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Fortinet Code Execution Flaw Exploited in PivotC2 RAT Attacks

Threat actors exploit Fortinet heap-based buffer overflow CVE-2025-25249 to deploy PivotC2 RAT, infecting 178 devices and exfiltrating data from US targets.

SOCRadar reports exploitation of an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability, CVE-2025-25249 (CVSS 7.4), patched in January in FortiOS and FortiSwitchManager. Attackers scanned over 30,000 IP addresses, infected 178 devices with PivotC2 RAT, and at least two intrusions resulted in data exfiltration, primarily targeting US entities. SOCRadar attributes attacks to a likely Russian-speaking cybercrime actor and suggests the RAT was AI-assisted, in use since July 2026. CISA added the CVE to the KEV catalog with a three-day BOD 26-04 patch deadline for federal agencies.

SecurityWeekupdated · 5d agofirst · 5d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 4 sourcesCVE-2025-252491

CVE-2025-25249 Exploitation Delivers PivotC2, a FortiGate Post-Exploitation RAT

Attackers exploiting CVE-2025-25249 in Fortinet FortiGate firewalls deploy PivotC2, a post-exploitation RAT, on exposed edge devices.

SOCRadar reports that exploitation of CVE-2025-25249 is being used to deploy PivotC2, a purpose-built post-exploitation RAT, on FortiGate firewall appliances. The attack follows the common pattern of compromising public-facing edge devices such as VPNs, routers, and firewalls as the initial entry point. Defenders running FortiGate appliances should prioritize patching and watch for post-exploitation activity indicating RAT deployment.

SOCRadar · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2025-25249

Hackers Actively Exploiting FortiGate Firewalls to Deploy Custom Node.js Malware

Attackers actively exploit CVE-2025-25249 in FortiGate firewalls to deploy PivotC2, a Node.js RAT that decrypts VPN and admin credentials.

SOCRadar assesses with high confidence that threat actors are actively exploiting CVE-2025-25249, a CVSS 9.8 heap buffer overflow in the cw_acd daemon (CAPWAP, UDP 5246) affecting FortiOS 6.4-7.6.3 and FortiSwitchManager 7.0.x/7.2.x. Attackers deploy fortirun.bin and PivotC2, a Node.js post-exploitation framework that harvests configurations and decrypts SSL-VPN, wireless, and admin credentials using AES-256-CBC and AES-128-GCM. Over 30,000 FortiGate IPs were scanned and 178 devices compromised, including two confirmed full intrusions of US organizations with Exchange mailbox exfiltration to Wasabi storage. STRU attributes the campaign to a Russian-speaking, financially motivated cybercrime operator.

Cyber Security News · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2025-252491

Weekly Cybersecurity Newsletter Bulletin – Microsoft 0-day, FortiOS, PAN-OS Flaw, Revolut Data Breach, and 20+ Stories

Weekly roundup: Microsoft patches 973 flaws including two actively exploited zero-days; FortiOS CAPWAP flaw deploys PivotC2 RAT; PAN-OS root RCE disclosed.

Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday fixed 973 vulnerabilities, including two zero-days under active exploitation: CVE-2026-85880 (Windows ALPC) and CVE-2026-81963 (Windows Update Stack), both elevation-of-privilege bugs. SOCRadar reported active exploitation of CVE-2025-25249 (CVSS 9.8) in FortiOS CAPWAP, deploying a Node.js RAT called PivotC2 that exfiltrates Exchange mailboxes to Wasabi cloud storage; 178 devices were compromised out of 30,000 scanned IPs, attributed to a Russian-speaking financially motivated group. Palo Alto disclosed CVE-2026-0310, a 9.2-rated buffer overflow enabling root code execution on PA-Series firewalls, and Fortinet disclosed CVE-2026-84393, a ZTNA certificate validation MITM flaw. Cyera also revealed CVE-2026-6471 ('PostGREShell'), a 12-year-old PostgreSQL logical-decoding flaw allowing code execution via REPLICATION-privileged accounts.

