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SloppyRAT: A New Tool For Ransomware Attacks

Zscaler details SloppyRAT, a new DLL backdoor delivered via ClickFix lures that stages CastleLoader and CastleRAT ahead of ransomware attacks.

Zscaler ThreatLabz analyzed SloppyRAT, a DLL-based backdoor distributed via ClickFix lures that abuses finger.exe over TCP port 79 to download a batch script. The malware copies curl.exe to download IronPython 3.4.2 from GitHub and executes zlib-compressed Base64-encoded Python to deploy CastleLoader and CastleRAT, then reflectively loads SloppyRAT in memory. It hinders analysis using XOR stack-string obfuscation, a modified affine cipher with modulus 127, and 13 runtime-decrypted code blocks, while communicating with C2 over a reverse SOCKS channel.

Zscaler ThreatLabzupdated · 5d agofirst · 5d agoMalware in the wild 3 sources

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.

GBHackersupdated · 6d agofirst · 6d agoThreat actor in the wild 2 sources1

SilkParasite Espionage Campaign Targets Central Asian Governments with Five New RATs

Bitdefender reports SilkParasite, a China-nexus espionage cluster targeting Central Asian governments with seven RATs, five newly documented, delivered via spearphished RAR archives.

Bitdefender Labs assesses with medium confidence that SilkParasite, first discovered in late 2025, is a China-nexus cluster targeting government bodies in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. Attacks use password-protected RAR archives with malicious Office documents, macro-triggered DLL sideloading, and checks for running Kaspersky AV before execution. The arsenal spans seven RAT families in .NET, C++, Go, and JavaScript with plugin architectures and diverse C2 channels including Google Drive and HTTP cookie/ETag headers; roughly 65 DriveSilkRAT infections were observed, mostly in Asia. Ties to China include BLOODALCHEMY (a Deed RAT/ShadowPad descendant) and an improved SpiceRAT used by SneakyChef, with traces of AI-assisted development in the tooling and lures.

The Hacker News · 27d agoThreat actor in the wild

ValleyRAT masquerading as adware

Kaspersky reports threat actors distributing the ValleyRAT backdoor disguised as adware, tracing the infection chain to the final payload.

Kaspersky researchers analyzed a campaign distributing the ValleyRAT backdoor under the guise of adware. The write-up documents the complete infection chain, from the malicious installer through deployment of the final backdoor payload. ValleyRAT is a remote access tool typically used by criminal actors for surveillance and data theft.

Kaspersky Securelist · 16d agoMalware in the wild

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 · 11d agoThreat actor in the wild1

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 · 8d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Silver Fox Targets Japanese Manufacturer with 3

Chinese group Silver Fox used new vulnerable drivers and DLL side-loading to deploy ValleyRAT at a Japanese industrial manufacturer.

Cato Networks detailed a Silver Fox campaign against a Japanese industrial manufacturing organization combining new vulnerable-driver abuse (BootRepair.sys and EnPortv.sys alongside wsftprm.sys), DLL side-loading via Zeon Corporation PDF binaries, and NTDLL unhooking to deliver ValleyRAT (Winos 4.0), a Gh0st RAT variant. The chain starts with an invoice-themed phishing lure hosting attacker-controlled content on legitimate QQ and Tencent Cloud services. Shellcode is injected into svchost.exe via thread-context hijacking, and a dual watchdog design pairs payload monitoring with a scheduled-task batch script for persistence. A separate 180-day VirusTotal retrohunt found 146 Atlas RAT samples across six PDB builds, though the Silver Fox link remains circumstantial.

The Hacker News · 20d agoThreat actor in the wild

Meta Ads Push StreamRat Android Trojan That Can Gain Near-Complete Device Control

ThreatFabric details StreamRat, a new Android banking trojan spread via Meta malvertising in Spain that reached about 571,000 EU accounts.

