All news with #cisco tag

Agentic AI Reshapes Cybercrime and Defensive Options

🤖Agentic AI gives autonomous agents the ability to access external systems, gather information, and take actions within defined workflows, making routine multi-system tasks far more efficient for human operators. Cisco Talos warns this efficiency is already being mirrored in the cyber crime economy, including the first observed AI-orchestrated campaign in early 2025. While AI lowers barriers to entry and speeds operations for attackers, it is imperfect and still requires skilled instruction and human oversight. Defenders can respond by building their own agentic tools, deploying honeypots to engage malicious agents, and refining detection to stay ahead.

Snort3 Adds Severity-Based Rule Grouping for Flexibility

🔔 Cisco Talos has introduced a new Severity rule group for Snort3 in Cisco Secure Firewall, grouping detection rules by CVSS-derived severity tiers (low, medium, high, critical). Administrators can set coverage by time range — from the last two years up to all historical vulnerabilities — to balance detection depth and performance. This makes it easier to align rules with patch cycles, compliance needs, and organizational risk priorities while reducing manual tuning.

Zero-day Campaign Targets Cisco ISE and Citrix Systems

🔒 Amazon Threat Intelligence disclosed an advanced APT campaign that weaponized zero-day vulnerabilities in Citrix NetScaler (Citrix Bleed 2, CVE-2025-5777) and Cisco Identity Services Engine (CVE-2025-20337). Attackers achieved pre-auth remote code execution via input-validation and deserialization flaws and deployed an in-memory web shell masquerading as the ISE IdentityAuditAction component. The implant registered as a Tomcat HTTP listener, used DES with nonstandard Base-64 encoding, required specific HTTP headers, and relied on Java reflection and bespoke decoding routines to evade detection.

CISA Orders Feds to Patch Actively Exploited Cisco Flaws

🔒 CISA has ordered U.S. federal agencies to fully patch two actively exploited vulnerabilities in Cisco firewall appliances within 24 hours. Tracked as CVE-2025-20362 and CVE-2025-20333, the flaws permit unauthenticated access to restricted URL endpoints and remote code execution; chained together they can yield full device takeover. The agency emphasized applying the latest updates to all ASA and Firepower devices immediately, not just Internet-facing units.

ThreatsDay Bulletin: Key Cybersecurity Developments

🔐 This ThreatsDay Bulletin surveys major cyber activity shaping November 2025, from exploited Cisco zero‑days and active malware campaigns to regulatory moves and AI-related leaks. Highlights include CISA's emergency directive after some Cisco updates remained vulnerable, a large-scale study finding 65% of AI firms leaked secrets on GitHub, and a prolific phishing operation abusing Facebook Business Suite. The roundup stresses practical mitigations—verify patch versions, enable secret scanning, and strengthen incident reporting and red‑teaming practices.

Amazon: APT Exploits Cisco ISE and Citrix Zero‑Days

🔒 Amazon Threat Intelligence identified an advanced threat actor exploiting undisclosed zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Citrix products. The actor achieved pre-authentication remote code execution via a newly tracked Cisco deserialization flaw (CVE-2025-20337) and earlier Citrix Bleed Two activity (CVE-2025-5777). Following exploitation, a custom in-memory web shell disguised as IdentityAuditAction was deployed, demonstrating sophisticated evasion using Java reflection, Tomcat request listeners, and DES with nonstandard Base64. Amazon recommends limiting external access to management endpoints and implementing layered defenses and detection coverage.

Amazon: Threat Actor Exploited Cisco and Citrix Zero-Days

⚠️ Amazon's threat intelligence team disclosed that it observed an advanced threat actor exploiting two zero-day vulnerabilities in Citrix NetScaler ADC (CVE-2025-5777) and Cisco Identity Services Engine (CVE-2025-20337) to deploy a custom web shell. The backdoor, disguised as an IdentityAuditAction component, operates entirely in memory, uses Java reflection to inject into running threads, and registers a Tomcat listener to monitor HTTP traffic. Amazon observed the activity via its MadPot honeypot, called the actor highly resourced, and noted both flaws were later patched by the vendors.

Zero-day Attacks Exploit Citrix Bleed 2 and Cisco ISE

🛡️ Amazon's MadPot honeypot observed exploitation of Citrix Bleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) and Cisco ISE (CVE-2025-20337) before public disclosure. The attacker used the ISE flaw to deploy a stealthy custom web shell named IdentityAuditAction, which registered an HTTP listener, used Java reflection to inject into Tomcat threads, and relied on DES with non-standard base64 encoding for concealment. Apply vendor patches and limit edge device access through layered firewall controls.

CISA Issues Guidance on Cisco ASA and Firepower Risks

⚠️ CISA released Implementation Guidance for Emergency Directive 25‑03 addressing ongoing exploitation of Cisco ASA and Firepower devices, identifying minimum software versions that remediate known vulnerabilities. The guidance directs federal agencies to perform corrective patching and recommends all organizations verify and apply the specified minimum updates. CISA also provides the RayDetect scanner to analyze ASA core dumps for RayInitiator compromise and offers temporary mitigation recommendations for agencies still completing compliance.

