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Trezor Says ShipMonk Breach Exposed 67,000 U.S. Customers' Data It Said Was Deleted

Trezor disclosed the ShipMonk breach exposed data of 67,000 additional US customers, reportedly by ShinyHunters exploiting a Metabase zero-day SQL injection, CVE-2026-72898.

Trezor disclosed that a breach at shipping provider ShipMonk exposed names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and order numbers of 67,000 additional US customers, with orders dating November 2019 to August 2021 despite written assurances the data had been deleted. This adds to the 13,689 customers previously disclosed after ShipMonk informed Trezor of unauthorized access on August 10, 2026. According to Holborn, the ShinyHunters extortion gang is behind the breach, which began with zero-day exploitation of CVE-2026-72898 (CVSS 10.0), a critical SQL injection flaw in Metaboobase analytics software Metabase. Trezor says hardware wallet security is unaffected but warns customers to watch for phishing and social engineering; ShipMonk has not publicly acknowledged the incident.

The Hacker News · 11d agoData breach in the wildCVE-2026-72898

Trezor customers hit with phishing calls and letters after shipping-partner breach

A breach at shipping partner ShipMonk exposed data for about 67,000 additional US Trezor customers, who now face phishing calls and QR scam letters.

SatoshiLabs, maker of Trezor hardware wallets, confirmed the August 2026 ShipMonk breach exposed names, emails, phone numbers, and shipping addresses for roughly 67,000 US customers who ordered between November 2019 and August 2021, on top of 3,889 customers affected initially. ShipMonk attributed the intrusion to attackers exploiting an SQLi zero-day in Metabase's Cloud SaaS platform and retained data past the 90-day deletion requirement. Trezor's own systems were not compromised; customers are reporting phishing calls and QR-code phishing delivered via physical letters.

Help Net Security · 8d agoData breach

Trezor Supply Chain Breach Now Impacts 81,000 Customers

Trezor says a breach at shipping partner ShipMonk exposed data of 81,000 customers, 67,000 more than first reported, including orders back to 2019.

Trezor's September 4 update revealed that stolen ShipMonk data also included order data from November 2019 to August 2021, expanding the incident beyond the May 10 to August 8, 2026 window disclosed on August 13, and raising affected customers to 81,000, a 479% increase over the original estimate. Exposed fields include names, emails, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and order numbers; no wallet credentials or recovery seed data were reported stolen. Trezor blamed ShipMonk for retaining data despite repeated written deletion assurances, is considering legal action, and warned customers of heightened phishing, scam calls, and physical security risks.

Infosecurity Magazine · 8d agoData breach1

Trezor data breach impact now reaches 81,000 customers

Trezor's ShipMonk breach now affects 81,000 customers, adding 67,000 US customers after Metabase exploitation by ShinyHunters-linked attackers.

Trezor expanded its August 13 breach disclosure, saying the incident at shipping partner ShipMonk now affects 81,000 customers, with 67,000 additional US customers who ordered between November 2019 and August 2021 exposed. Attackers exploited a Metabase SQL injection zero-day to access ShipMonk's systems, exposing names, emails, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and order numbers; ShipMonk reportedly received extortion emails from the ShinyHunters gang. Trezor's own systems and devices were not compromised, and affected users are warned of phishing and scams. The broader Metabase campaign also hit Tally and Framework.

BleepingComputer · 9d agoData breach in the wild

Trezor warns users of email provider breach, phishing attacks

Trezor says attackers breached its third-party email provider and are phishing customers with fake STM32 entropy vulnerability alerts.

Trezor warned customers that threat actors breached its third-party email provider and sent fake 'Critical Security Alert: STM32 Entropy Vulnerability' emails from [email protected], claiming wallet seeds were exposed to brute-force attacks; the phishing domain has been taken down while Trezor investigates. This follows the ShipMonk breach, revised upward from about 14,000 to 81,000 customers (including 67,000 additional US customers) who received orders between May 10 and August 8, 2026. Attackers reportedly exploited a Metabase SQL injection zero-day to access ShipMonk data, and ShinyHunters sent extortion emails.

