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Search: “privilege escalation”

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Smart search ranks by meaning as well as keywords (one row per story, last 45 days).

ZDI-26-694: Linux Kernel Net Scheduler Clsact Qdisc Use-After-Free Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI discloses CVE-2026-23413, a use-after-free in the Linux kernel net scheduler clsact qdisc allowing local privilege escalation, CVSS 8.2.

ZDI advisory ZDI-26-694 describes a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's net scheduler clsact qdisc component. Successful exploitation allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations, and ZDI assigned a CVSS score of 8.2. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2026-23413. The advisory notes an attacker must first obtain the ability to execute high-privileged code on the target system to exploit the vulnerability.

ZDI-26-539: (Pwn2Own) Microsoft Windows ipt.sys Incorrect Permission Assignment Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI advisory discloses Windows ipt.sys local privilege escalation (CVE-2026-65773, CVSS 7.8) demonstrated at Pwn2Own.

ZDI advisory ZDI-26-539 describes an incorrect permission assignment flaw in Microsoft Windows ipt.sys, tracked as CVE-2026-65773 with a CVSS score of 7.8. A local attacker who can already execute low-privileged code can exploit it to escalate privileges. The vulnerability was demonstrated at Pwn2Own.

ZDI Published Advisories · Aug 11, 2026AdvisoryCVE-2026-657731

Privilege escalation from IIS AppPool to NT Authority/SYSTEM

A write-up demonstrates privilege escalation from an IIS AppPool identity to NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM via the AD CS RPC endpoint.

A technical write-up details a Windows privilege escalation path that moves an IIS application pool identity to NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM by abusing the Active Directory Certificate Services RPC endpoint. The technique chains the restricted IIS AppPool service context with AD CS access to reach SYSTEM on the host. The post is relevant for defenders mapping privilege escalation paths on Windows web servers.

Lobsters · security · 16d agoResearch

ZDI-26-654: TrendAI Apex One Incomplete Cleanup Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI-26-654: Trend Micro Apex One incomplete cleanup flaw, CVE-2025-71414, enables local privilege escalation, rated CVSS 7.8.

The Zero Day Initiative published advisory ZDI-26-654 for the Trend Micro Apex One Security Agent. An incomplete cleanup flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-71414, allows local attackers to escalate privileges after gaining low-privileged code execution. ZDI assigned a CVSS 7.8 rating. The advisory accompanies a vendor fix for affected installations.

Any user process can escalate to root

A disclosed local privilege escalation flaw allows any user process to escalate to root on the affected system.

A Lobsters-linked security write-up describes a vulnerability in which any user process can escalate its privileges to root. The feed text provides no product name, CVE identifier, CVSS score, or exploitation details, limiting available detail. Local privilege escalation flaws are commonly chained with other issues for full system compromise, so defenders should review the full write-up for affected versions and patches.

Lobsters · security · 16d agoVulnerability

ZDI-26-532: SonicWall Email Security updateNetIf Command Injection Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI advisory ZDI-26-532 discloses CVE-2026-66149, a command injection in SonicWall Email Security updateNetIf allowing local privilege escalation (CVSS 7.8).

SonicWall Email Security contains a command injection flaw in the updateNetIf routine, tracked as CVE-2026-66149 with CVSS 7.8. A local attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to escalate privileges. The vulnerability was disclosed via ZDI advisory ZDI-26-532.

ZDI Published Advisories · Aug 11, 2026VulnerabilityCVE-2026-66149

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 · 17d agoVulnerability

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 · 4d agoVulnerability1

New KATARU IoT Malware Packs Linux Privilege Escalation Exploits and Mirai-Style DDoS Attacks

Nozomi Networks identified KATARU, a new Mirai-style IoT botnet delivered via Telnet brute force that uses Linux privilege-escalation exploits and encrypted C2 for DDoS floods.

Nozomi Networks identified KATARU in August after a Telnet password-guessing attack against a honeypot retrieved an ARM payload. The malware attempts exploits for CVE-2026-46300 (Fragnesia), CVE-2026-43284 (DirtyFrag), and CVE-2026-31431 (Copy Fail), plus a cgroup v1 release_agent escape, and persists via systemd services, cron tasks, rc scripts, OpenWrt hooks, and Android boot locations. Its C2 uses X25519 key exchange with ChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption and supports TCP, UDP, ICMP, HTTP, QUIC, and DNS floods, plus SSH brute forcing and command execution; embedded exploit shellcode in the ARM build targeted x86, suggesting untested copied code.