ThreatFabric reported that a fake TV-streaming malvertising campaign on Meta promoted StreamRat, a technically sophisticated Android banking trojan, targeting Spanish-speaking users; the ads reached an estimated 570,950 Meta accounts in the EU between June 11 and July 3, 2026. Once installed via sideloaded APKs, the trojan abuses Accessibility to log keystrokes, show credential-stealing overlays, capture screens, and remotely control devices, and was also promoted through TikTok. Its dropper requests default Home app and VPN permissions and was hosted via GitHub releases, closely resembling one used in the earlier Mirax campaign. C2 infrastructure includes IPs 45.147.28.59 and 193.32.2.245, and no named threat actor was attributed.

The Hacker News · 13d agoMalware in the wild

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.

Huntress · 5d agoAdvisory

Russian APT BlueDelta Uses HOOKEDGE to Target Defense and Diplomatic Organizations

Russian GRU-linked BlueDelta (APT28) deployed HOOKEDGE backdoor via macro Word lures against European governments using webhook.site and Microsoft Edge for stealthy C2.

Recorded Future's Insikt Group documented a BlueDelta (APT28/Fancy Bear/Forest Blizzard) espionage campaign from late September 2025 through early April 2026 targeting government and diplomatic organizations in Romania, Spain and Türkiye. The group delivered HOOKEDGE, a lightweight Windows batch-script backdoor, via macro-enabled Word documents with diplomatic lures, including one impersonating Spain's Ministry of the Presidency after a Spanish-Moldovan meeting. HOOKEDGE uses webhook.site as C2, a scheduled task every 30 minutes that downloads commands through Microsoft Edge, and canary pixels like docopened.jpg to track phishing funnel progress. A second tier with 5-minute check-ins served high-value victims, and beaconing intervals were stretched to 61 minutes to evade sandboxes; code overlap ties HOOKEDGE to BlueDelta's earlier HEADLACE backdoor.

Security Affairs · 19d agoThreat actor in the wild1

BlueDelta Targets Defense and Diplomacy with HOOKEDGE

Recorded Future reports Russian state-sponsored group BlueDelta deploying the HOOKEDGE backdoor against European defense and diplomatic organizations.

Recorded Future research reports that BlueDelta, a Russian state-sponsored threat group, is using the HOOKEDGE backdoor in campaigns targeting defense and diplomatic organizations across Europe. The disclosure details the group's use of the backdoor in espionage-focused operations against high-value government and military targets.

Recorded Future · 20d agoThreat actor in the wild

ValleyRAT: When Legitimate Software Becomes a Malware Delivery Tool

Kaspersky details ValleyRAT delivered via trojanized QN Wallpaper using DLL sideloading, tied to Silver Fox and hitting 1,500+ users in China and India.

Kaspersky found a malicious installer abusing a modified version of the legitimate QN Wallpaper adware application to deliver the ValleyRAT backdoor via DLL sideloading of libcef.dll. The installer masquerades as DingTalk, Chrome or Tencent Meeting software, creates persistence, disables Windows Defender via the DisableAntiSpyware registry key, and loads AES-encrypted payloads. ValleyRAT collects keystrokes, clipboard contents and screenshots plus system details, can download additional modules, and resists removal by injecting into svchost.exe or marking its process critical. The campaign was detected over 100,000 times in 2026, affecting more than 1,500 users mainly in China and India, and is attributed to Silver Fox with both espionage and financial motives.

Security Affairs · 15d agoMalware in the wild

PAPERMILL Malware Campaign Abuses Signed Notepad++ to Deliver VenomRAT to Windows Users

JUMPSEC tracks PAPERMILL, a China-nexus phishing campaign using a signed Notepad++ binary, libcurl.dll sideloading, and Donut loaders to deploy VenomRAT against Indian tax-audit targets.

