All news with #zero day exploitation tag

🚨 Microsoft’s December Patch Tuesday delivers 57 fixes, but an actively exploited zero-day in Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver (CVE-2025-62221) requires immediate remediation. The flaw is a low-complexity use-after-free escalation-of-privilege that can enable a local foothold to become full system compromise. Security teams should prioritize this patch, enforce least-privilege controls, and enhance monitoring where rapid patching isn't possible.

🔒 Microsoft has released the KB5071546 extended security update for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC and systems enrolled in the ESU program, addressing 57 security vulnerabilities including three zero-days. The mandatory patch updates Windows 10 to build 19045.6691 (LTSC 2021 to 19044.6691) and installs automatically, requiring a restart. Notably, it fixes a remote code execution zero-day in PowerShell (CVE-2025-54100) by adding a confirmation prompt and guidance to use -UseBasicParsing with Invoke-WebRequest to avoid parsing embedded scripts.

🔒 Microsoft's December 2025 Patch Tuesday delivers fixes for 57 vulnerabilities, including three zero-day flaws — one actively exploited and two publicly disclosed. The update addresses 19 remote code execution, 28 elevation of privilege, four information disclosure, three denial of service, and two spoofing issues across Windows, PowerShell, Office, Exchange Server and drivers. Administrators should prioritize the actively exploited CVE-2025-62221 and apply vendor patches promptly.

🛡️ Threat actors tied to North Korea have been observed exploiting the critical React Server Components vulnerability (React2Shell, CVE-2025-55182) to deliver a new remote access trojan named EtherRAT. The implant downloads a Node.js runtime, decrypts and spawns a JavaScript payload, and resolves command-and-control via Ethereum smart contracts using a multi-endpoint consensus method. EtherRAT persists on Linux with five distinct mechanisms and supports self-updating obfuscated payloads, enabling long-term stealthy access and making remediation difficult.

🔔 Microsoft’s December 2025 Patch Tuesday addresses 57 CVEs, including one actively exploited Important zero‑day in the Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver and two publicly disclosed Important zero‑days impacting GitHub Copilot for JetBrains and PowerShell. Two Critical RCE flaws in Microsoft Office increase urgency for enterprise patching and remediation. Organizations should prioritize applying Microsoft fixes, adopt layered mitigations where patches are delayed, and use CrowdStrike Falcon dashboards to track affected assets and remediation progress.

⚠️ Apache Tika maintainers warn that an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability originally disclosed in August (CVE-2025-54988) is broader than first reported and is now covered by a superset CVE (CVE-2025-66516). The issue affects tika-core, tika-parsers and the standalone tika-parser-pdf-module, and could allow attackers to read sensitive data or trigger requests to internal resources. Users are advised to upgrade to the patched releases or disable XML parsing via tika-config.xml to mitigate risk.

🔒 Barts Health NHS Trust disclosed that the Cl0p ransomware group stole invoice data from an Oracle E-Business Suite database after exploiting a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-61882). Stolen files include full names and addresses of payers, records of former employees with debts, supplier details, and accounting files relating to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals. The trust says its electronic patient record and clinical systems were not affected, has notified the NCSC, Metropolitan Police and the ICO, and is seeking a High Court order while advising patients to check invoices and remain vigilant for suspicious communications.

🔎 Amnesty International reports a Pakistani human rights lawyer received a WhatsApp link tied to a Predator 1-click attempt, the first known targeting of Balochistan civil society by Intellexa's spyware. Jointly published leaks and vendor analyses show Predator (also marketed as Helios, Nova and Green Arrow) used messaging, ad-based and ISP-assisted vectors plus multiple zero-day exploits to install surveillance payloads. Google Threat Intelligence Group mapped numerous V8, WebKit, Android kernel and other CVEs to the campaign and documented a modular iOS exploitation framework named JSKit and a post-exploitation payload called PREYHUNTER. The disclosures raise urgent questions about exploit sourcing, customer access to logs, and human rights due diligence.

📣 Leaked documents and coordinated technical reports indicate the Intellexa surveillance consortium continues to develop, sell and operate its Predator spyware despite multiple sanctions. Analyses from Google Threat Intelligence Group, Recorded Future and Amnesty’s Security Lab attribute numerous mobile browser zero-day exploits and new infection methods to the vendor. Amnesty disclosed a novel Aladdin zero-click vector that abuses the mobile advertising ecosystem to deliver malicious ads which infect devices on view, while Recorded Future and Google documented Intellexa’s outsized share of exploited zero-days. The combined findings point to active customers, new nexus entities and ongoing global operations.

🔍 Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) analysis shows that Intellexa, vendor of the Predator spyware, continues to develop and deploy zero‑day exploits against mobile browsers and operating systems despite sanctions. GTIG attributes 15 unique zero‑days to Intellexa out of roughly 70 discovered since 2021, spanning RCE, sandbox escape, and LPE flaws on iOS, Android, and Chrome. The company uses modular exploit frameworks, acquires exploit chain steps from third parties, delivers payloads via one‑time messaging links and malvertising, and embeds anti‑analysis watcher modules to abort operations on detection.