PrivEscalate: Measuring and Augmenting the Threat of LLM-Automated Linux Privilege Escalation

Researchers release PrivEscalate, a 531-scenario benchmark showing LLM agents' Linux privilege-escalation success varies by vulnerability class, plus PrivEscAgent, a domain-specialized agent that boosts success.

The paper introduces PrivEscalate, an open-source benchmark of 531 Dockerized Linux privilege-escalation scenarios spanning 14 sub-categories, plus 329 parameterized variants measuring sensitivity to environmental distractors. Evaluating six LLMs across three agent architectures shows capability is heterogeneous across vulnerability classes, sensitive to perturbation, and architecture-dependent. The authors also present PrivEscAgent, a wrapper adding deterministic enumeration, category matching, and step planning that outperforms prior privesc-agent baselines without modifying the underlying LLM. The benchmark is released to support LLM agent evaluation, defensive tool validation, and red-team training.

arXiv cs.CR · 8d agoResearch

New GPUThor Rowhammer Defeats ECC on NVIDIA RTX A6000 to Gain Host Root Access

University of Toronto researchers present GPUThor, a Rowhammer attack that defeats ECC on NVIDIA RTX A4000-A6000 GDDR6 GPUs and achieves host root access.

GPUThor uses non-uniform hammering to bypass Target Row Refresh and overcome SECDED ECC on NVIDIA Ampere workstation GPUs with GDDR6 memory, inducing 72,000 to 377,552 bit flips per gigabyte across RTX A6000, A5000, A4500, and A4000 cards. Triple-bit silent data corruption enables host privilege escalation to root with the IOMMU enabled, reusing GPUBreach page-table corruption techniques, and double-bit DUEs allow escalation when the IOMMU is disabled during a ~10 ms lazy-service window. The attack cut end-to-end escalation time on the A6000 from 21.9 hours to 1.1 minutes. Reported to NVIDIA, Google, Microsoft, and AWS on April 29, 2026; findings were embargoed until August 25, 2026, and no CVE identifier was assigned.

The Hacker News · 8d agoResearch1

ZDI-26-608: Linux Kernel KVM IOAPIC Use-After-Free Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

The Linux kernel KVM IOAPIC has a use-after-free (CVSS 8.2) allowing local privilege escalation, but exploitation requires high-privileged code execution first.

ZDI-26-608 describes a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's KVM IOAPIC component, with a CVSS score of 8.2. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute high-privileged code on the target system, which limits the practical impact of the privilege escalation. The advisory text does not list an assigned CVE identifier.

ZDI Published Advisories · 23d agoVulnerability

Chaotic Eclipse Released A PoC For NVIDIA GreenSection Memory Corruption Zero-Day

Researcher Chaotic Eclipse released GreenSection, a PoC exploit for an NVIDIA Windows user-mode shared-memory flaw enabling out-of-bounds writes and potential dwm.exe compromise.

Researcher Chaotic Eclipse (aka Nightmare Eclipse) released a PoC named GreenSection for a zero-day in NVIDIA's Windows user-mode components. Multiple NVIDIA components share a global memory section in BaseNamedObjects with full read/write access to all users; although checks prevent misuse, runtime reuse of section data can cause an out-of-bounds write. The unstable PoC crashes applications using Vulkan or OpenGL and could potentially cross user boundaries or compromise the Windows Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe), though impact was not fully investigated. The researcher recently published similar zero-day PoCs against Kaspersky Endpoint Security, Avast Antivirus, and CrowdStrike Falcon.

Security Affairs · 9d agoExploit / PoC 2 sources

CVE-2026-78330: Apache Syncope: Privilege escalation for admin user via JWT authentication

Apache Syncope allows privilege escalation for an admin user via misconfigured internal JWT JWKS authentication settings, versions through 4.1.2.