BleepingComputerupdated · 4d agofirst · 6d agoData breach in the wild 6 sources

ThreatsDay: GhostJacking AI Attacks, EtherHiding ClickFix, Cursor CLI Flaw + 17 More Stories

A weekly bulletin aggregating short security updates, including the City-Forum data-theft campaign, a ShipMonk breach, a Cursor CLI flaw, and GhostJacking AI attacks.

The Hacker News ThreatsDay Bulletin bundles roughly 20 short updates across cloud services, AI tools, malware, breaches, and scams. Highlights include the City-Forum campaign pulling data from unauthenticated guest access in Salesforce Experience Cloud and ServiceNow Service Portals since March 2025, and a ShipMonk breach exposing Trezor customer order data for orders in seven countries between May 10 and August 8, 2026. Other items cover a patched Cursor CLI flaw that let cloned repositories run commands before the workspace-trust prompt, Okta's analysis of the Work Panel vishing console used by actors like UNC6671, and GhostJacking AI agent hijacking via a patched Claude Desktop sandbox escape. Meta also launched an on-device WhatsApp Scam Alert machine learning model that keeps message content on the device.

The Hacker News · 28d agoIndustry

Top 10 Best Container Security Tools in 2026

2026 roundup ranks Aqua, Sysdig, Prisma Cloud, Wiz, Snyk and CrowdStrike among the ten best container security tools across build-ship-run.

Buyer's guide compares ten container security products by lifecycle fit: Aqua leads full lifecycle, Sysdig leads runtime detection via Falco and eBPF, Wiz offers agentless graph visibility, Snyk covers developer-first shift-left. It notes Trivy and Falco as free production-grade open-source foundations. The guide argues standalone container security is increasingly absorbed into CNAPP platforms from Palo Alto, Wiz and CrowdStrike.

Cyber Security News · 1d agoTools1

Mathspace discloses data breach affecting over 1 million people

Mathspace disclosed a Metabase breach exposing data of 1,079,819 students, parents, and staff in Australia and New Zealand.

Mathspace confirmed attackers exploited a vulnerability in its self-hosted Metabase reporting system, gaining administrator access without legitimate login and downloading data on over 1 million people (1,079,819 total) in Australia and New Zealand. Access began August 10, data was downloaded August 27, and the theft was confirmed September 3, 2026. No credentials, academic records, or school-account links were exposed, but affected individuals are warned of targeted phishing. The incident joins a broader campaign against Metabase instances, including Trezor's provider ShipMonk, Framework, and Tally, linked to ShinyHunters via extortion emails and leak-site listings.

BleepingComputer · 9d agoData breach in the wild

Risky Bulletin: BEC campaign steals €35 million from French notaries

Hackers stole over €35 million from 500+ French notary offices in a four-year BEC campaign; ANSSI spent two years helping evict the attackers.

A business email compromise campaign breached more than 500 French notary offices — about 7% of all French notaries per the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat — over four years, stealing more than €35 million by phishing initial access and silently modifying wire transfer details. France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI worked for two years behind the scenes to help notaries remove the persistent attackers, who had deep access; officials also feared hackers could issue fake notarized acts such as marriage certificates or forged real estate deals. No forged documents have been found so far, but notaries have added two-factor authentication and in-person requirements for banking details, and banks added extra checks in 2024. The newsletter also notes other incidents, including a $320 million Bitcoin extraction from Blockstream's Liquid Network and a JetBrains Cadence breach via TeamCity servers.

Risky Business News · 9d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

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 · 16d agoAI safety & security in the wild

Risky Bulletin: White House lets private companies carry out offensive cyber ops

A White House memo directs DHS to create a program letting vetted private companies conduct US-government-directed offensive cyber operations against cybercrime.

A presidential memo tasks the DHS National Coordination Center with building a program, under DOJ and DHS oversight, through which private-sector companies can conduct offensive cyber operations against large-scale cybercrime organizations. Requirements include secure facilities, vetted personnel, a $1 million escrow for damages, and written approvals co-signed by DHS and DOJ executive directors. The program must launch within 60 days, around October 11, expanding a March executive order targeting scam compounds, ransomware, and other large-scale cybercrime.

Risky Business News · Aug 14, 2026Policy & legal

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.

