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blog.talosintelligence.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Appraisal by AI: Model-driven victim prioritization in the VOLTA infostealer

VOLTA (VOLTA-AUTODOXER) is a self-deleting Windows infostealer that, after theft and live session-based enrichment, POSTs an evidence bundle to OpenRouter so an LLM can rank the victim's assets by monetization value. It falls back across a Claude, Kimi and Gemini chain when a model refuses. Talos covers the builder model, the Chrome App-Bound Encryption bypass, the volta_debug.txt artifact and countermeasures such as blocking Chrome --headless.

OpenRouterClaudeGemini+3
VOLTACLOSEDQUORUMCAIRN+3

Malware & RE, Threat Intel, AI Security· Published and added 31 Oct 2026

microsoft.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Inside a malicious Claude Code-branded extension and its persistent SSH backdoor

Microsoft Threat Intelligence analyzes a tampered anthropic.claude-code extension (versions 2.1.312 and 2.1.313) served on the Cursor marketplace on 29 October 2026. The injected JavaScript loader adds an SSH key labeled svc-telemetry, opens a reverse SSH tunnel and sets up persistence on macOS, Linux and Windows. The post gives cleanup steps, IOCs and Defender XDR hunting queries. VS Code Marketplace and npm were not affected.

CursorClaude CodeSSH+3
Protocol Tunneling (T1572)reverse SSH tunnelMicrosoft Threat Intelligence+2

Supply Chain, Blue Team & Detection, Malware & RE· Published and added 31 Oct 2026

blog.talosintelligence.comwriteup🛡️ Security

NIK C2: The new AI-enabled command-and-control framework

NIK C2 is a newly observed C2 framework with a Go-based 64-bit Windows implant that embeds an OpenAI Chat Completions client (ai_generate command), falling back to the victim's OPENAI_API_KEY. Talos details its 52+ commands, AES-256-GCM over WebSocket with HTTP fallback, credential, wallet and keystroke theft, screen-lock ransomware, AMSI bypass and anti-debug. It also lists a live C2 at 87.120.196[.]120 and total-sitevv[.]lol.

GoOpenAIWindows+3
NIK C2nik_panel87.120.196[.]120+9

Malware & RE, Threat Intel, AI Security· Published and added 29 Oct 2026

dfir.chwriteup🛡️ Security

Field Notes: Reconstructing an Attacker’s Workflow

Field note from dfir.ch on PowerShell scripts an attacker left on disk during an incident: a file-watching command runner using Invoke-Expression, a fake Windows credential prompt that validates passwords via Start-Process and logs them in cleartext, AD computer enumeration with WMI access testing, and SMB share discovery via NetShareEnum. It notes where script labels overstate what they prove and lists hunting strings for Event IDs 4104, 4103, 4688 and Sysmon 1.

PowerShellActive DirectoryWMI+2
TerminalFixClickFixMicrosoft+7

Blue Team & Detection, Offensive Security· Added 24 Oct 2026, published 22 Oct 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Amazon-Themed ClickFix Campaign Serves Up Finger-Licking Malware

Huntress analysis of an Amazon-themed ClickFix campaign that used a Google sponsored result, a fake Amazon login on Google Sites and a fake CAPTCHA to make victims run the Windows finger utility. The .plan script drives IronPython, a Cyrillic-substituted Base64 Python loader, Doina, a Node.js stage, Lumma Stealer via sRDI, and a pirated NetSupport RMM. It lists C2 domains and gives detection tips (aclk/gclid markers, blocking the Run dialog).

WindowsfingerIronPython+3
ClickFixDoinaLumma Stealer+8

Threat Intel, Malware & RE, Blue Team & Detection· Published and added 21 Oct 2026

cloud.google.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Investigating Ephemeral Supply Chain Tampering

GTIG and Mandiant report on UNC7017, which tampered with AOMEI update servers in five to ten minute windows between April and July 2026. Edited down_html.ini and Notifycfg.ini files delivered the CROSSROAD downloader and SHINYROAD PocketPy backdoor, plus Adaptix C2 and WebDAV NTLM coercion. The post covers infrastructure shifts, YARA rules, IOCs, and vendor and SOC guidance on point-in-time triage failures.