PAPERMILL delivers ISO disk images via tax-audit phishing emails that passed SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, containing a renamed Authenticode-signed Notepad++ executable and a malicious libcurl.dll that proxies curl functions while executing loader logic in DllMain. The chain uses Mark-of-the-Web bypasses, anti-sandbox sleeps, UAC elevation prompts, Registry persistence, and a Donut shellcode loader to reflectively load .NET VenomRAT v6.0.3 with HVNC and credential-stealing capability, with C2 at 154.36.188.201:4449. JUMPSEC assesses the campaign as China-nexus, financially motivated, and Silver Fox-adjacent rather than definitively Silver Fox-operated.

GBHackers · 1h agoMalware in the wild

Multiple ArtraDownloader Variants Used by BITTER to Target Pakistan

BITTER used three ArtraDownloader variants since 2015 to target Pakistan, China, and Saudi Arabia, deploying BitterRAT and exploiting CVE-2017-11882 in one wave.

Palo Alto Unit 42 documents ArtraDownloader, a previously unreported downloader family used by the suspected South Asian group BITTER, with three variants and roughly 80 unique samples dating back to February 2015. Between September 2018 and January 2019, BITTER used spearphishing documents hosted on compromised Pakistani websites to target Pakistan and, for the first time, Saudi Arabia; one RTF sample exploited the EQNEDT vulnerability CVE-2017-11882. The downloader retrieves BitterRAT over HTTP, uses simple registry keys for persistence, and byte-level string obfuscation. Infrastructure overlap with the previously reported MY24 InPage-exploit payload was also observed.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · 29d agoThreat actor in the wildCVE-2017-11882

APT36 Suspected in PATCHCORD Espionage Campaign Using Google Sheets C2

Acronis links the PATCHCORD espionage campaign targeting Afghan telecom and South Asian critical infrastructure to APT36 with moderate confidence.

Acronis Threat Research Unit documented PATCHCORD, a previously undocumented C/C++ backdoor delivered via fake VPN installers impersonating Afghan Telecom (AFTEL), which hijacks Edge, Chrome and Firefox shortcuts for persistence and executes in-memory shellcode. A related Go implant, SHEETCORD, abuses the Google Sheets API for per-victim C2 and was distributed via a domain impersonating India's National Informatics Centre, while a third tool, HACKERAI C2 Agent, uses GitHub Gists and shows signs of LLM-assisted coding. An exposed staging server revealed SuperShell, RAT frameworks, credential-harvesting tools and OpenSSH exploit code, and the researchers attribute the activity to APT36/Transparent Tribe at moderate confidence.

Security Affairs · Aug 16, 2026Threat actor in the wild

Interpol's Jackal IV Disrupts West African Crime Infrastructure

Interpol's Operation Jackal IV disrupted crime-as-a-service infrastructure in West Africa used by networks such as Black Axe.

Interpol coordinated Operation Jackal IV, an international law enforcement action targeting cybercrime infrastructure in West Africa. The operation focused on disrupting crime-as-a-service networks, including infrastructure supporting groups like Black Axe. Dark Reading's threat intelligence desk reported on the disruption of the criminal networks' operational capability.

Dark Reading · 21d agoPolicy & legal

Local Privilege Escalation (LPE) in FolkPatch due to Hardcoded Default SuperKey

A hardcoded default SuperKey in FolkPatch, an APatch-based kernel patching tool, enables local privilege escalation limited to FolkPatch's downstream code.

A disclosure posted to the oss-security mailing list describes a local privilege escalation (LPE) in FolkPatch caused by a hardcoded default SuperKey. FolkPatch is a downstream project based on APatch that utilizes its own custom KernelPatch. According to the post, the vulnerability is specific to FolkPatch's downstream modifications rather than upstream APatch or KernelPatch code.

oss-security · 3d agoVulnerability1

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 News · 11d agoThreat actor in the wild

Fake GTA 6 download delivers malware-packed bundle to impatient gamers

Huntress found malware disguised as a leaked GTA 6 download bundling NJRAT, DCRAT, an infostealer, and Chaos ransomware used as a wiper.