SafePal Hardware Wallet Maker Says Flaw Exposed Data of Nearly 40,000 Customers

SafePal disclosed an order-tracking plug-in authorization flaw exposing names, emails, addresses and purchase details of 39,798 hardware wallet customers; no wallet credentials affected.

Hardware wallet maker SafePal disclosed that an authorization flaw in an order-tracking plug-in exposed names, email addresses, shipping addresses, phone numbers and purchase details of approximately 39,798 customers. No seed phrases, private keys, wallet credentials or financial information were exposed, and SafePal found no evidence of wallet or fund compromise. A separate configuration error left a data-cleanup process broken between September 2025 and April 2026, extending the affected order window back to March 2025. A threat actor has advertised a matching dataset on a cybercrime forum, and the company has fixed the flaw, cut data retention to 90 days, purged affected records, engaged third-party validators and taken down over 30 phishing sites.

The Hacker News · 29d agoData breach in the wild

Batten the Hatches: Cybersecurity with Military Mariners

Interviews with 20 U.S. Navy and Coast Guard mariners reveal informal, safety-oriented shipboard cyber risk models that may delay attribution and containment.

The study conducts semi-structured interviews with 20 military mariners from U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels to understand how service members recognize and respond to cyber risk aboard ships. Unique consequences of compromising military systems identified include weapon takeover and purposeful geopolitical escalation. Cybersecurity is organizationally abstract on ships, so mariners build cyber risk models from informal experience rather than formal instruction. A safety-oriented incident-response model creates resilience but may delay cyber attribution and containment.

arXiv cs.CR · 5d agoResearch

Abyssos: Technical Analysis of a New Modular RAT

Zscaler ThreatLabz analyzes Abyssos, a new modular C++ RAT offering credential theft, file exfiltration, and VNC-based remote access.

Zscaler ThreatLabz identified a new malware family tracked as Abyssos in late June 2026. Abyssos is a modular remote administration tool (RAT) written in C++ that supports credential theft, file exfiltration, and remote access via VNC. The malware is under active development, with multiple version numbers and obfuscation passes designed to evade security products. The analysis covers its core features, configuration, obfuscation, and network communication protocol.

Zscaler ThreatLabz · Aug 10, 2026Malware

Anthropic caught Russia-linked spies using Claude in hacking operations

Anthropic disrupted Russia-linked APT29 using Claude in espionage against 20+ organizations, including Ukrainian government targets and a military drone maker whose vision SDK was stolen.

Anthropic's threat report covering December 2025 to August 2026 attributes the campaign to Midnight Blizzard (APT29/Cozy Bear, Storm-2945), which it links to Russia's SVR. The group compromised hotel Wi-Fi providers, altered DNS records to redirect travelers, accessed mailboxes at two drone-component manufacturers, and stole a proprietary SDK for a drone vision system, which it reverse-engineered using Claude. The group also used Claude to monitor whether security products detected its implants and to modify and redeploy flagged artifacts. The report also covers ShinyHunters affiliates using AI for credential scanning and extortion, a Chinese-speaking group's autonomous zero-day research, and a French-speaking hacktivist.

The Recordupdated · 4d agofirst · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 15 sources

UBoatRAT Navigates East Asia

Unit 42 discovers UBoatRAT, a new custom RAT targeting South Korean and video-game industry personnel, delivered via Google Drive with GitHub-based C2 and BITS persistence.

Unit 42 identified UBoatRAT, a new custom remote access trojan first found in May 2017, whose initial version used a public Hong Kong blog service and a compromised Japanese web server for command and control. The latest variants target personnel or organizations related to South Korea or the video games industry, are delivered through Google Drive, and masquerade as Microsoft Word, Excel, or folder icons. The RAT checks for virtualization software and domain join, retrieves its C2 address from a Base64-encoded string in a GitHub-hosted file, uses a custom XOR-encrypted C2 protocol, and maintains persistence via Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) jobs that survive reboots.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Malware in the wild1

Russian man indicted for spreading malware to 80,000 freelancers

US prosecutors indicted a Russian national for infecting roughly 80,000 freelancers with TVRAT and DarkVNC malware via fake freelance-platform accounts.

Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev, 40, was indicted in California for conspiracy, transmission of malicious code, and aggravated identity theft; he was arrested in Cyprus in May 2025 and extradited in August 2026. From June 2016 to November 2017, about 255 fake accounts on a Northern California freelance platform messaged roughly 80,000 users with malicious Excel attachments that ran macros to download malware. The campaign deployed TVRAT (also known as TeamSpy), which exploited a TeamViewer flaw, and DarkVNC via VNC Viewer, exfiltrating stolen data to US-hosted command-and-control servers. About half the victims were in the US, and stolen credentials were used for fraud.

Help Net Security · 13d agoPolicy & legal in the wild

North Korean Hackers Deploy New Linux Espionage Toolkit

Rapid7 says North Korea-aligned actors use a new Linux espionage toolkit (ted HAProxy backdoor, CurlRAT) against South Korean automotive and media targets.

Rapid7 reports a stealthy Linux framework comprising a custom HAProxy backdoor ('ted'), trojanized system binaries (agetty, atd, crond, polkitd, sshd), an SSH keylogger, and CurlRAT that polls C&C every 12 hours. Initial access came via a Groupware login portal flaw, with credential harvesting enabling lateral movement to internal systems. The toolkit supports long-term surveillance, HTTP traffic interception/injection, and drive-by downloads, likely in use since late 2024. Infrastructure and artifacts overlap Operation SyncHole, suggesting Lazarus or APT37 involvement.

SecurityWeek · 9d agoThreat actor in the wild1

PuzzleMask: Abusing Plain Prose as a Covert AI Attack Vector

Check Point details PuzzleMask, a plain-prose technique that bypasses LLM gatekeeper policy checks, letting hidden payloads reach target models unreviewed.

Check Point Research describes PuzzleMask, a prompt-crafting technique that hides policy-violating payloads inside plain-English prose wrappers, bypassing quick LLM-based policy checks without emojis, Base64, or invisible formatting. The researchers tested 23 automated prompts against gatekeepers including GPT-4o-mini, GPT-OSS-Safeguard 20b, Claude 3 Haiku, and Llama Guard 3, and all were classified as safe despite policies that flagged the plain versions. When submitted to GPT-5 in thinking-high mode with a Python interpreter, the target model extracted and acted on the payload in over 90% of trials. The technique is not itself a jailbreak but can carry a jailbreak prompt as payload; mitigations include input paraphrasing, hardened gatekeeper policies, and output monitoring.

Check Point Researchupdated · 5d agofirst · 6d agoAI safety & security 2 sources

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

Persistent Attempts at Cyberespionage Against Southeast Asian Government Target Have Links to Alloy Taurus

Alloy Taurus (GALLIUM) compromised Southeast Asian government networks from 2022 to 2023 using Exchange web shells and undocumented .NET backdoors Reshell and Zapoa.

Unit 42 tracked persistent multiwave intrusions at a Southeast Asian government starting in early 2022 and continuing through 2023, attributing the activity with moderate confidence to Alloy Taurus (aka GALLIUM), a Chinese state-aligned espionage group. Attackers exploited Exchange Server vulnerabilities to deploy web shells including China Chopper, then ran reconnaissance with Fscan and WebScan, created administrative accounts, and installed undocumented .NET backdoors named Reshell and Zapoa. They established resilience by installing SoftEther VPN, brute-forced Active Directory credentials with Kerbrute, and dumped credential stores with GoDumpLsass and LsassUnhooker. The campaign reflects long-term espionage tradecraft to maintain a foothold.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor in the wild1

New infosec products of the month: August 2026

August 2026 roundup of security product releases from ServiceNow, Tanium, Snyk, F5, A10, Searchlight Cyber, Intezer, NETSCOUT, Tufin, and Abnormal AI.

Help Net Security's monthly product roundup covers roughly a dozen vendors. Highlights include Snyk's general availability of Evo Continuous Offensive Security with AI-powered pentesting and AI agent red teaming, Searchlight Cyber's PTEM platform combining exposure visibility with attacker intelligence, and A10 and F5 AI gateways to govern enterprise LLM and agent usage. Other updates include Abnormal AI email DLP and phishing training, NETSCOUT outbound DDoS mitigation for service providers, Intezer's native Workflows automation, and Tufin's AI-powered Segmentation Intelligence.

