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The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday added a security flaw impacting the WinRAR file archiver and compression utility to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-6218 (CVSS score: 7.8), is a path traversal bug that could enable code execution. However, for exploitation to succeed, it requires a prospective target to visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. "RARLAB WinRAR contains a path traversal vulnerability allowing an attacker to execute code in the context of the current user," CISA said in an alert. The vulnerability was patched by RARLAB with WinRAR 7.12 in June 2025. It only affects Windows-based builds. Versions of the tool for other platforms, including Unix and Android, are not affected. "This flaw could be exploited to place files in sensitive locations — such as the Windows Startup folder — potentially leading to u...

Canadian organizations have emerged as the focus of a targeted cyber campaign orchestrated by a threat activity cluster known as STAC6565 . Cybersecurity company Sophos said it investigated almost 40 intrusions linked to the threat actor between February 2024 and August 2025. The campaign is assessed with high confidence to share overlaps with a hacking group known as Gold Blade , which is also tracked under the names Earth Kapre, RedCurl, and Red Wolf. The financially motivated threat actor is believed to be active since late 2018 , initially targeting entities in Russia, before expanding its focus to entities in Canada, Germany, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, the U.K., and the U.S. The group has a history of using phishing emails to conduct commercial espionage. However, recent attack waves have found RedCurl to have engaged in ransomware attacks using a bespoke malware strain dubbed QWCrypt . One of the notable tools in the threat actor's arsenal is RedLoader, which s...

The holiday season compresses risk into a short, high-stakes window. Systems run hot, teams run lean, and attackers time automated campaigns to get maximum return. Multiple industry threat reports show that bot-driven fraud, credential stuffing and account takeover attempts intensify around peak shopping events , especially the weeks around Black Friday and Christmas.  Why holiday peaks amplify credential risk Credential stuffing and password reuse are attractive to attackers because they scale: leaked username/password lists are tested automatically against retail login portals and mobile apps, and successful logins unlock stored payment tokens, loyalty balances and shipping addresses. These are assets that can be monetized immediately. Industry telemetry indicates adversaries "pre-stage" attack scripts and configurations in the days before major sale events to ensure access during peak traffic.  Retail history also shows how vendor or partner credentials exp...

The Iranian hacking group known as MuddyWater has been observed leveraging a new backdoor dubbed UDPGangster that uses the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for command-and-control (C2) purposes. The cyber espionage activity targeted users in Turkey, Israel, and Azerbaijan, according to a report from Fortinet FortiGuard Labs. "This malware enables remote control of compromised systems by allowing attackers to execute commands, exfiltrate files, and deploy additional payloads – all communicated through UDP channels designed to evade traditional network defenses," security researcher Cara Lin said . The attack chain involves using spear-phishing tactics to distribute booby-trapped Microsoft Word documents that trigger the execution of a malicious payload once macros are enabled. Some of the phishing messages impersonate the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs and purport to invite recipients to an online seminar titled "Presidential Elections a...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Friday formally added a critical security flaw impacting React Server Components (RSC) to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog following reports of active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability, CVE-2025-55182 (CVSS score: 10.0), relates to a case of remote code execution that could be triggered by an unauthenticated attacker without requiring any special setup. It's also tracked as React2Shell. "Meta React Server Components contains a remote code execution vulnerability that could allow unauthenticated remote code execution by exploiting a flaw in how React decodes payloads sent to React Server Function endpoints," CISA said in an advisory. The problem stems from insecure deserialization in the library's Flight protocol, which React uses to communicate between a server and client. As a result, it leads to a scenario where an unauthenticated, remote attacker can execute arbi...