🔒The University of Phoenix disclosed a data breach tied to a zero-day flaw in Oracle E-Business Suite, saying it detected the incident on November 21 after the extortion group posted the university to its leak site. Phoenix Education Partners filed an SEC 8-K announcing the incident and an ongoing review. The university said attackers accessed names, contact details, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and bank account and routing numbers for current and former students, employees, faculty and suppliers. Affected individuals will receive mailed notifications with next steps.

🔒 Google released its December 2025 Android security bulletin addressing 107 vulnerabilities, including two zero-days (CVE-2025-48633 and CVE-2025-48572) that are reported to be under limited targeted exploitation. The flaws affect Android 13–16 and include information-disclosure and privilege‑escalation issues; the most critical fix this month is CVE-2025-48631 (DoS). Updates also include critical kernel fixes for Qualcomm and closed‑source vendors, and Samsung has ported fixes. Users should apply updates, keep Play Protect active, or move to supported builds.

🔒 The University of Pennsylvania disclosed that attackers exploited a previously unknown Oracle E-Business Suite zero-day in August to obtain files containing personal information. In a notification filed with Maine's Attorney General, Penn said at least 1,488 individuals had data taken and warned the overall total may be larger. The university reported no evidence so far that the stolen information has been misused or published and has not publicly attributed the intrusion; the incident aligns with a broader campaign linked to the Clop ransomware group.

🔒 In its December Android Security Bulletin, Google disclosed 107 zero-day vulnerabilities affecting Android and AOSP-based systems, publishing fixes for 51 issues on December 1 and promising the remaining 56 on December 5. Among the patched flaws, two high-severity framework bugs (CVE-2025-48633 and CVE-2025-48572) may be under limited targeted exploitation and affect Android 13–16. The bulletin also lists a critical framework vulnerability (CVE-2025-48631) that can cause a remote denial-of-service without additional privileges. Patches for kernel and third-party components from vendors such as Arm, MediaTek, Qualcomm and others will follow.

🛡️ Zero-day attacks exploit software vulnerabilities that are unknown to the vendor, enabling attackers to compromise systems before patches are available. They target high-value platforms such as operating systems, web browsers, enterprise applications, and IoT devices, often using spear-phishing or zero-click techniques. Because signature-based tools frequently miss novel exploits, effective defense requires rapid patching, behavior-based detection (EDR, NDR, XDR), network segmentation, and investigative analysis of packet-level data to detect, contain, and learn from incidents.

🔒 Dartmouth College says threat actors linked to the Clop extortion gang exploited a zero-day in Oracle E-Business Suite to steal files and leak them on a dark web site. The college reported unauthorized access between August 9 and August 12, 2025, and on October 30 identified files containing names and Social Security numbers. A filing with Maine's Attorney General lists 1,494 individuals whose data was found in reviewed files and notes that financial account information was also taken. Dartmouth has not provided details on any ransom demand or the full scope of impacted people.

⚠️ This week’s recap spotlights multiple actively exploited vulnerabilities, supply‑chain compromises, and a record cloud DDoS that forced rapid vendor responses. Fortinet disclosed a FortiWeb OS command injection (CVE-2025-58034) that was observed chained with a recent critical fix, raising concerns about silent patching and disclosure timing. Google patched an actively exploited Chrome V8 0‑day (CVE-2025-13223), and attackers continued to abuse browser notifications, malicious updates, and SaaS integrations to phish and persist. The incidents underscore urgent priorities: patch quickly, scrutinize integrations, and strengthen monitoring and response.

🔒 Cox Enterprises says hackers accessed its network after exploiting a zero-day in Oracle E‑Business Suite, with activity occurring between Aug. 9–14 and detected on Sept. 29, 2025. The company notified 9,479 impacted individuals and is offering 12 months of credit monitoring and identity protection through IDX. The Cl0p ransomware gang has claimed responsibility and posted stolen files after Oracle issued a patch on Oct. 5. Cox did not specify the types of data exposed in the notice.

⚠️Fortinet has faced criticism for quietly patching two zero-day vulnerabilities in its FortiWeb WAFs before publicly disclosing them. The first, CVE-2025-64446, is rated critical (CVSS 9.4) and involves a GUI path-traversal plus an authentication-bypass flaw; the second, CVE-2025-58034 (CVSS 6.7), is an OS command injection that may allow authenticated code execution. Both fixes were included in the 8.0.2 update on October 28 and have been observed exploited in the wild, prompting calls for greater transparency and urgent patching.

🪲 Oligo Security warns of an active campaign, codenamed ShadowRay 2.0, that exploits a two-year-old authentication flaw in the Ray AI framework (CVE-2023-48022, CVSS 9.8) to convert exposed clusters with NVIDIA GPUs into a self-replicating cryptomining botnet using XMRig. Operators submit malicious jobs to the unauthenticated Job Submission API (/api/jobs/), stage payloads on GitLab and GitHub, and abuse Ray’s orchestration to pivot laterally, establish persistence via cron jobs, and propagate to other dashboards. Oligo recommends restricting access, enabling authentication on the Ray Dashboard (default port 8265) and using Anyscale’s Ray Open Ports Checker plus firewall rules to reduce accidental exposure.