Microsoft | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

The threat actor known as Harvester has been attributed to a new Linux version of its GoGra backdoor deployed as part of attacks likely targeting entities in South Asia. "The malware uses the legitimate Microsoft Graph API and Outlook mailboxes as a covert command-and-control (C2) channel, allowing it to bypass traditional perimeter network defenses," the Symantec and Carbon Black Threat Hunter Team said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The cybersecurity company said it identified artifacts uploaded to the VirusTotal platform from India and Afghanistan, suggesting that the two countries may be the target of the espionage activity. Harvester was first publicly documented by Symantec in late 2021, linking it to an information-stealing campaign aimed at telecommunications, government, and information technology sectors in South Asia since June 2021, using a bespoke implant called Graphon that used the Microsoft Graph API for C2. Subsequent activity flagged in Au...

Microsoft has released out-of-band updates to address a security vulnerability in ASP.NET Core that could allow an attacker to escalate privileges. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-40372 , carries a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10.0. It's rated Important in severity. An anonymous researcher has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw. "Improper verification of cryptographic signature in ASP.NET Core allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network," Microsoft said in a Tuesday advisory. "An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges." The tech giant said an attacker could abuse the vulnerability to disclose files and modify data, but emphasized that successful exploitation hinges on three prerequisites - The application uses Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection 10.0.6 from NuGet (either directly or through a package that depends on it, such as Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.S...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a vulnerability in Google's agentic integrated development environment (IDE), Antigravity, that could be exploited to achieve code execution. The flaw, since patched, combines Antigravity's permitted file-creation capabilities with an insufficient input sanitization in Antigravity's native file-searching tool, find_by_name, to bypass the program's Strict Mode , a restrictive security configuration that limits network access, prevents out-of-workspace writes, and ensures all commands are being run within a sandbox context . "By injecting the -X (exec-batch) flag through the Pattern parameter [in the find_by_name tool], an attacker can force fd to execute arbitrary binaries against workspace files," Pillar Security researcher Dan Lisichkin said in an analysis. "Combined with Antigravity's ability to create files as a permitted action, this enables a full attack chain: stage a malicious script, then trigger ...

A number of critical vulnerabilities impacting products from Adobe, Fortinet, Microsoft, and SAP have taken center stage in April's Patch Tuesday releases. Topping the list is an SQL injection vulnerability impacting SAP Business Planning and Consolidation and SAP Business Warehouse ( CVE-2026-27681 , CVSS score: 9.9) that could result in the execution of arbitrary database commands. "The vulnerable ABAP program allows a low-privileged user to upload a file with arbitrary SQL statements that will then be executed," Onapsis said in an advisory. In a potential attack scenario, a bad actor could abuse the affected upload-related functionality to run malicious SQL against BW/BPC data stores, extract sensitive data, and delete or corrupt database content. "Manipulated planning figures, broken reports, or deleted consolidation data can undermine close processes, executive reporting, and operational planning," Pathlock said . "In the wrong hands, t...

Microsoft on Tuesday released updates to address a record 169 security flaws across its product portfolio, including one vulnerability that has been actively exploited in the wild. Of these 169 vulnerabilities, 157 are rated Important, eight are rated Critical, three are rated Moderate, and one is rated Low in severity. Ninety-three of the flaws are classified as privilege escalation, followed by 21 information disclosure, 21 remote code execution, 14 security feature bypass, 10 spoofing, and nine denial-of-service vulnerabilities. Also included among the 169 flaws are four non-Microsoft issued CVEs impacting AMD (CVE-2023-20585), Node.js (CVE-2026-21637), Windows Secure Boot (CVE-2026-25250), and Git for Windows (CVE-2026-32631). The updates are in addition to 78 vulnerabilities that have been addressed in its Chromium-based Edge browser since the update that was released last month . T...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added half a dozen security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The list of vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2026-21643 (CVSS score: 9.1) -  An SQL injection vulnerability in  Fortinet FortiClient EMS that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute unauthorized code or commands via specifically crafted HTTP requests. CVE-2020-9715 (CVSS score: 7.8) - A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader that could result in remote code execution. CVE-2023-36424 (CVSS score: 7.8) - An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Common Log File System Driver that could result in privilege escalation. CVE-2023-21529 (CVSS score: 8.8) - A deserialization of untrusted data in Microsoft Exchange Server that could allow an authenticated attacker to achieve remote code execution.  CVE-2025-60...

Details have emerged about a now-patched security vulnerability in a widely used third-party Android software development kit (SDK) called  EngageLab SDK that could have put millions of cryptocurrency wallet users at risk. "This flaw allows apps on the same device to bypass Android security sandbox and gain unauthorized access to private data," the Microsoft Defender Security Research Team said in a report published today. EngageLab SDK offers a push notification service , which, according to its website, is designed to deliver "timely notifications" based on user behavior already tracked by developers. Once integrated into an app, the SDK offers a way to send personalized notifications and drive real-time engagement. The tech giant said a significant number of apps using the SDK are part of the cryptocurrency and digital wallet ecosystem, and that the affected wallet apps accounted for more than 30 million ins...

