Intelligence Feed

1w ago · hacker-news

Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Fuzzware discovered that malicious SIM cards can exploit the RUN AT proactive command to execute attacker-controlled code on vulnerable cellular IoT devices. The attack affects devices using certain Quectel modules and select smartphones like the OPPO Reno 14 F 5G and ASUS Zenfone 9, all running Qualcomm communication processors. By issuing AT commands through a hostile SIM, attackers can achieve code execution, downgrade network connections to insecure 2G, or exfiltrate files via TFTP and SMTP. A specific vulnerability in the Quectel EC25AFXDGA module's atfwd_daemon enables remote code execution due to an unsafe format string and insufficient character filtering. The issue has been disclosed to vendors, but no public advisories or patches are widely available yet.

1w ago · hacker-news

Researchers Alejandro Hernando and Borja Martinez demonstrated a privilege escalation technique called 'Plug And Pwn' that abuses Windows Plug and Play (PnP) auto-install functionality to achieve SYSTEM-level code execution on fully updated Windows 11 systems. The attack chain involves emulating a Sierra Wireless USB device to trigger installation of SwiService.exe, a SYSTEM service used to manipulate DNS settings, followed by emulating a Sony FeliCa reader that downloads configuration over HTTP, enabling a path-traversal vulnerability to drop a malicious DLL into System32. Reconnecting the Sierra device loads the DLL via a privileged service, resulting in SYSTEM compromise. A remote variant using RDP with USB redirection enabled abuses a similar path via Intel RealSense software and a CRYPTBASE.dll search-order hijacking from a user-writable directory.

1w ago · hacker-news

In December 2025, attackers breached a Polish combined heat and power (CHP) plant by exploiting a private cellular network (APN) used by the grid operator. The intrusion originated from a compromised wind farm's FortiGate firewall, which had internet-exposed VPN services without multi-factor authentication. From there, attackers pivoted via SSH tunneling through a Teltonika RUTX50 router to access a WAGO PFC200 controller with default credentials, ultimately gaining control of Siemens PLCs and shutting down critical systems including a steam turbine and water treatment. No malware was used; destructive actions were carried out using legitimate device functions. The attack highlights risks in misconfigured private APNs and poor credential hygiene in operational technology environments.

1w ago · hacker-news

A supply chain attack on WordPress plugins distributed by BdThemes exploited a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in a remote JSON data stream used by the 'Biggopti' component. Attackers compromised a DigitalOcean Spaces bucket to inject malicious JavaScript payloads that execute in the browser of logged-in administrators, creating rogue admin accounts and deploying a PHP web shell. The attack does not modify plugin source code but instead poisons JSON responses, enabling silent exploitation on every wp-admin page load. Two payloads were identified: one retrieves targeting instructions from a C2 server, while the other generates deterministic credentials based on the victim's hostname, allowing attackers to access compromised sites without centralized credential storage.

1w ago · hacker-news

A zero-day vulnerability in Metabase, a business intelligence platform, is being exploited in the wild, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to perform SQL injection and gain full administrator access to affected instances. This enables attackers to steal database credentials, exfiltrate data, and modify configurations. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 10.0 but lacks a CVE identifier. One confirmed victim is Framework. Additionally, Chinese-made Zbtlink routers were found shipping with a factory-installed backdoor that phones home to Chinese C2 servers every 35 seconds, affecting at least 20 models. The backdoor enables remote command execution. Separately, the threat actor UNC6671 is conducting vishing attacks against financial firms, using voice phishing to capture credentials and MFA tokens via adversary-in-the-middle infrastructure, then deploying scripts for data exfiltration from cloud environments.

1w ago · hacker-news

Storm-1175, a China-linked financially motivated threat actor, has deployed a new ransomware named StormEncryptor, written in C++, which appends the '.encrypted' extension to encrypted files and drops a ransom note titled '!!!README_FIRST!!!.txt'. The group likely gained initial access by exploiting CVE-2026-18577, a patch bypass vulnerability in N-able N-central, which allows authentication bypass and account takeover. Storm-1175 has a history of exploiting vulnerabilities in internet-facing systems, rapidly moving from initial access to data exfiltration and ransomware deployment within days, using tools like AnyDesk, SimpleHelp, Advanced IP Scanner, and Mimikatz for credential dumping.

1w ago · hacker-news

Kimsuky, a North Korean state-sponsored threat actor, is building an offline AI stack to enhance its phishing operations and automate malware development. The group has been observed deploying tools like Ollama, GPT4All, and Msty on its own infrastructure, with evidence of configured local document databases (localdocs_v3.db) indicating use of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for intelligence analysis. Additional tools such as LLaMaSharp, Microsoft Semantic Kernel, Whisper, and Cursor suggest efforts to integrate AI into custom malware development and speech-to-text processing. This activity supports the ongoing Operation GitPower, which abuses GitHub repositories as command-and-control channels and delivers AsyncRAT payloads.