Huntress analyzed a fake Grand Theft Auto VI ISO whose gta6installer.exe displays a fake 'License not found' error while silently installing payloads. The bundle includes NJRAT and DCRAT remote access trojans, the Mercurial Grabber infostealer, and a Chaos ransomware variant used destructively as a wiper, plus a Yandex Browser drop. The Chaos variant encrypts files up to 200MB, overwrites larger ones, deletes shadow copies, and disables recovery, with no ransom actually demanded. Most components are old malware dating to 2023 and are detected by up-to-date Windows Defender.

Help Net Securityupdated · 5d agofirst · 6d agoMalware in the wild 4 sources1

RANCOR: Targeted Attacks in South East Asia Using PLAINTEE and DDKONG Malware Families

Unit 42 names RANCOR, a previously unidentified espionage group targeting Southeast Asian political entities with newly discovered PLAINTEE and DDKONG malware families.

Unit 42 tracks a previously unidentified group it dubs RANCOR conducting highly targeted espionage attacks in Singapore and Cambodia using two custom malware families, DDKONG and PLAINTEE. Attacks appear to have begun with spear phishing, with decoy political news documents hosted on legitimate sites including a Cambodian government website and Facebook. Infrastructure links to IP 89.46.222[.]97 and KHRAT-associated domains such as facebook-apps[.]com, and the activity is grouped into two clusters tied together by PLAINTEE usage and similar targeting.

Palo Alto Unit 42 · 29d agoThreat actor1

Gaming the system: how a Chinese-speaking actor turned Brazilian government sites into an SEO weapon

Check Point identifies Chinese-speaking group Gambling Goblin hijacking Brazilian government domains via malicious Apache modules for SEO-manipulated gambling phishing.

Check Point Research tracks a sustained campaign since mid-2025 against Brazilian government and educational organizations by Gambling Goblin, a Chinese-speaking cybercrime cluster linked to Earth Berberoka. Attackers compile and install malicious Apache modules that silently reverse-proxy visitors to phishing pages impersonating Google Play, Microsoft Store, and Amazon, chaining compromised high-reputation domains to inflate search rankings. The group deploys a heavily obfuscated Linux toolkit including DownPro, AlphaAgent, oRAT, a 3snake-based credential stealer, and SSH brute-forcers, with parallel phishing networks localized for Vietnamese, Spanish, and English victims.

Check Point Research · 14d agoThreat actor

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 Affairs · 14d agoThreat actor in the wild1

New Phishing Campaign Abuses Windows Mshta.exe to Steal Credentials and Secrets

Fortra researchers track an active phishing campaign targeting Spanish speakers that abuses mshta.exe to run HTA payloads for reconnaissance and credential theft.

Fortra's FIRE team says a phishing campaign active since June 2026 targets Spanish-speaking users with invoice ('Facturación') and judicial ('Aviso Judicial') lures, many sent via libero.it/italiaonline.it infrastructure with SCL:-1 markings to bypass anti-spam. Clicking embedded links delivers an HTA launcher executed via mshta.exe, which hides its window off-screen, builds dynamic C2 URLs, and performs reconnaissance using WMI, PowerShell, and environment-variable inspection. A second-stage JavaScript dropper uses HTML smuggling to reconstruct a Base64-encoded ZIP in the browser, delivering a 7-Zip self-extracting executable disguised as a Firefox installer; staged design allows later delivery of credential stealers or ransomware. Defenders are urged to block archivogratuito[.]online and shortener domains goo[.]su, abrir[.]link, and abre[.]ai, and to restrict mshta.exe execution via AppLocker or ASR rules.

GBHackers · 4d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root

A security write-up details how any user process on the Omarchy Linux setup can escalate privileges to root.

A post on 0xcc.io describes a local privilege escalation issue in Omarchy, the Arch-based Linux configuration, where any user process can escalate to root. The disclosure appears to describe a design-level weakness in the distribution's security model. No CVE identifier is mentioned in the available text.

Lobsters · security · 16d agoVulnerability