The Russia-linked threat actor known as APT28 (aka Forest Blizzard) has been linked to a new campaign that has compromised insecure MikroTik and TP-Link routers and modified their settings to turn them into malicious infrastructure under their control as part of a cyber espionage campaign since at least May 2025. The large-scale exploitation campaign has been codenamed   FrostArmada by Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, with Microsoft describing it as an effort to exploit vulnerable home and small office (SOHO) internet devices to hijack DNS traffic and enable passive collection of network data. "Their technique modified DNS settings on compromised routers to hijack local network traffic to capture and exfiltrate authentication credentials," Black Lotus Labs said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "When targeted domains were requested by a user, the actor redirected traffic to an attacker-in-the-middle (AitM) node, where those credentials were harv...

A China-based threat actor known for deploying Medusa ransomware has been linked to the weaponization of a combination of zero-day and N-day vulnerabilities to orchestrate "high-velocity" attacks and break into susceptible internet-facing systems. "The threat actor's high operational tempo and proficiency in identifying exposed perimeter assets have proven successful, with recent intrusions heavily impacting healthcare organizations, as well as those in the education, professional services, and finance sectors in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said . Attacks mounted by Storm-1175 have also leveraged zero-day exploits, in some cases, before they have been publicly disclosed, as well as recently disclosed vulnerabilities to obtain initial access. Select incidents have involved the threat actor chaining together multiple exploits (e.g., OWASSRF ) for post-compromise activity. Upon...

Microsoft is calling attention to a new campaign that has leveraged WhatsApp messages to distribute malicious Visual Basic Script (VBS) files. The activity, beginning in late February 2026, leverages these scripts to initiate a multi-stage infection chain for establishing persistence and enabling remote access. It's currently not known what lures the threat actors use to trick users into executing the scripts. "The campaign relies on a combination of social engineering and living-off-the-land techniques," the Microsoft Defender Security Research Team said . "It uses renamed Windows utilities to blend into normal system activity, retrieves payloads from trusted cloud services such as AWS, Tencent Cloud, and Backblaze B2, and installs malicious Microsoft Installer (MSI) packages to maintain control of the system." The use of legitimate tools and trusted platforms is a deadly combination, as it allows threat actors to blend in normal network activity and incre...

Microsoft has warned of fresh campaigns that are capitalizing on the upcoming tax season in the U.S. to harvest credentials and deliver malware. The email campaigns take advantage of the urgency and time-sensitive nature of emails to send phishing messages masquerading as refund notices, payroll forms, filing reminders, and requests from tax professionals to deceive recipients into opening malicious attachments, scanning QR code, or interacting with suspicious links. "Many campaigns target individuals for personal and financial data theft, but others specifically target accountants and other professionals who handle sensitive documents, have access to financial data, and are accustomed to receiving tax-related emails during this period," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence and Microsoft Defender Security Research teams said in a report published last week. While some of these efforts direct users to sketchy pages designed through Phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms, ot...

Microsoft has disclosed details of a credential theft campaign that employs fake virtual private network (VPN) clients distributed through search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning techniques. "The campaign redirects users searching for legitimate enterprise software to malicious ZIP files on attacker-controlled websites to deploy digitally signed trojans that masquerade as trusted VPN clients while harvesting VPN credentials," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence and Microsoft Defender Experts teams said . The Windows maker, which observed the activity in mid-January 2026, has attributed it to Storm-2561 , a threat activity cluster known for propagating malware through SEO poisoning and impersonating popular software vendors since May 2025. The threat actor's campaigns were first documented by Cyjax, highlighting the use of SEO poisoning to redirect users searching for software programs from companies like SonicWall, Hanwha Vision, and Pulse Secure (now Ivanti Secure...

Microsoft on Tuesday released patches for a set of 84 new security vulnerabilities affecting various software components, including two that have been listed as publicly known. Of these, eight are rated Critical, and 76 are rated Important in severity. Forty-six of the patched vulnerabilities relate to privilege escalation, followed by 18 remote code execution, 10 information disclosure, four spoofing, four denial-of-service, and two security feature bypass flaws. The fixes are in addition to 10 vulnerabilities that have been addressed in its Chromium-based Edge browser since the release of the February 2026 Patch Tuesday update . The two publicly disclosed zero-days are CVE-2026-26127 (CVSS score: 7.5), a denial-of-service vulnerability in .NET, and CVE-2026-21262 (CVSS score: 8.8), an elevation of privilege vulnerability in SQL Server. The vulnerability with the highest CVSS score in this month's update is a critical remote code execution flaw in the Microsoft Devices ...

