859 million, and Arctic Wolf closed its purchase of BlackBerry's Cylance endpoint assets the same month. It also warns that only full-response contract tiers isolate hosts and kill processes, while lower tiers only triage or guide.

GBHackersupdated Sep 9, 08:07 UTC · 7d agofirst Sep 9, 07:56 UTC · 7d agoIndustry 3 sources1

A Deep Dive Into Attempted Exploitation of CVE-2023

Mirai-like botnet scans exploit TP-Link EOL router flaw CVE-2023-33538 after CISA KEV addition, though observed exploit code is flawed.

Unit 42 observed large-scale automated scans attempting to exploit CVE-2023-33538 in end-of-life TP-Link TL-WR940N, TL-WR740N and TL-WR841N routers after CISA added the flaw to its KEV catalog in June 2025. HTTP GET requests inject commands via the ssid1 parameter at the /userRpm/WlanNetworkRpm endpoint to download and execute an arm7 ELF binary, a Mirai variant related to the Condi IoT botnet. Firmware emulation and reverse engineering showed the observed exploits are flawed and would fail, but the underlying vulnerability is real and successful exploitation requires authentication to the router's web interface. TP-Link confirmed the devices are end-of-life with no patches available and recommends replacing units and eliminating default credentials.

Palo Alto Unit 42Aug 19, 12:03 UTC · 28d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2023-335381

Stealth rootkit targeting F5 BIG-IP could expose enterprise identity gateways

Sophos analyzed a stealth Linux rootkit that hides a web shell in memory on compromised F5 BIG-IP APM identity gateways, evading file-based detection.

Sophos analyzed a second-stage Linux rootkit implant found in compromised F5 BIG-IP APM environments running Apache and PHP, linked to exploitation of CVE-2025-53521, an unauthenticated RCE. The implant hooks Apache's PHP-loading process and serves modified in-memory versions of three legitimate webtop PHP files (apm_css.php3, full_wt.php3, webtop_popup_css.php3), leaving on-disk files untouched so hashes and integrity checks pass. It also establishes access via an authenticated local UNIX socket that can provide an interactive /bin/bash session. Experts warn compromised APM appliances, which handle federated SSO and terminate TLS at enterprise perimeters, could enable SSO token theft and lateral movement to trusted downstream applications.

CSO OnlineSep 10, 11:51 UTC · 6d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2025-53521

The Frontier AEO Tracker: What Astra Chooses (and every other frontier model, and what you can do about it)

Latent Space launches an AEO tracker scoring 7 frontier models' product recommendations across 161 categories, revealing generational bias flips.

Latent Space built a tracker measuring Answer Engine Optimization by running 6 prompt variations across 7 frontier models with search enabled over 161 product categories, scoring first choices, alternatives, mentions, and anti-recommendations. It found 28 categories with a universally dominant primary choice and observed soft biases, such as models favoring their own lab's coding agents. Analysis of Anthropic's Sol→Astra and Opus→Fable generations showed newer models consulting fewer sources and being less likely to change answers when questions are paraphrased.

Latent SpaceSep 7, 21:32 UTC · 9d agoAI research

PACE: Perceived-Latency-Aware Cascading Service Routing and Filler Control for QoE-Efficient Retrieval-Augmented Dialogue Serving

PACE cuts perceived latency in retrieval-augmented dialogue serving via cascading routing and filler control, reaching 0.41s P95 under load.

PACE is a serving framework for retrieval-augmented dialogue that optimizes Perceived Time-to-First-Response (PTFR) under quality and cost constraints. It combines a load-adaptive cascading router, a joint path-filler controller, and volatility-aware cache admission, deployed on a humanoid-robot sales service. On 75k CarQA requests, the cascade halved pure-LLM P95 PTFR (0.29s vs 0.53s) and the adaptive controller reached 0.41s P95, 2.4x better than RAG at high load; filler calls dropped 94% and stale answers fell from 86% to 0%.

arXiv cs.AI / cs.LG / cs.CLSep 9, 16:02 UTC · 7d agoAI tools & infra

Another Artifactory CVE under attack by AI agents or humans

Attackers are actively exploiting CVE-2026-82329, a critical JFrog Artifactory authentication bypass, minting admin tokens on exposed servers days after patch release.

CVE-2026-82329 is a CVSS 9.8 unauthenticated authentication bypass in JFrog Artifactory, disclosed Friday, that allows attackers to create new administrative credentials. watchTowr's honeypots recorded exploitation from a small number of IPs within days, including enumeration of users, groups, credential sets, and federated access topologies. Researchers urge urgent patching, credential rotation, and treating exposed instances as potentially compromised to prevent build-pipeline tampering and downstream supply-chain impact.

The Register · SecuritySep 1, 21:07 UTC · 15d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 2 sources CVE-2026-82329

Iran-linked APT Mirage Kitten Uses Fake Job Tests to Spread Malware

Kaspersky reports Iran-linked Mirage Kitten delivers new NodeRabbit and PollCat malware to fintech and aviation targets via fake LinkedIn coding assessments.

Kaspersky researchers documented two previously undocumented Node.js malware families, NodeRabbit and PollCat, attributed with high confidence to Iran-linked APT group Mirage Kitten. The malware is delivered via fake recruiter personas on LinkedIn offering coding assessments hosted on Amazon S3, with instructions banning AI assistants so AI code-review tools would not flag the trojanized npm packages. NodeRabbit is cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS), uses AES-256-GCM-encrypted C2 on Azure, includes sandbox checks, and one variant installs a fake 'GitHub Copilot Helper' VS Code extension plus Git hook persistence. Victims identified so far are in fintech and aviation organizations across Egypt, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.

Security AffairsSep 2, 10:37 UTC · 14d agoThreat actor in the wild2

Iran-Linked Hackers Use Fake LinkedIn Job Offers to Deploy NodeRabbit and PollCat RATs

Iran-linked Mirage Kitten targets software engineers with fake LinkedIn recruiter coding tests deploying new NodeRabbit and PollCat RATs.

Kaspersky researchers link the campaign to Mirage Kitten (also tracked as UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, Nimbus Manticore), with victims in aviation, aerospace and fintech in Egypt, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. Trojanized npm dependencies (colorized_terminal, pretty-log) bundled in coding-challenge archives launch the Node.js implants across Windows, Linux and macOS. NodeRabbit uses AES-256-GCM-encrypted C2 via Azure, and its third variant persists through a fake GitHub Copilot Helper VS Code extension plus Git post-merge/post-checkout hooks. PollCat is an obfuscated JavaScript RAT that registers with C2 before OTP authentication and inventories tools from 24 security vendors.

GBHackersSep 9, 12:52 UTC · 7d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Best Practices for Good Endpoint Hardening | Huntress

Huntress outlines endpoint hardening best practices, citing exposed RDP, RMM tool abuse, and ClickFix social engineering as common SMB intrusion paths.

Huntress published defensive guidance on endpoint hardening for small and mid-sized businesses, drawing on observations from its SOC. The post describes common intrusion vectors: internet-exposed RDP brute-forced by automated scanners, phishing emails delivering attacker-controlled remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, with Huntress reporting a 277% spike in RMM abuse in 2025, and ClickFix attacks using fake CAPTCHA pages that trick users into running malicious commands. Recommended controls include scanning for exposed RDP, SSH, and VPN interfaces, removing unneeded local admin rights, enabling Windows Defender tamper protection, disabling SMBv1, and standardizing on one approved remote access tool, guided by CIS and NIST frameworks.

HuntressSep 10, 15:00 UTC · 6d agoAdvisory