Help Net Security · 19d agoTools

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 Blog · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Critical MikroTik Vulnerability - Patch Now, (Sun, Sep 6th)

MikroTik patched a critical SSH authentication bypass already exploited in the wild; attackers add accounts to affected routers for post-patch persistence.

MikroTik released a patch late last week for a critical vulnerability allowing SSH authentication bypass that is already being exploited in the wild, per the vendor's September 2026 advisory. Attackers have been adding new accounts to affected devices to maintain access even after the patch is installed. The patch attempts to detect compromise and set a 'Flagged' status on affected devices, and SANS ISC advises administrators to assume compromise.

SANS Internet Storm Center · 9d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

MikroTik router flaws allow takeover without a password

Attackers actively exploit chained MikroTik RouterOS SSH flaws CVE-2026-67276 and CVE-2026-86060, bypassing authentication and escalating to admin to seize edge routers.

CERT Polska warns of active exploitation of a two-flaw chain dubbed 'MikroTrick' against internet-exposed MikroTik RouterOS devices with SSH remote management enabled. CVE-2026-67276 is an SSH authentication bypass in RSA public-key handling, and CVE-2026-86060 is a privilege-escalation flaw triggered via a specially crafted username, letting attackers gain full administrator control without a password. Patched RouterOS packages are already public, and MikroTik added a startup detection that flags unauthorized configuration changes. Compromised edge routers enable DNS hijacking, traffic capture, remote-access tunnels, firewall changes, and lateral attacks.

Malwarebytes Labs · 8d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-67276CVE-2026-860603

Extradited Russian Hacker Faces Charges Over Excel Malware Campaign That Infected Thousands

US DoJ charged extradited Russian Searzhudin Aktulaev for a 2016-2017 Excel macro campaign infecting ~80,000 freelance platform users with TVRAT and DarkVNC.

Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev, 40, was arrested in Cyprus in May 2025 and extradited to the US on August 28, facing charges including wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleges ~255 fake freelance-platform accounts were used to send Excel macro attachments to about 80,000 users in 2016-2017, deploying TVRAT (TeamSpy/TVSPY) and DarkVNC RATs for remote access and data theft. Thousands of infected machines called back to a US-hosted C2 domain, with stolen credentials and PII stored in the shared email account used in the scheme.

The Hacker News · 14d agoPolicy & legal

Russian Man Extradited Over Malware Campaign Targeting Freelancers

A Russian national was extradited to the US for allegedly spreading TVRAT and DarkVNC malware to 80,000 freelance platform users via Excel attachments.

Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev, 40, was arrested in Cyprus in May 2025, extradited on August 28, 2026, and indicted on conspiracy, computer damage, unauthorized access and aggravated identity theft charges. Prosecutors say he and co-conspirators used about 255 fake accounts on a freelance employment platform's messaging system to send macro-laden Excel attachments between June 2016 and November 2017, deploying TVRAT (TVSPY/TeamSpy) and DarkVNC remote access trojans. Thousands of victims were identified on a US-hosted C2 domain, with roughly half of the 80,000 affected users in the US; C2 infrastructure was paid for with virtual currency. If convicted he faces up to 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy plus additional terms and fines.

Infosecurity Magazine · 13d agoPolicy & legal in the wild1

Tracking OceanLotus’ new Downloader, KerrDown

Unit 42 identifies KerrDown, a new OceanLotus (APT32) downloader active since 2018 targeting Vietnamese speakers via malicious macros and DLL side-loading.

Unit 42 tracks KerrDown, a previously undocumented downloader family used by OceanLotus (APT32) since at least early 2018, primarily targeting Vietnam or Vietnamese-speaking individuals. Delivery uses macro-laced Microsoft Office documents embedding base64-encoded 32-bit and 64-bit DLLs, and RAR archives containing a legitimate program abused for DLL side-loading. KerrDown is dropped as main_background.png, downloads a DES-encrypted payload from a URL, and executes it directly in memory. Researchers used Jaccard-index similarity analysis to identify the new family, connect campaign samples, and infer patterns in the group's working hours and days.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · Aug 17, 2026Malware in the wild1

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 Security · 7d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2025-535211