1w ago · hacker-news

The threat actor Head Mare has exploited vulnerabilities in unpatched TrueConf servers to replace legitimate client installers with malicious versions delivering the PhantomCore backdoor and RAT. The attack chain involves exploiting two vulnerabilities, KLCERT-26-057 and KLCERT-26-058, to achieve arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM privileges, deploy a web shell, and substitute legitimate installers. The attackers also deploy a secondary backdoor, PhantomGraph, composed of two DLLs that exfiltrate data via Microsoft OneDrive and establish persistence through PowerShell commands.

1w ago · hacker-news

Recent research from SpecterOps, Unit 42, and independent researcher Dirk-jan Mollema reveals multiple attack vectors against passkey-based authentication systems despite their strong underlying cryptography. SpecterOps demonstrated a 'Pass-the-Passkey' attack leveraging CVE-2026-34348, where Windows stored YubiKey signatures in cleartext, enabling replay attacks that bypass phishing-resistant MFA in Microsoft Entra ID. Unit 42's 'Pass-ta-key' research shows how malware can extract or abuse Google Password Manager's synced passkeys by recovering the Security Domain Secret from memory, allowing recovery of private keys. Mollema's work reveals that malware in a compromised Windows session can use Windows Hello for Business keys without re-authenticating via PIN or biometrics, enabling unauthorized sign-ins to Entra ID. These findings highlight implementation flaws surrounding passkey systems rather than cryptographic weaknesses.

1w ago · hacker-news

Researcher Gareth Heyes from PortSwigger demonstrated novel CSS-based attacks that exploit rendering discrepancies in webmail clients to bypass security boundaries, enabling password theft, token leakage, and UI manipulation. The attacks affect multiple providers including Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, Fastmail, and Proton Mail, using techniques such as CSS mutation, label-jacking, paste-race conditions, and image-set() fallback abuse to exfiltrate sensitive data or spoof authentication interfaces. While some mitigations have been applied—such as Fastmail fixing CSS mutation bugs and Proton Mail proxy bypass no longer working—several vectors, including Outlook label-jacking and Gmail's image-set() bypass, remained exploitable at time of publication. The research highlights risks in AI-connected email systems, where injected CSS can manipulate AI tools like Anthropic's Cowork or OpenAI's Atlas to leak tokens or perform unintended actions.

1w ago · hacker-news

A malicious Visual Studio Code extension named 'solidity-pro' has been identified as stealing cryptocurrency wallets, API keys, and credentials from developers. The threat delivers a browser wallet and credential stealer that exfiltrates sensitive data such as mnemonic phrases, SSH keys, GitHub tokens, AWS keys, and Telegram bot tokens via Telegram bots. The malware uses heavy obfuscation, delayed activation, and clean intermediate versions to evade detection by static scanners and sandbox environments.

1w ago · hacker-news

Security researchers from PromptArmor and Varonis independently discovered vulnerabilities in Atlassian Rovo that allow attackers to exfiltrate Jira and Confluence data via maliciously crafted inputs. Varonis identified a one-click attack using the 'rovoChatPrompt' URL parameter to preload malicious instructions, which Atlassian patched server-side on July 8, 2026. PromptArmor demonstrated an indirect prompt injection via uploaded files that causes Rovo to send sensitive data to attacker-controlled servers, a vector that remains unpatched as of August 5, 2026, with no CVE assigned.

1w ago · hacker-news

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added CVE-2026-8037, a critical command injection vulnerability in Progress Kemp LoadMaster, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog due to active exploitation. The flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected devices via unsanitized input in multiple command endpoints. A total of 792 exploitation attempts have been observed from 65 unique IP addresses across 18 countries, with recent activity detected as of August 4, 2026. Federal agencies are urged to patch by August 10, 2026, per BOD 26-04.

1w ago · hacker-news

N-able has released Hotfix 2 for its N-central Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) product to address ongoing exploitation of a critical authentication bypass vulnerability, CVE-2026-18577, which has been actively exploited in the wild. The vulnerability, impacting versions prior to 2026.3.1.7, allows attackers to achieve remote administrative access and perform account takeover. Once inside, threat actors have used the Take Control feature to access managed systems and establish persistence via Cloudflare Tunnel services, even after N-central access was revoked.

1w ago · hacker-news

A zero-day vulnerability in Metabase versions 1.58 and above is being actively exploited in the wild, allowing unauthenticated attackers to gain administrator access by injecting arbitrary SQL into the application database. The attack chain involves sending a POST request to '/api/session/reset_password' followed by a GET to '/api/user/current', which can be detected in logs as an indicator of compromise. Metabase Cloud instances have been patched, but self-hosted users are urged to update immediately. The PC maker Framework confirmed customer data was accessed, including names, IPs, addresses, phone numbers, and emails, though no payment data was involved.

