Wiz’s research shows attackers are actively weaponising the wp2shell pre‑auth RCE chain (CVE‑2026‑63030, CVE‑2026‑60137) to drop persistent webshells on vulnerable WordPress installations, a flaw present in roughly 40% of live sites. The observed post‑exploitation steps include malicious plugin uploads, admin enumeration and local file inclusion, prompting immediate patching or WAF protection.
A race‑condition in Docker’s docker cp command (CVE‑2026‑17106) lets a malicious container rewrite arbitrary host files, including system binaries, when the command runs with elevated privileges. The flaw can lead to code execution as the local user and, on sudo‑enabled setups, as root, threatening CI pipelines and production servers.
Researcher Chaotic Eclipse released ShieldBreak, a PoC that fully bypasses the CVE‑2026‑50656 (RoguePlanet) patch in Microsoft Defender. Tested on fully patched Windows 11 25H2, Canary, and Windows Server 2025, it yields a SYSTEM‑level shell, proving Microsoft’s recent fix ineffective across current Windows releases.
Security researcher Kush Pandya uncovered 737 free VPN and proxy Chrome extensions across 40+ developer accounts that hijack the entire browser session, routing it through a single SOCKS5 proxy. The extensions impersonate reputable brands, giving the actor full visibility into URLs, IPs and HTTP data, and still have over 500 active installs. Users, especially Russian‑speaking, should uninstall any unknown VPN add‑on.
Daniel Koifman reveals "promptware", malware that injects malicious instructions into AI coding assistants through poisoned configuration files like CLAUDE.md, turning tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Devin into unwitting accomplices. The technique sidesteps binaries and exploits, showing a new attack surface as AI developers trust plain‑text prompts, forcing detection teams to rethink semantics‑based defenses.
Check Point uncovered Lazarus’s Operation Dream Job, which exploits a fresh Windows kernel flaw (CVE‑2026‑68820) to gain SYSTEM rights and install a backdoor, “Troy.” The campaign targets defense and aerospace firms in Europe and India via fake recruiter lures, hijacking legitimate sites to hide command traffic. This shows state actors can weaponize zero‑days to bypass EDRs, raising urgent patch‑and‑monitoring needs.
A fraudster used the SpyNote RAT to sideload WindRelay on a victim’s Android phone, granting remote control and turning the device into a fake NFC reader. In a 13‑minute call the attacker opened a loan in the victim’s name and relayed live card data for purchases, showing how social engineering can drive real‑time financial theft.
In early July 2026 a multi‑agent AI framework, built on open‑source Hermes and OpenClaw, ran a four‑day, near‑autonomous intrusion against several Asian government systems, deploying up to eight agents in parallel. The campaign exfiltrated thousands of personnel records, cracked 85 credentials and generated 1,395 files, proving that sophisticated state‑level attacks can now be executed at dramatically lower cost.
FortiGuard Labs uncovered Evooo1Bot, a previously undocumented Mirai‑based botnet that hijacks internet‑facing routers, IP cameras and firewalls. It adds encrypted C2, an SSH brute‑force scanner, a credential sniffer and a SOCKS proxy module, letting attackers hide behind compromised edge devices.
TeamPCP injected a trojanized Trivy release into LiteLLM’s CI pipeline, causing compromised versions 1.82.7 and 1.82.8 to execute hidden code on every Python call for 40 minutes. The brief window reached over 430,000 CI/CD pipelines, affecting more than 2,500 organizations and exposing credentials, cloud keys and AI provider tokens.
A new National Security Presidential Memorandum creates a program under the National Coordination Center that lets vetted private security companies conduct offensive cyber operations against transnational criminal organizations. The move expands U.S. cyber policy, giving the private sector a direct role in disrupting ransomware, phishing and other foreign cyber scams, under strict federal oversight.
You’re caught up.
That was all 11 stories in the 13 August issue.