CVE-2026-78330 is a moderate-severity incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability in Apache Syncope's syncope-core-spring module. When the configured JWKS settings for internal JWT authentication are misconfigured, an admin user can escalate privileges. Affected versions are 3.0.0-M0 through 3.0.16, 4.0.0-M0 through 4.0.7, and 4.1.0-M0 through 4.1.2.

oss-security · 2d agoVulnerabilityCVE-2026-78330

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

ZDI-26-708: (0Day) Microsoft Windows HTTP Proxy Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI disclosed an unpatched local privilege escalation flaw (CVSS 5.3) in Microsoft Windows HTTP Proxy, requiring prior low-privileged code execution.

ZDI-26-708 details a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows HTTP Proxy component. A local attacker who can already execute low-privileged code on the target system can escalate privileges. ZDI assigned a CVSS rating of 5.3 and published it as a 0day advisory; no CVE id is listed in the bulletin text.

Top 10 Best Cloud Detection & Response (CDR) Solutions in 2026

Editorial scorecard ranks ten 2026 cloud detection and response platforms; Sysdig, Wiz, and CrowdStrike lead, with Wiz's Gem Security acquisition highlighted.

The editorial scorecard rates ten CDR platforms on real-time detection (30%), cloud telemetry depth, response automation, correlation, and value. Sysdig earns the best real-time detection score for its Falco- and eBPF-powered runtime telemetry, Wiz (8.7) folds acquired Gem Security's real-time CDR into its security graph, and CrowdStrike (8.7) leads response automation. Specialists Stream.Security, Skyhawk Security, Sweet Security, and the open-source Falco project are also assessed.

Cyber Security News · 11h agoIndustry

ZDI-26-574: Linux Kernel Net Scheduler Connection Tracking Race Condition Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A race condition (CVE-2026-46319, CVSS 7.5) in the Linux kernel net scheduler connection tracking allows local privilege escalation.

ZDI advisory ZDI-26-574 documents a race condition in the Linux kernel's net scheduler connection tracking component. Local attackers who can execute high-privileged code on a target can exploit the flaw to escalate privileges. ZDI rated the vulnerability 7.5 on CVSS and assigned CVE-2026-46319.

ZDI Published Advisories · Aug 13, 2026VulnerabilityCVE-2026-46319

Microsoft Offers Up to $30,000 for Critical AI Flaws in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform

Microsoft expands AI bug bounty to Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, paying up to $30,000 for critical inference manipulation flaws.

Microsoft's bug bounty program offers up to $30,000 for critical 'Inference Manipulation' or 'Inferential Information Disclosure' bugs in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, including Copilot Studio, AI Builder, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dataverse. Payouts scale by report quality ($30,000/$20,000/$12,000 for critical) with important-severity AI flaws earning $6,000-$20,000, plus 20% multipliers for Dataverse privilege escalation and Plugin Sandbox escapes. Prompt injection affecting only the attacker, hallucinated execution, and system-prompt disclosure are excluded from scope.

Cyber Security News · 2d agoIndustry

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 Advisories · Aug 13, 2026Advisory1

ShieldBreak: New Windows Zero-Day Bypasses Microsoft’s RoguePlanet Patch

Researcher Chaotic Eclipse published a PoC bypassing Microsoft's CVE-2026-50656 Defender patch, enabling SYSTEM-level code execution on fully patched Windows systems.

Security researcher Chaotic Eclipse released a proof-of-concept for ShieldBreak, a Microsoft Defender zero-day that fully bypasses the patch for CVE-2026-50656 (RoguePlanet), a race condition in the Malware Protection Engine (mpengine.dll) allowing SYSTEM-level code execution. The PoC was tested on Windows 11 25H2 and Windows Server 2025 with a 100% success rate, and Windows 10 is also vulnerable though not supported by the PoC; the flaw may also leak 8 bytes of memory. Microsoft's MSRC had criticized the researcher's repeated uncoordinated disclosures, including YellowKey (BitLocker bypass), GreenPlasma, and LegacyHive (User Profile Service LPE).

Security Affairs · Aug 12, 2026Exploit / PoCCVE-2026-50656

ZDI-26-571: Linux Kernel Net Scheduler Packet Classifier API Use-After-Free Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI disclosed a use-after-free local privilege escalation flaw (CVE-2026-64530) in the Linux Kernel net scheduler packet classifier API.

