All news with #cisco tag

🔔 CISA and international partners warn of active exploitation of Cisco SD-WAN systems, adding CVE-2026-20127 and CVE-2022-20775 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog. FCEB agencies are required by Emergency Directive 26-03 to inventory, update, and assess SD-WAN deployments. Organizations should collect artifacts, apply vendor updates, follow the Catalyst SD-WAN Hardening Guide, and hunt for evidence of compromise immediately.

⚠️CISA has added two Cisco SD‑WAN vulnerabilities (CVE‑2022‑20775 and CVE‑2026‑20127) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog based on evidence of active exploitation. These affect Cisco Catalyst SD‑WAN components and include a path traversal and an authentication bypass that can enable unauthorized access. Under BOD 22‑01, FCEB agencies must remediate by required due dates; CISA urges all organizations to prioritize timely mitigation.

🔎 Ryan Liles describes his role connecting Cisco product teams with independent evaluators to ensure products are tested and validated beyond vendor claims. As part of Talos’ Vulnerability Research and Discovery group, he coordinates third-party testing labs and navigates sensitive conversations about methodology and deployment. Liles stresses calm, fact-focused dialogue and long-standing industry relationships to resolve issues and improve testing outcomes.

🛡️ Cisco Talos discovered DKnife, a modular AitM framework operating on Linux-based network gateways since at least 2019 and active into early 2026. Deployed at the edge rather than endpoints, it performs deep packet inspection, credential interception, and selective traffic manipulation. Operators use it to hijack software and app updates to deliver ShadowPad and DarkNimbus payloads, and to perform DNS and binary replacement attacks.

🛡️ Cisco Talos researchers describe DKnife as an ELF-based Linux toolkit used since 2019 to hijack router traffic and perform adversary-in-the-middle operations. The framework has seven modules — including yitiji.bin to create a bridged TAP interface and mmdown.bin to drop malicious APKs — enabling DPI, credential harvesting, and delivery of backdoors such as ShadowPad and DarkNimbus. Talos attributes the activity to a China-nexus actor and noted C2 servers remained active as of January 2026.

🔍 Cisco Talos researchers uncovered DKnife, a Linux-based gateway-monitoring and adversary-in-the-middle framework used since at least 2019 and active through January 2026. The toolkit targets routers and edge devices running CentOS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux, using seven ELF components to perform DPI, traffic interception, DNS hijacking and in-line substitution of Android and Windows downloads. Talos attributes the framework with high confidence to Chinese-nexus actors and notes overlaps with campaigns delivering WizardNet, DarkNimbus and ShadowPad.

🔒 Cisco Talos researchers disclosed DKnife, a modular Linux-based adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) framework used by China-linked actors since at least 2019. The toolkit deploys seven router-focused implants to perform deep packet inspection, TLS termination, DNS and update hijacking, credential harvesting, and malware delivery via intercepted APKs and binary replacement. Operators used DKnife to push ShadowPad and DarkNimbus variants and to target Chinese-language services and app updates through compromised routers and edge devices.

🚨 As AI agent frameworks surge, Talos warns of two immediate threats: Clawdbot — a popular open-source agentic tool (aka Moltbot/OpenClaw) that requires users to store credentials and API keys locally and can accept unvetted Skills granted broad system privileges. DKnife, active since at least 2019, is a modular Linux attack framework that compromises routers and edge devices to intercept traffic, hijack updates, and deliver malware while evading many endpoint defenses. The newsletter urges skepticism toward rushed AI tools and recommends hardening gateways, auditing firmware, enforcing strong authentication, and monitoring for suspicious update behaviors.

📰 Hazel Burton opens this Threat Source newsletter by acknowledging how difficult it can be to stay engaged with the news and suggests small, human respites—like the U.K. show Taskmaster—to remind readers creativity and levity persist under pressure. On the technical side, Cisco Talos Incident Response’s Q4 2025 report shows exploitation of public-facing applications remains the leading initial access vector (down from 62% to ~40%), while phishing and credential harvesting rose and ransomware incidents fell to 13% with Qilin still common. The newsletter urges rapid patching, correct MFA configuration and monitoring, and comprehensive logging to detect suspicious activity.

🔍 Cisco Talos has identified a UAT-8099 campaign active from August 2025 through early 2026 that targets vulnerable IIS servers across Asia, concentrating on victims in Thailand and Vietnam. The actor uses web shells, PowerShell, and the GotoHTTP remote-control tool to maintain access and deploy region-customized BadIIS variants that hardcode country codes and inject SEO-fraud content. New persistence mechanisms, hidden accounts, and log-wiping utilities support long-term stealth and evasion.

