All news with #hardcoded secrets tag

Android photo frames download malware at boot, supply risk

⚠️ Quokka's assessment of the Uhale Android platform used in many consumer digital picture frames found devices that download and execute malware on boot. The tested units update to Uhale app 4.2.0, install a JAR/DEX payload from China-based servers, and persistently load it at every reboot. Devices were rooted, shipped with SELinux disabled and signed with AOSP test-keys, increasing exposure. Quokka disclosed 17 vulnerabilities (11 with CVEs) including remote code execution, command injection, an unauthenticated file server and insecure WebViews; researchers linked artifacts to Vo1d and Mezmess while the vendor did not respond to notifications.

Brightpick Mission Control and Internal Logic Control Flaws

⚠️ CISA published an advisory on November 13, 2025, warning that Brightpick AI devices — Mission Control and Internal Logic Control — contain multiple high-severity weaknesses that are remotely exploitable. Tracked as CVE-2025-64307, CVE-2025-64308, and CVE-2025-64309, the issues include missing authentication, hardcoded credentials in client-side JavaScript, and an unauthenticated WebSocket endpoint. Calculated scores reach up to CVSS v4 8.7, and CISA advises isolating affected systems, minimizing network exposure, and using secure remote access while conducting impact assessments.

AI startups expose API keys on GitHub, risking models

🔐 New research by cloud security firm Wiz found verified secret leaks in 65% of the Forbes AI 50, with API keys and access tokens exposed on GitHub. Some credentials were tied to vendors such as Hugging Face, Weights & Biases, and LangChain, potentially granting access to private models, training data, and internal details. Nearly half of Wiz’s disclosure attempts failed or received no response. The findings highlight urgent gaps in secret management and DevSecOps practices.

65% of Top Private AI Firms Exposed Secrets on GitHub

🔒 A Wiz analysis of 50 private companies from the Forbes AI 50 found that 65% had exposed verified secrets such as API keys, tokens and credentials across GitHub and related repositories. Researchers employed a Depth, Perimeter and Coverage approach to examine commit histories, deleted forks, gists and contributors' personal repos, revealing secrets standard scanners often miss. Affected firms are collectively valued at over $400bn.

Susvsex Ransomware Test Published on VS Code Marketplace

🔒 A malicious VS Code extension named susvsex, published by 'suspublisher18', was listed on Microsoft's official marketplace and included basic ransomware features such as AES-256-CBC encryption and exfiltration to a hardcoded C2. Secure Annex researcher John Tuckner identified AI-generated artifacts in the code and reported it, but Microsoft did not remove the extension. The extension also polled a private GitHub repo for commands using a hardcoded PAT.

ABB FLXeon Devices: Multiple Remote-Access Vulnerabilities

⚠ ABB FLXeon devices are affected by multiple high-severity vulnerabilities, including hard-coded credentials, MD5 password hashing without proper salt, and improper input validation that can enable remote code execution. Combined CVSS v4 scores reach up to 8.7 and successful exploitation could allow remote control, arbitrary code execution, or device crashes. ABB and CISA advise disconnecting Internet-exposed units, applying the latest firmware, enforcing physical access controls, and using secure remote-access methods such as properly configured VPNs.

Louvre Heist Exposes Longstanding Security Failures

🏛 Thieves brazenly used a furniture elevator to access a second‑floor window and stole historic jewels worth about €88 million from display cases at the Louvre in October 2025. French authorities say the alarms on the affected window and cases functioned as intended, but the theft prompted a comprehensive security review and urgent recommendations for new governance, extra perimeter cameras, and updated protocols. Confidential audits cited by Libération document chronic IT weaknesses since 2014 — systems running Windows 2000 and weak password hygiene, including a video server reportedly protected by the password "LOUVRE".

Louvre's Outdated Windows Systems Highlighted After Burglary

🏛 The Louvre has struggled for more than a decade with outdated software and unsupported Windows systems that control critical security infrastructure, French reports say. Audits in 2014 and 2017 found workstations running Windows 2000 and Windows XP, along with a video server still on Windows Server 2003 and weak, hard-coded passwords on surveillance applications. Procurement records also list multiple Thales systems as "software that cannot be updated." Authorities ordered governance and security reforms after a recent jewelry theft, though there is no indication the IT issues directly enabled that burglary.

SesameOp Backdoor Abuses OpenAI Assistants API for C2

🛡️ Researchers at Microsoft disclosed a previously undocumented backdoor, dubbed SesameOp, that abuses the OpenAI Assistants API to relay commands and exfiltrate results. The attack chain uses .NET AppDomainManager injection to load obfuscated libraries (loader "Netapi64.dll") into developer tools and relies on a hard-coded API key to pull payloads from assistant descriptions. Because traffic goes to api.openai.com, the campaign evaded traditional C2 detection. Microsoft Defender detections and account key revocation were used to disrupt the operation.

CloudEdge Online Cameras/App—MQTT Wildcard Credential Risk

🔒 The CloudEdge mobile app (v4.4.2) and associated online cameras contain a credential exposure flaw assigned CVE-2025-11757 that stems from improper MQTT topic handling (CWE-155). Unsanitized topic input allows an attacker to use MQTT wildcards to subscribe to other users' messages and extract credentials and key material, enabling remote access to live feeds and camera controls. CISA calculated a CVSS v4 base score of 8.7 and highlights low attack complexity and remote exploitability. Users are advised to minimize network exposure, isolate devices behind firewalls, employ secure remote access methods such as VPNs with caution, and contact Meari Technologies support at support@mearitek.com.