1w ago · hacker-news

UNC6671, a financially motivated threat actor group, is conducting vishing attacks to steal credentials and multi-factor authentication tokens by impersonating IT help desk personnel and contacting employees on their personal mobile devices. The attackers use adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) infrastructure to capture credentials and session tokens, enabling access to SaaS platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Okta. The group operates under multiple extortion brands including Redact, Pink, Helix, and Falcon, and has exfiltrated data from organizations in North America, Australia, and the U.K., collecting over $10.6 million in Bitcoin between January and May 2026. Google and CrowdStrike assess that the group leverages social engineering rather than technical vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for phishing-resistant MFA and improved session controls.

1w ago · hacker-news

A large-scale npm supply chain campaign has distributed nearly 800 malicious packages designed to deliver a cross-platform RAT and infostealer. The packages bypass typical lifecycle hook detection by instructing developers to load them via require(), triggering a downloader named WEL1DROPPER that fetches payloads from Cloudflare Workers or fallback domains using DNS TXT record exfiltration. The payloads target Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, establishing persistence, evading detection, and deploying secondary malware such as Sliver C2. The campaign, tracked as Flooding Dropper, may target Russian financial institutions and appears to evolve from the earlier Moika campaign.

1w ago · hacker-news

ClickFix-style attacks are delivering a Go-based macOS stealer that profiles the system, escalates privileges via a fake system error prompt, and steals sensitive data including browser passwords, Apple iCloud Keychain, and cryptocurrency wallet contents. The malware includes a 'DRAIN' routine that siphons partial or full balances from wallets supporting Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Monero, Ethereum, and XRP into attacker-controlled accounts. The infrastructure used in the attack is linked to Aeza Group, a Russian bulletproof hosting provider under international sanctions.

1w ago · hacker-news

A pre-authentication reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WordPress, tracked as CVE-2026-64638, affects all versions and can be exploited without authentication. The XSS flaw exists in the login screen, where a malicious username can bypass sanitization and execute JavaScript on the failed-login error page. This XSS can be chained with the SOME technique to achieve PHP code execution on the server when an administrator interacts with an attacker-controlled page, enabling actions such as plugin installation or arbitrary ZIP upload without requiring the plugin to be activated.

1w ago · hacker-news

A critical use-after-free vulnerability in Linux's SCTP implementation, tracked as CVE-2026-64564 and named SCTPhantom, has existed since 2008 and could allow local attackers to gain root privileges and escape containers. The flaw arises from improper handling of SCTP dynamic address reconfiguration, where a delete request is validated against one address but applied to another, leading to a use-after-free condition. Tencent's Zhuque Lab demonstrated successful exploitation on multiple Linux distributions, achieving host-level root access without requiring CAP_NET_ADMIN or CAP_SYS_ADMIN under specific conditions. The vulnerability was patched in Linux kernel versions 7.1.6, 6.18.42, 6.12.101, and 6.6.148, released on August 3, 2026.

1w ago · hacker-news

TeamPCP, a threat actor active since at least 2020, has evolved from exploiting exposed Redis, Docker, Ray, and React infrastructure to conducting large-scale supply chain attacks. The group has used overlapping infrastructure and tradecraft across campaigns, including ShadowRay 2.0 (aka IronErn) and TA-NATALSTATUS, which targeted Redis servers to deploy cryptocurrency miners. More recently, TeamPCP has poisoned open-source libraries via GitHub Actions abuse and token theft, while also deploying destructive malware such as 'kube.py' that includes wiper functionality targeting Kubernetes clusters, particularly those in Iran.

1w ago · hacker-news

Researchers at Novee Security identified critical vulnerabilities in Anthropic's Claude Code and Google's Gemini CLI that could allow unprivileged attackers to access CI workflow secrets or execute code on CI runners. CVE-2026-12537 in Gemini CLI enables OS command injection via a malicious .gemini/.env file, allowing pre-sandbox code execution on CI hosts. CVE-2026-54316 in Claude Code allows exfiltration of API keys one character at a time through Hugging Face's public download counter. Both vulnerabilities have been patched, with no evidence of active exploitation in the wild. The root cause across both systems was flawed 'harness' code that failed to properly validate or sandbox model-generated commands.

1w ago · hacker-news

Researcher Dirk-jan Mollema demonstrated a technique where malware running in a signed-in Windows session can abuse Windows Hello for Business keys to silently authenticate to Microsoft Entra ID, enabling persistent cloud access without extracting private keys or requiring administrator privileges. By leveraging WebAuthn, the attacker can request a signed assertion from the compromised endpoint and use it to obtain a Primary Refresh Token (PRT), register a new device, and bypass phishing-resistant authentication requirements. The technique exploits legitimate Windows ticketing behavior and does not require device-specific access, allowing attackers to establish long-term access to cloud resources under certain tenant policies.