CISA Issues Guidance for Cisco ASA and Firepower Fixes

🔔 CISA released implementation guidance for Cisco ASA and Firepower devices to support Emergency Directive 25-03. The guidance lists minimum software versions that remediate CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362 and directs agencies to perform corrective patching. CISA warns multiple organizations believed they had applied updates but had not and recommends all operators verify exact versions. Agencies with devices not yet updated or updated after Sept. 26, 2025, should follow additional temporary mitigations.

Cisco Firewall Zero-Days Now Triggering DoS Reboots

⚠️ Cisco warned that two recently patched firewall vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-20362 and CVE-2025-20333) — previously leveraged in zero-day intrusions — are now being abused to force ASA and FTD devices into unexpected reboot loops, causing denial-of-service. The vendor issued updates on September 25 and strongly urged customers to apply fixes immediately. CISA issued an emergency 24-hour directive for U.S. federal agencies and ordered EoS ASA devices to be disconnected. Shadowserver still reports tens of thousands of internet-exposed, unpatched devices.

Cisco Fixes Critical Authentication and RCE Flaws in CCX

🔒 Cisco has released security updates for Unified Contact Center Express (CCX) to address two critical vulnerabilities that can enable authentication bypass and remote code execution as root. The company issued software updates 15.0 ES01 and 12.5 SU3 ES07 and urged customers to apply them immediately. Cisco also fixed four medium-severity issues across CCX, CCE and UIC, and warned of a new attack variant affecting ASA and FTD devices tied to earlier patches.

Cisco Warns of Firewall Attack Causing DoS; Urges Patch

⚠️ Cisco disclosed a new attack variant that targets devices running Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD software that are vulnerable to CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362. The exploit can cause unpatched devices to unexpectedly reload, creating denial-of-service conditions, and follows prior zero-day campaigns that delivered malware such as RayInitiator and LINE VIPER, per the U.K. NCSC. Cisco additionally released patches for critical Unified CCX flaws and a high-severity DoS bug in ISE, and urges customers to apply updates immediately.

Critical Cisco UCCX Flaw Allows Remote Root Execution

🔒 Cisco has released updates to address a critical vulnerability in Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) — CVE-2025-20354 — found in the Java RMI process that can let unauthenticated attackers execute arbitrary commands as root. A separate CCX Editor flaw allows authentication bypass and script execution with admin privileges. Administrators should upgrade to the first fixed releases (12.5 SU3 ES07 or 15.0 ES01) immediately; Cisco has not yet observed active exploitation.

Equipping Autonomous AI Agents with Cyber Hygiene Practices

🔐 This post demonstrates a proof-of-concept for teaching autonomous agents internet safety by integrating real-time threat intelligence. Using LangChain with OpenAI and the Cisco Umbrella API, the example shows how an agent can extract domains and query dispositions to decide whether to connect. The agent returns clear disposition reports and abstains when no domains are present. The approach emphasizes decision-making over hardblocking.

ASD Warns of Ongoing BADCANDY Attacks on Cisco IOS XE

🛡️ The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has issued a bulletin warning of ongoing attacks using a Lua-based implant dubbed BADCANDY to compromise unpatched Cisco IOS XE devices via CVE-2023-20198. ASD reports variations have been seen since October 2023 and estimates about 400 Australian devices were compromised since July 2025, with 150 infections in October. Operators are urged to apply patches, restrict public access to the web UI, and follow Cisco hardening guidance.

Australia warns of BadCandy infections on Cisco devices

⚠️ The Australian Signals Directorate warns of ongoing attacks against unpatched Cisco IOS XE devices being backdoored with the Lua-based BadCandy webshell. The exploited flaw, CVE-2023-20198, allows unauthenticated actors to create local admin accounts via the web UI and execute commands with root privileges. Cisco issued a patch in October 2023, but many internet-exposed devices remain vulnerable and have been repeatedly re-infected.

Email and Remote Access Drive 90% of Cyber Claims in 2024

📧 At-Bay's 2025 InsurSec analysis finds email and remote access were central to 90% of cyber insurance claims in 2024. Email accounted for 43% of incidents and fraud schemes commonly begin with credential theft, domain spoofing, and impersonation. Google Workspace was cited as the most secure mail provider, though claims rose; MDR services were highlighted as the most reliable defense against full encryption.

Passwordless Authentication: Clearing Common Myths

🔐 Passwordless authentication reduces reliance on passwords by using device-bound keys and local verification. The post explains that passwordless is inherently multi-factor: a device factor plus a local secret such as a PIN or biometric. Biometrics and PINs unlock a private key stored on the device and are not transmitted or centralized, reducing theft and replay risks. It also describes protections that make this approach highly phishing-resistant.

CASB Buying Guide: Key Capabilities, Vendors, and Questions

🔒 A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) sits between enterprise endpoints and cloud services to deliver visibility, enforce access controls and detect threats. This guide summarizes core CASB functions — visibility, control, data protection and compliance — and contrasts deployment modes (API vs proxy). It profiles major vendors such as Netskope, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Palo Alto Networks and others, and presents 16 practical questions to assess internal readiness and evaluate providers against SSE/SASE roadmaps.