Three JFrog Artifactory Flaws Exploited for Backdoor Deployment

Wiz reports multiple actors chaining three JFrog Artifactory auth flaws to gain admin and deploy backdoors; CISA added all three CVEs to KEV.

Wz reports threat actors exploiting CVE-2026-42018, CVE-2026-42016, and CVE-2026-82329 in self-hosted JFrog Artifactory instances to bypass authentication and gain administrative privileges. Between August 15 and September 8, 2026, multiple actors chained CVE-2026-42018 and CVE-2026-42016 to mint anonymous-user tokens, escalate privileges, create persistent admin accounts, install malicious plugins for code execution, and drop second-stage payloads. From early September, CVE-2026-82329 was exploited for configuration exfiltration, cluster key theft, token minting, and SSH key attachment to attacker-created accounts. CISA added all three CVEs to its KEV catalog, giving federal agencies two weeks under BOD 26-04 to patch to versions 7.161.20, 7.146.38, 7.133.29, 7.125.20, 7.117.28, or 7.111.21.

PaperCut Flaws Exploited in AI-Powered Attacks

GreyNoise says a Russian-speaking actor used AI to build and deploy exploits hitting 440 PaperCut NG/MF deployments across 395 organizations in 48 countries.

Two PaperCut NG/MF zero-days, CVE-2026-82078 and CVE-2026-81578, disclosed August 27 and patched August 28, enable unauthenticated authentication bypass and remote code execution. GreyNoise observed a Russian-speaking threat actor using AI to orchestrate attacks against 440 deployments in 48 countries, including 204 education-sector organizations, achieving domain admin at 12 victims. Attack paths included harvesting LSASS memory and registry secrets, mounted NoPac attacks, and adding accounts to Domain Admins, with AI automation shortening compromises to minutes or seconds.

SecurityWeekupdated · 4d agofirst · 4d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 9 sourcesCVE-2026-82078CVE-2026-81578

Critical NetScaler Vulnerability Exploited in Attacks

CISA added critical Citrix NetScaler flaw CVE-2026-19490 (CVSS 9.3) to its KEV catalog after confirming exploitation of gateway and AAA virtual servers in the wild.

CISA warned that threat actors are exploiting CVE-2026-19490, a critical-severity flaw (CVSS 9.3) affecting NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway appliances configured as a gateway (SSL VPN, ICA Proxy, CVPN, RDP Proxy) or AAA virtual server. Citrix patched the bug on August 19, and Rapid7 warned it is remotely exploitable without authentication. Sensor data from Previdian shows exploitation ongoing since at least September 3, one day after a public exploit appeared on GitHub, with matching requests observed from three IPs across three countries. CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, giving federal agencies three days to patch under BOD 26-04.

SecurityWeekupdated · 5d agofirst · 5d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 5 sourcesCVE-2026-194902· 2 reads

Organizations Warned of Cisco Secure FMC Exploitation

Cisco and CISA warn that critical FMC authentication bypass CVE-2026-20079 is actively exploited; CISA added it to the KEV catalog with a September 12 deadline.

Cisco and CISA flagged active exploitation of CVE-2026-20079, a critical authentication bypass in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center allowing remote, unauthenticated attackers to run malicious scripts and gain root access via crafted HTTP requests. Cisco patched the flaw in early March and added IoCs in late July, but confirmed active exploitation in its September 9 advisory; CISA added it to the KEV catalog requiring federal remediation by September 12. Talos identified three activity clusters exploiting CVE-2026-20079 and CVE-2026-20316, including state-sponsored and financially motivated actors, and this is the third FMC vulnerability in KEV this year after CVE-2026-20316 and CVE-2026-20131.

SecurityWeekupdated · 1d agofirst · 5d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 13 sourcesCVE-2026-20079CVE-2026-20316CVE-2026-20131