Two hacking groups with ties to China have been observed weaponizing the newly disclosed security flaw in React Server Components (RSC) within hours of it becoming public knowledge. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2025-55182 (CVSS score: 10.0), aka React2Shell , which allows unauthenticated remote code execution . It has been addressed in React versions 19.0.1, 19.1.2, and 19.2.1. According to a new report shared by Amazon Web Services (AWS), two China-linked threat actors known as Earth Lamia and Jackpot Panda have been observed attempting to exploit the maximum-severity security flaw. "Our analysis of exploitation attempts in AWS MadPot honeypot infrastructure has identified exploitation activity from IP addresses and infrastructure historically linked to known China state-nexus threat actors," CJ Moses, CISO of Amazon Integrated Security, said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Specifically, the tech giant said it identified infrastructure associated wit...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday released details of a backdoor named BRICKSTORM that has been put to use by state-sponsored threat actors from the People's Republic of China (PRC) to maintain long-term persistence on compromised systems. "BRICKSTORM is a sophisticated backdoor for VMware vSphere and Windows environments," the agency said . "BRICKSTORM enables cyber threat actors to maintain stealthy access and provides capabilities for initiation, persistence, and secure command-and-control." Written in Golang, the custom implant essentially gives bad actors interactive shell access on the system and allows them to browse, upload, download, create, delete, and manipulate files The malware, mainly used in attacks targeting governments and information technology (IT) sectors, also supports multiple protocols, such as HTTPS, WebSockets, and nested Transport Layer Security (TLS), for command-and-control (C2), DNS-o...

Most people know the story of Paul Bunyan. A giant lumberjack, a trusted axe, and a challenge from a machine that promised to outpace him. Paul doubled down on his old way of working, swung harder, and still lost by a quarter inch. His mistake was not losing the contest. His mistake was assuming that effort alone could outmatch a new kind of tool. Security professionals are facing a similar moment. AI is our modern steam-powered saw. It is faster in some areas, unfamiliar in others, and it challenges a lot of long-standing habits. The instinct is to protect what we know instead of learning what the new tool can actually do. But if we follow Paul's approach, we'll find ourselves on the wrong side of a shift that is already underway. The right move is to learn the tool, understand its capabilities, and leverage it for outcomes that make your job easier.  AI's Role in Daily Cybersecurity Work AI is now embedded in almost every security product we touch. Endpoint protection platfor...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has updated its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog to include a security flaw impacting OpenPLC ScadaBR, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2021-26829 (CVSS score: 5.4), a cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw that affects Windows and Linux versions of the software via system_settings.shtm. It impacts the following versions - OpenPLC ScadaBR through 1.12.4 on Windows OpenPLC ScadaBR through 0.9.1 on Linux The addition of the security defect to the KEV catalog comes a little over a month after Forescout said it caught a pro-Russian hacktivist group known as TwoNet targeting its honeypot in September 2025, mistaking it for a water treatment facility.  In the compromise aimed at the decoy plant, the threat actor is said to have moved from initial access to disruptive action in about 26 hours, using default credentials to obtain a foothold, followed by carrying...

Gainsight has disclosed that the recent suspicious activity targeting its applications has affected more customers than previously thought. The company said Salesforce initially provided a list of 3 impacted customers and that it has "expanded to a larger list" as of November 21, 2025. It did not reveal the exact number of customers who were impacted, but its CEO, Chuck Ganapathi, said "we presently know of only a handful of customers who had their data affected." The development comes as Salesforce warned of detected "unusual activity" related to Gainsight-published applications connected to the platform, prompting the company to revoke all access and refresh tokens associated with them. The breach has been claimed by a notorious cybercrime group known as ShinyHunters (aka Bling Libra). A number of other precautionary steps have been enacted to contain the incident. This includes Zendesk, Gong.io, and HubSpot temporarily suspending their Gainsight...

2026 will mark a pivotal shift in cybersecurity. Threat actors are moving from experimenting with AI to making it their primary weapon, using it to scale attacks, automate reconnaissance, and craft hyper-realistic social engineering campaigns. The Storm on the Horizon Global world instability, coupled with rapid technological advancement, will force security teams to adapt not just their defensive technologies but their entire workforce approach. The average SOC already processes about 11,000 alerts daily, but the volume and sophistication of threats are accelerating. For business leaders, this translates to direct impacts on operational continuity, regulatory compliance, and bottom-line financials. SOCs that can't keep pace won't just struggle; they'll fail spectacularly. Solve these three core issues now, or pay dearly later. 1. Evasive Threats Are Slipping Through—And Getting Smarter Fast Attackers have mastered evasion. ClickFix campaigns trick employees into pas...

A recently patched security flaw in Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) has been exploited by threat actors to distribute a malware known as ShadowPad. "The attacker targeted Windows Servers with WSUS enabled, exploiting CVE-2025-59287 for initial access," AhnLab Security Intelligence Center (ASEC) said in a report published last week. "They then used PowerCat , an open-source PowerShell-based Netcat utility, to obtain a system shell (CMD). Subsequently, they downloaded and installed ShadowPad using certutil and curl." ShadowPad , assessed to be a successor to PlugX, is a modular backdoor widely used by Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups. It first emerged in 2015. In an analysis published in August 2021, SentinelOne called it a "masterpiece of privately sold malware in Chinese espionage." CVE-2025-59287 , addressed by Microsoft last month, refers to a critical deserialization flaw in WSUS that could be exploited to achieve remote cod...