The Zero Day Initiative published ZDI-26-571 describing a use-after-free in the Linux Kernel net scheduler packet classifier API. Local attackers who can already execute low-privileged code can escalate privileges. ZDI assigned a CVSS score of 8.8 and the identifier CVE-2026-64530.

ZDI Published Advisories · Aug 13, 2026VulnerabilityCVE-2026-645301

Linux Kernel ZcopyReaper Vulnerability Lets Local Attackers Gain Root Privileges

Linux kernel RDS zero-copy flaw CVE-2026-43502 (ZcopyReaper) lets unprivileged local users gain root; fix in 7.1-rc3, public PoC published.

CVE-2026-43502, dubbed ZcopyReaper, is a Linux kernel local privilege escalation flaw in the RDS zerocopy send path, present since kernel 4.17, allowing unprivileged local attackers to gain root. NebuSec researcher Yuan Tan demonstrated root escalation on openSUSE kernel 6.4.0-150600.23.100; the fix landed in commit 44b550d88b26 with Linux 7.1-rc3 the first patched mainline release. Exploitation requires CONFIG_RDS and CONFIG_RDS_TCP but not unprivileged user namespaces, and PoC exploit material is publicly released alongside more than 20 other exploitable 2026 kernel CVEs.

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 Advisories · 23d agoVulnerability

Three CVSS 10.0 ServiceNow Flaws Could Let Unauthenticated Attackers Execute Code and SQL

ServiceNow patched four AI Platform flaws, including three pre-authentication CVSS 10.0 issues enabling unauthenticated code execution, SQL injection, and privilege escalation.

ServiceNow released patches on August 27, 2026 for four AI Platform flaws: CVE-2026-18885 (code injection in the GraphQL Composite Data API), CVE-2026-18886 (improper access control enabling privilege escalation), and CVE-2026-74820 (SQL injection), all self-rated CVSS 10.0 and exploitable without authentication, plus CVE-2026-6876, an 8.7 sandbox escape. Updates were deployed to hosted instances, but self-hosted customers must patch affected Xanadu, Yokohama, Zurich, and Australia release lines themselves. ServiceNow says it is not aware of exploitation of the new flaws, and no public exploit code existed as of August 28, 2026; separately, Defused reported in-the-wild exploitation of the earlier CVE-2026-6875 (CVSS 9.5), later noting the captured payload matched Searchlight Cyber's PoC.

The Hacker News · 19d agoVulnerability in the wildCVE-2026-18885CVE-2026-18886CVE-2026-74820+2 CVEs

[0day-rubbish] Royal Server 5.04.50529.0 Local privilege escalation to LocalSystem on the execution path without credential override (7.2)

0day Rubbish Research Team disclosed a CVSS 7.2 local privilege escalation (CWE-250) in Royal Server 5.04.50529.0 to LocalSystem.

Researchers publicly disclosed a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Royal Server 5.04.50529.0, classified as CWE-250 (execution with unnecessary privileges) with a CVSS score of 7.2. The flaw allows escalation to LocalSystem on the execution path without credential override. The disclosure was posted to the Full Disclosure mailing list on September 8, 2026; no patch or CVE id was mentioned in the notice.

Full Disclosure · 8d agoVulnerability

Your Cloud Security Checklist Doesn't Work the Way You Think It Does

Intruder's 2026 Cloud Security Index found misconfiguration risk profiles differ sharply across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud across 3,000 organizations.

Intruder analyzed misconfiguration data from 3,000 organizations across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud for its 2026 Cloud Security Index. Weak IAM controls and missing logging affected 80-98% of accounts regardless of provider, while exposed services ranged from 76% on AWS to just 8% on Google Cloud. Top issues included S3 buckets without HTTPS enforcement (87% of AWS accounts), Entra ID users without MFA (55% of Azure accounts), and missing OS Login MFA (77% of Google Cloud accounts). Weak IAM prevalence rose with organization size, from 87% at SMEs to 98% at large enterprises, and midmarket organizations took the longest to remediate at 35 days on average.

The Hacker News · 9d agoResearch

ZDI-26-623: Linux Kernel IPv6 Multicast Routing Use-After-Free Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI-26-623 details a use-after-free in Linux kernel IPv6 multicast routing enabling local privilege escalation, rated CVSS 8.8.