🔒 Talos Incident Response (Talos IR) reports that in Q4 2025 threat actors again favored exploitation of public-facing applications, appearing in nearly 40% of engagements, while phishing rose to the second-most common initial access vector. Notable exploit activity targeted Oracle E-Business Suite (CVE-2025-61882) and React2Shell (CVE-2025-55182), and attackers rapidly weaponized these flaws close to disclosure. Talos also observed deployment of APT-linked implants such as BadCandy and AquaShell, plus campaigns that targeted Native American tribal organizations for credential harvesting. The report emphasizes timely patching, strong MFA controls, centralized logging, and rapid incident response to limit impact.

🔍 Cisco Talos stresses the simple but essential advice: know your environment, and pay attention to reconnaissance rather than dismissing it as noise. Researchers disclosed patched vulnerabilities in Foxit PDF Editor, Epic Games Store, and MedDream PACS, including privilege escalation, use‑after‑free, and XSS that could enable code execution or unauthorized access. The newsletter also covers active phishing and ransomware activity and provides telemetry on prevalent malware. Organizations should patch affected products, enhance detection for recon patterns, and apply layered defenses.

🔒 Cisco Talos disclosed multiple vulnerabilities affecting Foxit PDF Editor, the Epic Games Store installer, and MedDream PACS. The issues include installer privilege escalation, two use‑after‑free flaws in Foxit that can be triggered by crafted PDF JavaScript, and 21 reflected XSS vulnerabilities in MedDream. Vendors have issued patches under Cisco’s disclosure policy. Administrators should apply vendor updates and consider IDS/IPS signatures such as Snort to detect attempted exploitation.

⚠️ Cisco has released patches for a critical remote code execution vulnerability, CVE-2026-20045, affecting Unified Communications Manager, Unity Connection, and Webex Calling Dedicated Instance. The flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to gain user access via crafted HTTP requests and then escalate privileges to root without user interaction. No workarounds exist; fixes are version-specific and organizations should apply the matching patch or migrate unsupported 12.5 systems.

🔒 Cisco released patches for a critical, actively exploited vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-20045 that affects multiple Unified Communications products and Webex Calling Dedicated Instance. The flaw (CVSS 8.2) allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via crafted HTTP requests against the web-based management interface. Cisco urged customers to upgrade to fixed releases or apply published patch files; there are no workarounds. The U.S. CISA has added the issue to its KEV catalog with a remediation deadline of February 11, 2026.

🔒 Cisco released patches to address a critical remote code execution vulnerability, CVE-2026-20045, actively exploited against Unified Communications Manager, Unity Connection, and Webex Calling Dedicated Instance. The flaw stems from improper validation of user-supplied input in HTTP requests to the web management interface and can allow an attacker to gain user access and escalate to root. Administrators should apply the version-specific updates or provided .cop patch files immediately, as Cisco reports no available workarounds.

🔔 CISA has added CVE-2026-20045, a code injection vulnerability affecting Cisco Unified Communications products, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog based on evidence of active exploitation. The agency warns that code injection is a frequent attack vector and poses significant risk to the federal enterprise. Under BOD 22-01, Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies must remediate KEV items by the required deadlines. CISA strongly urges all organizations to prioritize timely remediation as part of vulnerability management.

🔐 Rona Michele Spiegel transitioned from an arts and multimedia background into cybersecurity by blending early human-computer interface work with formal study and hands-on industry experience. She helped establish a user experience practice at Deloitte, worked in technology governance at Cisco, earned a Master of Information and Cybersecurity, and later focused on cloud controls at Wells Fargo before joining Autodesk to lead security and trust for mergers and acquisitions. Spiegel emphasizes careful risk assessment in M&A—especially when absorbing small, resource-constrained companies—while navigating AI-driven complexity, addressing hiring and entry-level gaps, and preventing burnout through inclusive leadership and mentoring.

⚠️ Cisco has released patches for a critical zero-day, CVE-2025-20393, in AsyncOS that affects Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and Secure Email and Web Manager (SEWM) appliances. The flaw allows a remote attacker to gain root by sending a crafted HTTP request to the Spam Quarantine interface when it is enabled and reachable from the internet. Cisco first learned of exploitation in December, issued a public advisory on Dec. 17, and has now published fixes to address the issue.

🔒 Cisco has released a fix for a maximum‑severity AsyncOS zero‑day (CVE-2025-20393) that has been exploited since November 2025. The flaw impacts Cisco Secure Email Gateway and Secure Email and Web Manager appliances with non-standard configurations when the Spam Quarantine feature is exposed to the internet, permitting arbitrary command execution as root. Cisco Talos links the intrusions to a Chinese-nexus actor tracked as UAT-9686, which deployed persistence and tunneling implants and a log-wiping utility. CISA has added the vulnerability to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog and ordered federal remediation under BOD 22-01.