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Attack Paths Into VMs in the Cloud
Unit 42 maps attack paths into AWS, Azure, and GCP VMs through intended features like startup scripts and SSH key pushes.
Palo Alto Unit 42 reviewed attack vectors against virtual machine services on AWS, Azure, and GCP, finding that 11% of internet-exposed cloud hosts carry Critical or High severity vulnerabilities. The attack paths rely on legitimate features such as EC2 User Data, VM custom data, EC2 Instance Connect, SSM Run Command, and serial consoles rather than vulnerabilities, and exploiting them requires attackers to first obtain control plane permissions. A compromised VM exposes not only its data but the workload identity and cloud permissions assigned to it, making identity compromise potentially more damaging than data theft. The firm places mitigation responsibility on cloud users and administrators.
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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.
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Keys to the Kingdom: Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerability Analysis and Exploits Observed in the Wild
Attackers actively exploit CVE-2025-32433, a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated RCE in Erlang/OTP SSH, heavily targeting OT and critical infrastructure networks.
CVE-2025-32433 enables unauthenticated RCE in Erlang/OTP's SSH daemon via SSH connection protocol messages (codes >= 80) processed before authentication, affecting versions before OTP-27.3.3, OTP-26.2.5.11 and OTP-25.3.2.20. Unit 42 recorded a spike in exploitation between May 1-9, 2025, with 70% of detections on firewalls protecting OT networks, disproportionately affecting healthcare, agriculture, media and high technology. Observed payloads bind TCP-connected shells or launch Bash reverse shells to hosts like 146.103.40.203:6667, with randomized DNS lookups under dns.outbound.watchtowr.com indicating OAST-driven blind RCE validation.
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MikroTik patches flaws currently being exploited to take over routers
MikroTik patches six RouterOS flaws, including the actively exploited MikroTrick SSH chain (CVE-2026-67276, CVE-2026-86060) enabling unauthenticated full router takeover.
MikroTik released patches in RouterOS 7.25 beta 3, 7.24.2, 7.23.4, and 6.49.21 for six vulnerabilities found by CERT Polska, affecting the SSH server/client, bandwidth-test service, X.509 handling, and WebFig. CVE-2026-67276, an RSA public-key validation flaw in the SSH server, lets an attacker who knows a username and key modulus authenticate as that user; CVE-2026-86060 then escalates privileges to root via special-character username handling. CERT Polska confirmed attackers are exploiting the chain to take full control of RouterOS devices with SSH exposed to the internet. Shadowserver Foundation scans show over 122,500 devices with internet-reachable SSH, concentrated in Brazil, the US, and Indonesia.
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