1w ago · hacker-news

Security researcher Malcolm Stagg disclosed a new attack class called NatJack that exploits weaknesses in NAT implementations to hijack TCP sessions, spoof DNS responses, expose mapped ports, and exhaust NAT tables. The attacks affect both Windows and Linux systems, with two specific vulnerabilities assigned CVEs: CVE-2026-56181 in Windows NAT used by Hyper-V and CVE-2026-63913 in Linux Netfilter conntrack. The technique requires an attacker with privileged access behind the same NAT as the victim and manipulates connection-tracking state to redirect or interfere with network traffic, highlighting a fundamental assumption flaw in NAT designs.

1w ago · hacker-news

PortSwigger researchers, led by James Kettle, used an AI-assisted system called HTTP Terminator to discover novel HTTP desynchronization techniques, including a new 'dangling-byte' method that improves the reliability of response queue poisoning (RQP) attacks. The system autonomously generated and validated 30,000 candidate attack vectors, identifying over 700 vulnerable targets across banks, government systems, and critical infrastructure. A human-guided follow-up revealed a zero-day in Apache Traffic Server, later patched and assigned CVE-2026-63078, while another concept, Shared-Parser Confusion, was proposed by the AI and validated by researchers.

1w ago · hacker-news

An active, widespread phishing campaign is targeting Microsoft 365 users using adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) techniques to hijack accounts and collect payroll and finance-related emails. The attack chain begins with voicemail-themed phishing emails that redirect through legitimate services like Google and Amazon S3 to mask malicious infrastructure. The AitM pages capture credentials and MFA codes, while JavaScript fingerprints the victim's browser and sends data to a PHP endpoint. Attackers use residential proxies to maintain long-lived, geographically proxied sessions and abuse Microsoft Graph API to enumerate and collect sensitive mailbox data, avoiding typical BEC behaviors to evade detection.

1w ago · hacker-news

Multiple active threat campaigns were reported, including a new SideWinder attack chain using ClickOnce files to deploy Rust-based backdoors, a large-scale npm supply chain attack named 'Flooding Dropper' involving 846 malicious packages, and a Chinese threat actor leveraging a DeepSeek AI agent in an LLM-managed campaign for proxyjacking. A new XCSSET macOS malware variant (v40) spreads via compromised Xcode projects and includes a Telegram trojanizer. The Gentlemen ransomware affiliate deployed EtherRAT, which retrieves C2 data from an Ethereum smart contract. Additionally, Interlock ransomware abused Volatility3 to extract credentials from memory, and a critical RCE flaw in the Odysseus AI workspace allowed authenticated users to execute OS commands. Several phishing campaigns used fake Bank of America and Coldcard wallet lures to install ScreenConnect, while AI-powered scam farms like FunFoneFarm lower the barrier to entry for cybercrime.

1w ago · hacker-news

Researchers from MIT CSAIL discovered a new side-channel attack technique called INTERRUPT INJECTION that exploits a timing vulnerability in Spectre v2 mitigations on Intel and AMD CPUs. By injecting hardware interrupts at a precise moment between branch predictor sanitization and kernel use, an unprivileged local program can re-poison the predictor and leak kernel memory, including sensitive data like /etc/shadow. The attack bypasses existing Safe-RET protections on AMD Zen 1 through Zen 4 processors and has been demonstrated on Zen 2 with 91.97% accuracy. A patch has been merged into the Linux kernel, but no CVE has been assigned, and Intel considers mitigation unnecessary despite demonstrated mispredictions.

1w ago · hacker-news

Cisco has released security updates to address 12 critical vulnerabilities in its Catalyst SD-WAN and IOS XE Software, including three with CVSS scores of 9.8 or higher. The flaws involve improper input validation, access control, command injection, and other memory and logic vulnerabilities that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or access sensitive data. Additionally, Cisco patched a high-severity flaw in the Integrated Management Controller (IMC) web interface, CVE-2026-20200, for which a proof-of-concept exploit exists, allowing authenticated attackers with low privileges to achieve root-level command execution and deeply compromise server hardware trust.

1w ago · hacker-news

A new Linux kernel vulnerability in KVM's shadow memory management unit, tracked as CVE-2026-64561 and dubbed 'Zapscape', enables a privileged attacker within an L1 guest VM to escape to the host system when nested virtualization is exposed. The flaw stems from a stale-root check ordering issue leading to a use-after-free condition during page fault handling, allowing post-free writes and potential host code execution. A public proof-of-concept demonstrates the ability to create a file on the host with root privileges, though the exploit requires adaptation for real-world use. The vulnerability affects Linux versions from 5.9 until fixed versions, with upstream patches merged and assigned CVE-2026-64561.