Week in review: AiTM phishing kit used to hijack AWS accounts, year-long malware campaign targets HR
Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities
Microsoft patches 974 flaws in record Patch Tuesday, including two actively exploited Windows zero-days enabling privilege escalation.
Microsoft's largest-ever Patch Tuesday addresses 974 vulnerabilities, with CVE-2026-81963 (Windows Update Stack) and CVE-2026-85880 (Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call) exploited before disclosure. Both zero-days carry CVSS 7.8 ratings and allow privilege escalation. More than 10% of the defects are rated critical, and researchers attribute the record volume to AI-assisted vulnerability discovery without a matching rise in active exploitation.
Microsoft Plugs Nearly 1,000 Security Holes
Microsoft's September Patch Tuesday fixes a record 974 flaws, including two actively exploited Windows zero-days and critical DNS and Windows Shell bugs.
Microsoft released fixes for 974 vulnerabilities, its largest-ever monthly patch batch, bringing the 2026 total above 2,600. Two zero-day privilege elevation flaws, CVE-2026-81963 and CVE-2026-85880, are being actively exploited. Critical bugs include CVE-2026-69730, an unauthenticated DNS weakness in Windows Server 2012 onward and Windows 10 deemed likely to be exploited, and CVE-2026-69829, a CVSS 9.8 Windows Shell remote code execution flaw requiring no privileges or user interaction. Microsoft and other vendors credit AI-assisted discovery for the growing patch volumes.
AI Is Giving Lesser-Resourced Attackers Nation-State-Level Reach, Google Warns
Google's Threat Intelligence Group warns AI now gives lesser-resourced criminal and nation-state attackers nation-state-level speed and scale, citing TeamPCP, Basin Castle, APT42, and APT24 usage.
GTIG documented throughout 2026 that adversaries increasingly use AI to automate and scale attacks. TeamPCP (UNC6780) used an AI coding chatbot with agent instructions to plan and execute a mass credential harvesting campaign in under six hours, and has compromised PyPI, npm, and Docker Hub since March 2026 with its Dustmaker credential stealer plus released tools Shai-Hulud and Miasma. PRC-nexus Basin Castle uses LLMs for target profiling, lure drafting, and malware development; APT42 (Calanque Ion) uses Gemini for OSINT and localized lures; APT24 (Ravine Castle) uses Gemini across the full attack lifecycle; and DPRK's Midnight Neptune (UNC1069) integrates AI into cryptocurrency theft. Google responds by disrupting attacker accounts and hardening models against distillation attacks.
September 2026 Patch Tuesday roundup: Plugs for two zero day holes among almost 1,000 fixes in Windows
Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday ships 964 fixes including two exploited Windows zero-days (CVE-2026-85880, CVE-2026-81963) and a wormable DNS RCE.
Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday includes 964 Microsoft vulnerabilities requiring customer action, a record attributed to AI-assisted bug discovery, plus 174 third-party/open-source and 23 Chromium/Edge CVEs. Two zero-days are exploited in the wild: CVE-2026-85880, a Windows ALPC heap overflow enabling AppContainer sandbox escape and privilege escalation, and CVE-2026-81963, a Windows Update Stack escalation to SYSTEM. CVE-2026-69730, an unauthenticated Windows DNS RCE, is not yet exploited but Microsoft expects exploitation, and roughly 20 bugs could be wormable. Separately, SAP issued a critical CVSS 10.0 fix for the EPP component used in S/4HANA and NetWeaver.
Microsoft Patches Record 974 Vulnerabilities, Including Two Exploited Zero-Days
Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes a record 974 CVEs, including two Windows zero-days exploited in the wild for privilege escalation.
Microsoft patched 974 vulnerabilities, its largest Patch Tuesday ever, including CVE-2026-85880, a heap buffer overflow in Windows ALPC allowing AppContainer sandbox escape to System, and CVE-2026-81963, a link-following flaw in the Windows Update Stack enabling local privilege escalation. Both were exploited as zero-days before the patch. ZDI's Dustin Childs says 20 of the fixed flaws are wormable, enabling unauthenticated remote code execution. The release also covers 723 Windows flaws and 222 Office bugs, plus fixes in Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, Azure and Exchange Server RCE (CVE-2026-55007).