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Microsoft Patches 398 Flaws Including a Windows Driver Zero

Microsoft's August Patch Tuesday fixes 398 CVEs, including actively exploited Windows zero-day CVE-2026-68820 used by Lazarus for SYSTEM privilege escalation.

Microsoft's August 2026 Patch Tuesday release addresses 398 new vulnerabilities, 62 rated Critical by the Zero Day Initiative, with CVE-2026-68820 (CVSS 7.0), a use-after-free in the afd.sys Windows kernel driver, the only flaw flagged as actively exploited. Check Point Research attributed exploitation of the privilege escalation bug to Lazarus' Operation Dream Job campaign. Four unauthenticated remote code execution flaws rated 9.8 affect Windows DNS Server (CVE-2026-62878, called wormable by ZDI), Windows Deployment Services (CVE-2026-62893), Microsoft QUIC (CVE-2026-62815) and HPC Pack (CVE-2026-59124). The release also completes a two-part SharePoint fix with RCE component CVE-2026-63520, following July's authentication bypass fix CVE-2026-55040.

The Hacker News · Aug 11, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-68820CVE-2026-62878CVE-2026-62893+4 CVEs

Microsoft’s September 2026 Patch Tuesday addresses 964 CVEs (CVE-2026-81963, CVE-2026-85880)

Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes a record 964 CVEs, including two zero-days actively exploited in the wild.

Microsoft patched a record 964 CVEs in its September 2026 Patch Tuesday release, with 101 rated critical and 824 rated important, making it the largest Patch Tuesday to date. The release includes fixes for two zero-days that were exploited in the wild, with CVE-2026-81963 and CVE-2026-85880 highlighted in the release. Affected products span Windows core components, Office, Exchange, .NET, Visual Studio, Active Directory services (including AD CS and AD FS) and numerous Azure services. Tenable notes the release surpasses July's as the biggest ever.

Tenable Blog · 7d agoVulnerability in the wildCVE-2026-81963CVE-2026-858801

North Korean Lazarus Group Uses Windows Zero

Check Point links Lazarus Group's Operation Dream Job to a new Windows zero-day, CVE-2026-68820, targeting defense workers with fake Lockheed Martin job offers.

Check Point Research documented a new wave of Operation Dream Job, a North Korean Lazarus Group campaign targeting defense and aerospace professionals in France, Germany, Brazil, and India with fake Lockheed Martin job offers. The attacks chain a previously unknown Windows privilege escalation flaw in AFD.sys, CVE-2026-68820, which Microsoft patched on August 11, 2026, to deploy the MISTPEN downloader, ForestTiger backdoor, and updated FudModule 3.1 kernel rootkit. Check Point also discovered a new Troy backdoor DLL with 17 operator commands and a RelayShell PHP webshell deployed on compromised Roundcube and WordPress servers used as command relays, some infected via CVE-2025-49113 or leaked credentials. Defenders are urged to apply the August 2026 Patch Tuesday update and review Check Point's indicators of compromise.

Security Affairs · Aug 13, 2026Threat actor in the wildCVE-2026-68820CVE-2025-491131

ThreatsDay: CEO Phishing Kits, 5K Dropbox Account Hacks, OAuth Traps + 17 More Stories

Microsoft warns of Teams IT-impersonation intrusions deploying Node.js implants; Spring Ring vishing hit 150+ employees across 10 companies; The Gentlemen ransomware claims 683 victims.

Microsoft warned of a human-operated campaign abusing Teams external collaboration to impersonate IT help desk staff, deploy malicious MSI packages staging Node.js runtimes and obfuscated JavaScript implants, then pivot to domain controllers over WinRM. Unit 42 documented the Spring Ring vishing operation targeting over 150 employees across at least 10 companies using 26 attacker identities, including an NTLM relay variant against domain controllers. Sophos reported The Gentlemen ransomware (Gold Sherwood) reached 683 total victims by end of July 2026, adding 169 in July, with a playbook using BYOVD-based EDR killers and backup tampering. Group-IB found the Outsider phishing-as-a-service platform created 700+ new phishing pages within a month despite law enforcement takedowns.

The Hacker News · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild1

GentleKiller targets more than 400 security processes across 48 products

ESET details the Gentlemen ransomware gang's in-house GentleKiller EDR-killer framework targeting over 400 security processes across 48 products, supplied to affiliates.

ESET analyzed the Gentlemen ransomware gang's in-house GentleKiller EDR-killer framework, confirmed through an internal data leak from May 2026. The framework has at least eight variants impersonating legitimate security products and abusing vulnerable or malicious kernel drivers, targeting more than 400 process names across 48 security products. Gentlemen emerged in late 2025, became one of the five most active ransomware gangs in Q1 2026, offers affiliates a 90% ransom share, and practices double extortion using Go-based and C-based ESXi encryptors. The suite also reuses outside tools including HexKiller, ThrottleBlood, and HavocKiller, unified by a shared evasion layer that mimics well-known security vendors.

Help Net Security · 23d agoRansomware in the wild

CISA gives federal agencies two weeks to patch Microsoft bug exploited in DPRK campaign

CISA orders federal agencies to patch exploited Windows Winsock zero-day CVE-2026-68820 by August 25, used by Lazarus in Operation Dream Job.

CISA ordered federal agencies to patch Windows Winsock vulnerability CVE-2026-68820, rated 7/10, by August 25 after confirming exploitation; no workaround exists and a restart is required. Check Point found Lazarus Group hackers impersonated Lockheed Martin and Enveil recruiters on LinkedIn, sent malicious PDFs enabling long-term remote access, then used the zero-day to escalate from limited access to full system control. Targets spanned defense sectors including surveillance, drones and robotics in France, Germany, Brazil and India, as part of Operation Dream Job tracked since 2020.

The Record · Aug 12, 2026Exploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-688201