The Zero Day Initiative published ZDI-26-623 describing a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's IPv6 multicast routing implementation. A local attacker who can execute low-privileged code on an affected installation can exploit the flaw to escalate privileges. ZDI assigned a CVSS rating of 8.8; the advisory does not name a CVE id or state that exploitation has been observed.

ZDI Published Advisories · 7d agoAdvisory

Your MikroTik Router May Already Be Compromised: Look for SSH User “-2”

MikroTik RouterOS SSH auth-bypass chain MikroTrick (CVE-2026-67276 plus CVE-2026-86060) is actively exploited; patch to 7.24.2/7.23.5/6.49.21.

Attackers are actively exploiting a chain dubbed MikroTrick that combines CVE-2026-67276 (CVSS 9.2), an SSH authentication bypass in RouterOS RSA public key verification, and CVE-2026-86060, an SSH session privilege escalation, giving full admin control of internet-exposed MikroTik devices without the private key. Exploitation began around September 2, 2026, a day before MikroTik's September 3 patches, with confirmed compromises including creation of an 'ops' account; attacks traced to IPs 82.192.72.4 (Leaseweb) and 103.102.31.18. Fixed versions include 7.25beta3, 7.24.2, 7.23.4, 7.23.5 and 6.49.21. Defenders should check logs for failed logins with username '-2' and inspect /system history for ssh:-2@<IP> entries attached to configuration changes.

Security Affairs · 10d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-67276CVE-2026-860602

ZDI-26-577: Trend Micro VPN OpenSSL Configuration Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI disclosed a local privilege escalation (CVE-2026-67212, CVSS 7.0) in Trend Micro VPN's OpenSSL configuration, requiring prior low-privileged code execution.

The Zero Day Initiative published advisory ZDI-26-577 describing an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability in Trend Micro VPN's OpenSSL configuration. Local attackers who can already execute low-privileged code on an affected installation can escalate privileges. ZDI rated the issue 7.0 on CVSS and assigned CVE-2026-67212.

ZDI Published Advisories · Aug 13, 2026VulnerabilityCVE-2026-67212

Plesk Backup Manager Flaw Lets Low-Privileged Users Gain Root Access to Servers

CVE-2026-68488 in Plesk Backup Manager lets low-privileged subscription users exploit a symlink race during restores to gain root on Linux servers.

CVE-2026-68488 is a symlink race condition in Plesk Obsidian for Linux Backup Manager during subscription-content restore operations, allowing a user with Panel and FTP access to change ownership of files outside their subscription and escalate to full root access. Affected versions are Plesk for Linux 18.0.80.6 and earlier and 18.0.79.10 and earlier; Plesk for Windows is not affected. Patches are available in 18.0.80.7 and 18.0.79.11 or later. The flaw requires valid subscription access, so it is not unauthenticated remote code execution, but successful exploitation yields complete server compromise, especially dangerous in shared-hosting and multi-tenant deployments.

Linux Detection Engineering - Local Privilege Escalation

Elastic details a layered detection framework for Linux local privilege escalation, covering 2026's copy-on-write bug wave and LLM-assisted discovery.

Elastic Security Labs describes how most Linux local privilege escalations share a common host flow — an unprivileged process launched from a writable path becoming root — and proposes layered detections combining general outcome-based rules with per-technique rules in Elastic Defend and Auditd. It tracks 13 recent LPE disclosures, seven of which share a copy-on-write/zero-copy bug class, including Copy Fail, DirtyFrag, Fragnesia, DirtyDecrypt, DirtyClone, pedit COW, and RefluXFS. Qualys attributes RefluXFS to an LLM-assisted research effort with Anthropic using Claude Mythos Preview, and another bug is credited to an LLM-assisted workflow. Detection and endpoint rules are published in Elastic's detection-rules and protections-artifacts repositories.