The China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group known as APT31 has been attributed to cyber attacks targeting the Russian information technology (IT) sector between 2024 and 2025 while staying undetected for extended periods of time. "In the period from 2024 to 2025, the Russian IT sector, especially companies working as contractors and integrators of solutions for government agencies, faced a series of targeted computer attacks," Positive Technologies researchers Daniil Grigoryan and Varvara Koloskova said in a technical report. APT31, also known as Altaire, Bronze Vinewood, Judgement Panda, PerplexedGoblin, RedBravo, Red Keres, and Violet Typhoon (formerly Zirconium), is assessed to be active since at least 2010. It has a track record of striking a wide range of sectors, including governments, financial, and aerospace and defense, high tech, construction and engineering, telecommunications, media, and insurance. The cyber espionage group is primarily focused ...

Salesforce has warned of detected "unusual activity" related to Gainsight-published applications connected to the platform. "Our investigation indicates this activity may have enabled unauthorized access to certain customers' Salesforce data through the app's connection," the company said in an advisory. The cloud services firm said it has taken the step of revoking all active access and refresh tokens associated with Gainsight-published applications connected to Salesforce. It has also temporarily removed those applications from the AppExchange as its investigation continues. Salesforce did not disclose how many customers were impacted by the incident, but said it has notified them. "There is no indication that this issue resulted from any vulnerability in the Salesforce platform," the company added. "The activity appears to be related to the app's external connection to Salesforce." Out of an abundance of caution, the Gainsight ...

Suspected espionage-driven threat actors from Iran have been observed deploying backdoors like TWOSTROKE and DEEPROOT as part of continued attacks aimed at aerospace, aviation, and defense industries in the Middle East. The activity has been attributed by Google-owned Mandiant to a threat cluster tracked as UNC1549 (aka GalaxyGato, Nimbus Manticore, or Subtle Snail), which was first documented by the threat intelligence firm early last year. "Operating in late 2023 through 2025, UNC1549 employed sophisticated initial access vectors, including abuse of third-party relationships to gain entry (pivoting from service providers to their customers), VDI breakouts from third-parties, and highly targeted, role-relevant phishing," researchers Mohamed El-Banna, Daniel Lee, Mike Stokkel, and Josh Goddard said. The disclosure comes about two months after Swiss cybersecurity company PRODAFT tied the hacking group to a campaign targeting European telecommunications companies, succes...

The Race for Every New CVE Based on multiple 2025 industry reports: roughly 50 to 61 percent of newly disclosed vulnerabilities saw exploit code weaponized within 48 hours. Using the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog as a reference, hundreds of software flaws are now confirmed as actively targeted within days of public disclosure. Each new announcement now triggers a global race between attackers and defenders. Both sides monitor the same feeds, but one moves at machine speed while the other moves at human speed. Major threat actors have fully industrialized their response. The moment a new vulnerability appears in public databases, automated scripts scrape, parse, and assess it for exploitation potential, and now these efforts are getting ever more streamlined through the use of AI. Meanwhile, IT and security teams often enter triage mode, reading advisories, classifying severity, and queuing updates for the next patch cycle. That delay is precisely the gap the adversar...

Amazon's threat intelligence team on Wednesday disclosed that it observed an advanced threat actor exploiting two then-zero-day security flaws in Cisco Identity Service Engine (ISE) and Citrix NetScaler ADC products as part of attacks designed to deliver custom malware. "This discovery highlights the trend of threat actors focusing on critical identity and network access control infrastructure – the systems enterprises rely on to enforce security policies and manage authentication across their networks," CJ Moses, CISO of Amazon Integrated Security, said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The attacks were flagged by its MadPot honeypot network, with the activity weaponizing the following two vulnerabilities - CVE-2025-5777 or Citrix Bleed 2 (CVSS score: 9.3) - An insufficient input validation vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway that could be exploited by an attacker to bypass authentication. (Fixed by Citrix in June 2025 ) CVE-2025-20337 (CV...