Microsoft on Thursday disclosed details of a new widespread ClickFix social engineering campaign that has leveraged the Windows Terminal app as a way to activate a sophisticated attack chain and deploy the Lumma Stealer malware. The activity, observed in February 2026, makes use of the terminal emulator program instead of instructing users to launch the Windows Run dialog and paste a command into it. "This campaign instructs targets to use the Windows + X → I shortcut to launch Windows Terminal (wt.exe) directly, guiding users into a privileged command execution environment that blends into legitimate administrative workflows and appears more trustworthy to users," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said in a series of posts on X. What makes the latest variant notable is that it bypasses detections specifically designed to flag Run dialog abuse, not to mention take advantage of the legitimacy of Windows Terminal to trick unsuspecting users into running malicious ...

Tycoon 2FA , one of the prominent phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) toolkits that allowed cybercriminals to stage adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) credential harvesting attacks at scale, was dismantled by a coalition of law enforcement agencies and security companies. The subscription-based phishing kit , which first emerged in August 2023 , was described by Europol as one of the largest phishing operations worldwide. The kit was sold via Telegram and Signal for a starting price of $120 for 10 days or $350 for access to a web-based administration panel for a month. Tycoon 2FA's primary developer is alleged to be Saad Fridi , who is said to be based in Pakistan. The panel serves as a hub for configuring, tracking, and refining campaigns. It features pre‑built templates, attachment files for common lure formats, domain and hosting configuration, redirect logic, and victim tracking. Operators can also configure how the malicious content is delivered through attachments, as well as kee...

Threat hunters have called attention to a new campaign as part of which bad actors masqueraded as fake IT support to deliver the Havoc command-and-control (C2) framework as a precursor to data exfiltration or ransomware attack. The intrusions, identified by Huntress last month across five partner organizations, involved the threat actors using email spam as lures, followed by a phone call from an IT desk that activates a layered malware delivery pipeline. "In one organization, the adversary moved from initial access to nine additional endpoints over the course of eleven hours, deploying a mix of custom Havoc Demon payloads and legitimate RMM tools for persistence, with the speed of lateral movement strongly suggesting the end goal was data exfiltration, ransomware, or both," researchers Michael Tigges, Anna Pham, and Bryan Masters said. It's worth noting that the modus operandi is consistent with email bombing and Microsoft Teams phishing attacks orchestrated by t...

Microsoft on Monday warned of phishing campaigns that employ phishing emails and OAuth URL redirection mechanisms to bypass conventional phishing defenses implemented in email and browsers. The activity, the company said, targets government and public-sector organizations with the end goal of redirecting victims to attacker-controlled infrastructure without stealing their tokens. It described the phishing attacks as an identity-based threat that takes advantage of OAuth's standard, by-design behavior rather than exploiting software vulnerabilities or stealing credentials. "OAuth includes a legitimate feature that allows identity providers to redirect users to a specific landing page under certain conditions, typically in error scenarios or other defined flows," the Microsoft Defender Security Research Team said . "Attackers can abuse this native functionality by crafting URLs with popular identity providers, such as Entra ID or Google Workspace, that use manipu...

A recently disclosed security flaw patched by Microsoft may have been exploited by the Russia-linked state-sponsored threat actor known as APT28 , according to new findings from Akamai. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-21513 (CVSS score: 8.8), a high-severity security feature bypass affecting the MSHTML Framework. "Protection mechanism failure in MSHTML Framework allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network," Microsoft noted in its advisory for the flaw. It was fixed by the Windows maker as part of its February 2026 Patch Tuesday update. However, the tech giant also noted that the vulnerability had been exploited as a zero-day in real-world attacks, crediting the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), and Office Product Group Security Team, along with Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), for reporting it. In a hypothetical attack scenario, a threat actor could weaponize th...

OpenClaw has fixed a high-severity security issue that, if successfully exploited, could have allowed a malicious website to connect to a locally running artificial intelligence (AI) agent and take over control. "Our vulnerability lives in the core system itself – no plugins, no marketplace, no user-installed extensions – just the bare OpenClaw gateway, running exactly as documented," Oasis Security said in a report published this week. The flaw has been codenamed ClawJacked by the cybersecurity company. The attack assumes the following threat model: A developer has OpenClaw set up and running on their laptop, with its gateway , a local WebSocket server, bound to localhost and protected by a password. The attack kicks in when the developer lands on an attacker-controlled website through social engineering or some other means. The infection sequence then follows the steps below - Malicious JavaScript on the web page opens a WebSocket connection to localhost on the ...

A vulnerability in GitHub Codespaces could have been exploited by bad actors to seize control of repositories by injecting malicious Copilot instructions in a GitHub issue. The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven vulnerability has been codenamed RoguePilot by Orca Security. It has since been patched by Microsoft following responsible disclosure. "Attackers can craft hidden instructions inside a GitHub issue that are automatically processed by GitHub Copilot, giving them silent control of the in-codespaces AI agent," security researcher Roi Nisimi said in a report. The vulnerability has been described as a case of passive or indirect prompt injection where a malicious instruction is embedded within data or content that's processed by the large language model (LLM), causing it to produce unintended outputs or carry out arbitrary actions. The cloud security company also called it a type of AI-mediated supply chain attack that induces the LLM to automatically execute ...