exploitation | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Two now-patched security flaws impacting Cisco Smart Licensing Utility are seeing active exploitation attempts, according to SANS Internet Storm Center . The two critical-rated vulnerabilities in question are listed below -  CVE-2024-20439 (CVSS score: 9.8) - The presence of an undocumented static user credential for an administrative account that an attacker could exploit to log in to an affected system CVE-2024-20440 (CVSS score: 9.8) - A vulnerability arising due to an excessively verbose debug log file that an attacker could exploit to access such files by means of a crafted HTTP request and obtain credentials that can be used to access the API Successful exploitation of the flaws could enable an attacker to log in to the affected system with administrative privileges, and obtain log files that contain sensitive data, including credentials that can be used to access the API. That said, the vulnerabilities are only exploitable in scenarios where the utility is active...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a high-severity security flaw impacting NAKIVO Backup & Replication software to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-48248 (CVSS score: 8.6), an absolute path traversal bug that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to read files on the target host, including sensitive ones such as "/etc/shadow" via the endpoint "/c/router." It affects all versions of the software prior to version 10.11.3.86570. "NAKIVO Backup and Replication contains an absolute path traversal vulnerability that enables an attacker to read arbitrary files," CISA said in an advisory. Successful exploitation of the shortcoming could allow an adversary to read sensitive data, including configuration files, backups, and credentials, which could then act as a stepping stone for further compromises. There are cu...

VideoLAN recently published a security advisory warning of a buffer overflow vulnerability in versions 2.0.5 and earlier of VLC Media Player, which might be exploited to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability was reported by Debasish Mandal. The vulnerability is caused due to an error in the "DemuxPacket()" function (modules/demux/asf/asf.c) when processing ASF files and can be exploited to cause a buffer overflow via a specially crafted ASF file. To exploit the vulnerability, a user must explicitly open a specially crafted ASF movie. Successful exploitation may allow execution of arbitrary code, but requires tricking a user into opening a malicious file. VideoLAN advises users to refrain from opening files from untrusted locations and to disable the VLC browser plug-ins until the issue is patched. A patch will be included in VLC 2.0.6, the next version of the media player, which is only available for testing purposes at the moment.

A newly released report by cybersecurity firm CTM360 reveals a large-scale scam operation utilizing fake news websites—known as Baiting News Sites (BNS)—to deceive users into online investment fraud across 50 countries. These BNS pages are made to look like real news outlets: CNN, BBC, CNBC, or regional media. They publish fake stories that feature public figures, central banks, or financial brands, all claiming to back new ways to earn passive income. The goal? Build trust quickly and steer readers toward professional-looking scam platforms like Trap10, Solara Vynex, or Eclipse Earn. Scammers use sponsored ads on Google, Meta, and blog networks to push traffic to these sites. Ads often carry clickbait headlines—"You won't believe what a prominent public figure just revealed"—paired with official photos or national flags to make them feel legit. Clicking the ad directs users to a fake article, which then redirects them to a fraudulent trading platform. Many of these scams follow a...