Developers leaking secrets via VSCode and OpenVSX extensions

🔒 Researchers at Wiz found that careless developers published Visual Studio extensions to the VSCode Marketplace and OpenVSX containing more than 550 validated secrets across over 500 extensions, including API keys and personal access tokens for providers such as OpenAI, AWS, GitHub, Azure DevOps, and multiple databases. The primary cause was bundled dotfiles (notably .env) and hardcoded credentials in source and config files, with AI-related configs and build manifests also contributing. Microsoft and OpenVSX collaborated with Wiz on coordinated remediation: notifying publishers, adding pre-publication secrets scanning, blocking verified secrets, and prefixing OVSX tokens to reduce abuse.

Critical Infrastructure Hack, Burnout, and Music Discussion

🔐 In episode 439 of Smashing Security, Graham Cluley and guest Annabel Berry examine a reported critical infrastructure hack that allegedly exploited default passwords and featured perpetrators boasting on Telegram. They probe how basic misconfigurations can cascade into major incidents and spotlight the human cost of defending organisations — stress, burnout, and leadership failures. The show pairs this sober analysis with lighter cultural asides, including music and media reflections.

Flax Typhoon Abused ArcGIS SOE to Maintain Long-Term Access

🔒 Researchers at ReliaQuest found China-linked APT Flax Typhoon modified an ArcGIS Server Object Extension (SOE) into a persistent web shell that executed base64-encoded commands via standard ArcGIS operations. The actor used a hardcoded key, staged tools in a hidden C:\Windows\System32\Bridge directory, and renamed a SoftEther VPN binary to bridge.exe to maintain covert connectivity. The malicious SOE was replicated into backups and golden images, allowing access to survive system recovery while attackers performed discovery, credential harvesting, lateral movement, and covert VPN-based persistence.

Malicious VSCode Extensions Resurface on OpenVSX Registry

⚠️ Researchers at Koi Security warn that a threat actor known as TigerJack is distributing malicious Visual Studio Code extensions on both the official marketplace and the community-maintained OpenVSX registry. Two extensions, C++ Playground and HTTP Format, were removed from the VSCode marketplace after roughly 17,000 downloads but remain available on OpenVSX, and the actor repeatedly republishes variants under new accounts. The malicious code exfiltrates source code, deploys a CoinIMP cryptominer with no resource limits, or fetches remote JavaScript to enable arbitrary code execution, creating significant risks to developer machines and corporate networks.

Active Exploitation: Gladinet CentreStack LFI → RCE Bug

⚠️ Huntress reports active exploitation of an unauthenticated LFI zero-day, CVE-2025-11371, affecting Gladinet CentreStack and TrioFox up to version 16.7.10368.56560. The flaw permits disclosure of server files, including Web.config, enabling attackers to extract a hard-coded machine key that can enable a prior ViewState deserialization RCE (CVE-2025-30406). As an interim mitigation, Huntress recommends disabling the UploadDownloadProxy 'temp' handler in Web.config until a vendor patch is available.

Russia-Aligned Hacktivist Fooled by Water Honeypot

💧Forescout disclosed that a Russia-aligned hacktivist group, TwoNet, was tricked into attacking a honeypot designed to look like a water treatment utility. The actor accessed the HMI with default credentials and created an account named BARLATI to carry out defacement, PLC manipulation, log suppression and process disruption. Forescout said this incident reflects a broader shift from DDoS and defacement toward OT/ICS targeting and provided mitigation guidance.

AutomationDirect CLICK PLUS Firmware Vulnerabilities Identified

🔒 AutomationDirect has disclosed multiple vulnerabilities in the CLICK PLUS series affecting firmware releases prior to v3.71. Issues include cleartext credential storage, a hard-coded AES key, an insecure RSA implementation, a predictable PRNG seed, authorization bypasses, and resource exhaustion flaws. CVSS v4 severity reaches 8.7 for the most critical cryptographic and key-generation weaknesses. AutomationDirect and CISA recommend updating to v3.80 and applying network isolation, access restrictions, logging, and endpoint protections until patches are deployed.

Lean Security Teams Elevate Risk from Hardcoded Secrets

🔒 As organizations shrink and security teams tighten, hardcoded secrets have become a critical, costly blind spot that manual processes can no longer manage. The article cites rising credential-driven breaches, a 292‑day average containment window, and steep financial impacts when secrets are exposed. It contends that precision remediation — contextual ownership, integrated workflows, and automated rotation — is essential to reduce remediation from weeks to hours and to curb analyst overhead. GitGuardian is presented as an example of this targeted remediation approach.

Dover ProGauge MagLink LX Vulnerabilities and Fixes

⚠️ Dover Fueling Solutions disclosed critical vulnerabilities in its ProGauge MagLink LX4, LX4 Plus, and LX4 Ultimate tank monitors that may be exploited remotely. Identified issues include an integer overflow (CVE-2025-55068), a hard-coded cryptographic signing key (CVE-2025-54807), and non‑changeable weak default root credentials (CVE-2025-30519), with ratings up to CVSS v4 9.3. Affected firmware must be updated to 4.20.3 for LX4/LX4 Plus or 5.20.3 for LX4 Ultimate; operators are urged to minimize network exposure and place devices behind firewalls.

GitHub Actions workflows abused in 'GhostAction' campaign

🔒 GitGuardian disclosed a campaign called "GhostAction" that tampers with GitHub Actions workflows to harvest and exfiltrate secrets to attacker-controlled domains. Attackers modified workflow files to enumerate repository secrets, hard-code them into malicious workflows, and forward credentials such as container registry and cloud provider keys. The researchers say 3,325 secrets from 327 users across 817 repositories were stolen, and they published IoCs while urging maintainers to review workflows, rotate exposed credentials, and tighten Actions controls.