Elastic Security Labs · 5d agoResearch

Impersonating IT support: how threat actors turn a remote session into enterprise-wide access

Microsoft details Teams IT-support impersonation campaigns deploying Node.js implants, AD reconnaissance, and WinRM lateral movement toward domain controllers.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence describes a human-operated campaign where attackers impersonate IT/helpdesk staff via Microsoft Teams external collaboration, talk users into granting remote sessions, and use RMM tools for interactive access. During the session they run PowerShell to silently install a malicious MSI that stages a portable Node.js runtime and obfuscated JavaScript implant for C2, executing follow-on payloads via rundll32. Operators then perform host and Active Directory reconnaissance, capture desktop screenshots, and pivot via WinRM on port 5985 to domain controllers and certificate authorities. The hands-on-keyboard chain, which can precede data theft and ransomware, blends into normal operations by relying on Teams, Quick Assist, msiexec, and Node.js; Microsoft shares hunting and mitigation guidance.

Microsoft Security Blog · 13d agoThreat actor in the wild

CISA Red Team Compromised Two Critical Infrastructure Orgs, One Detected Nothing

CISA red teams fully compromised two critical infrastructure orgs with similar tradecraft; one detected nothing, the other contained phishing within minutes.

CISA advisory AA26-237A, 'A Tale of Two SOCs,' describes two simultaneous red team assessments of a Government Services organization and a Water and Wastewater Systems organization, both compromised to the domain level. Organization A never detected the intrusion, enabled by default credentials, a misconfigured AD CS template (ESC1), cleartext credentials, non-expiring static AWS keys, and over-permissioned Entra ID applications. Organization B detected and isolated phishing within 2-20 minutes, though the red team still reached krbtgt via DCSync from cleartext SCCM credentials. CISA attributes the outcome gap to people and processes rather than the security tools themselves.

The Hacker News · 21d agoAdvisory

Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Activation Manager

CISA details CVE-2026-16675, a CVSS 7.8 privilege escalation flaw in Rockwell FactoryTalk Activation Manager V5.02 and below, with vendor fixes available.

CISA issued an ICS advisory for Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Activation Manager. CVE-2026-16675 is a privilege escalation vulnerability stemming from installer custom actions, scored 7.8. Versions V5.02 and below are affected, and Rockwell Automation has released fixes.

CISA Advisories · 15d agoAdvisoryCVE-2026-16675

Water sector passes, government sector fails attempts to spot and halt simulated CISA attack

CISA red teamers compromised both a government and a water organization; water defenders detected and contained the simulated attack, government defenders did not.

CISA's red team gained initial access, elevated domain privileges, and lateral movement into sensitive business systems and cloud resources at an unnamed government organization, whose SOC ignored low- and medium-severity EDR alerts buried under thousands of false positives. A water organization's SOC quarantined phishing-compromised workstations within 2, 10, and 20 minutes, and later detected and isolated intrusions reaching the OT DMZ bastion host. Both organizations underestimated cloud risk, lacked Microsoft Conditional Access for workload identities, and had no process to revoke compromised access and refresh tokens. This is one of CISA's rare public red-team reports since 2023.

CyberScoop · 22d agoAdvisory1

ZDI-26-538: (Pwn2Own) Microsoft Exchange Improper Authorization Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI discloses a Pwn2Own Microsoft Exchange privilege-escalation flaw (CVE-2026-62911, CVSS 8.8) where the required authentication can be bypassed.

ZDI advisory ZDI-26-538 describes CVE-2026-62911, an improper authorization vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange rated CVSS 8.8. Remote attackers can escalate privileges, and while authentication is nominally required, the existing authentication mechanism can be bypassed. The vulnerability was demonstrated at Pwn2Own.

ZDI Published Advisories · Aug 11, 2026VulnerabilityCVE-2026-62911

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 Advisories · Aug 13, 2026Advisory

U.S. CISA adds a Ray-Project Ray flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

CISA added actively exploited Ray RCE flaw CVE-2025-62593 (CVSS 9.4) to its KEV catalog, ordering federal agencies to patch by August 20, 2026.

CISA added CVE-2025-62593 (CVSS 9.4), a critical remote code execution flaw in the Ray AI compute engine, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog with a due date of August 20, 2026. Versions before 2.52.0 relied on a User-Agent header check to guard the dashboard/API, which combined with DNS rebinding allows arbitrary code execution on developers' machines via malicious websites or ads. Aviatrix's analysis describes privilege escalation, lateral movement, command and control, and data exfiltration following exploitation. Federal civilian agencies must remediate under BOD 22-01; the flaw affects Firefox and Safari.

Security Affairs · 29d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2025-62593