AOMEI BackupperRadminAdaptix C2+3
UNC7017CROSSROADSHINYROAD+10

Supply Chain, Threat Intel, Malware & RE, Blue Team & Detection· Added 29 Oct 2026, published 15 Oct 2026

microsoft.comwriteup🛡️ Security

3 lessons from frontier AI vulnerability research

Microsoft Security's FORGE Lab shares results and lessons from four months of AI-agent-driven vulnerability research: 140 Windows CVEs (52 in September 2026's release), 155 internally validated reports across 23 open-source projects, and the first patch merged into the Linux kernel via the Linux Foundation's Akrites coordinated-disclosure initiative. Using their multi-model agentic scanning harness MDASH and GPT-5.5-based validation agents, the team measured automated PoC generation at an average $3.61/21.5 minutes per confirmed crash and local privilege-escalation AEG at $8.56/25.4 minutes, and argues the real bottleneck has shifted from finding bugs to validating and remediating them at matching speed. Specific disclosed CVEs include curl's CVE-2026-9545 and CVE-2026-13608, Node.js's CVE-2026-56848, and Linux kernel's CVE-2026-64563.

MDASHWindowsLinux kernel+3
CVE-2026-9545CVE-2026-13608CVE-2026-56848+6

AI Security, Offensive Security, AppSec· Published and added 7 Oct 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Up a Creek Without a Command Line: Mapping an Akira Ransomware Attack | Huntress

Huntress researchers reconstruct an Akira ransomware attack timeline using forensic artifacts collected after the Huntress agent was installed post-compromise, including Windows Registry Shellbags, Event Logs, and Akira ransomware log files. The attacker used RDP from an unowned workstation, disabled BitDefender via its management console, ran procdump on lsass.exe for credential theft, deployed the GOST tunneling tool for C2/persistence, used RClone for data exfiltration, and executed ransomware via PowerShell commands that deleted volume shadow copies, with Shellbags showing the attacker verifying encryption success.

PowerShellWindowsEDR+2
AkiraUNC5330BitDefender+1

Threat Intel, Blue Team & Detection· Published and added 6 Oct 2026

vals.aiwriteup🧠 AI

Opus 5.5 agents discover two room-temperature magnetic semiconductor candidates

Vals.ai researchers describe using Claude Opus 5.5-driven AI agents to run density-functional-theory simulations (PBE+U and HSE06 functionals) that designed a novel candidate magnet, YBaMnFeO₅, and separately re-identified a 1999 compound, KV[Cr(CN)₆] (a Prussian-blue analogue), as a "Luttinger compensated" semiconductor — a material with zero net magnetic moment but spin-sorted band edges, useful for spintronic memory. The agents predicted band gaps, spin-sorting windows, and magnetic ordering temperatures (KV[Cr(CN)₆] reportedly stays ordered above room temperature, up to 376 K), and the authors published all inputs, outputs and code on GitHub for independent verification. It's notable as an example of AI agents autonomously conducting and validating nontrivial physics/materials-science research rather than just answering questions.

density functional theory
Vals.aiClaude Opus 5.5YBaMnFeO₅+1

agents· Added 6 Oct 2026, published 5 Oct 2026

checkmarx.comwriteup🛡️ Security

MALFEX npm Malware Campaign: Three Payloads And An Adversary That Signs Their Work

Checkmarx's research team documents MALFEX, an npm supply-chain malware campaign run by a single operator ("Murizada") publishing since August 2023, with 12 packages (8 malicious), three still live as of late September/October 2026. The campaign delivers three distinct Windows payloads: Overlord RAT (a Go-based C2 that reads its server address from encrypted Solana blockchain transactions and uses process hollowing into TapiUnattend.exe), the movinlike Node.js stealer (targeting Discord, browser credentials, Telegram, and crypto wallets, exfiltrating via Discord webhook), and a long-running downloader hidden in function-flag's postinstall script. The writeup includes full IOCs, file hashes, host artifacts, detection commands, and remediation guidance for compromised Windows hosts.

npmNode.jsWindows+3
MALFEXOverlord RATmovinlike+10

Supply Chain, Malware & RE, Threat Intel· Added 7 Oct 2026, published 5 Oct 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

How Huntress Detects and Responds to a ClickFix Attack

Huntress explains why endpoint security typically misses ClickFix (no file artifact to scan) and how its Attack Disruption engine detects it instead: matching the obfuscated command-line shape gated on the parent process always being explorer.exe for Windows+R/Run-dialog execution. The post walks through a real incident where a user pasted a caret-obfuscated finger.exe download cradle disguised with Unicode padding to hide 'push enter' social engineering text, killed in under 1.25 seconds across four spawned processes, and describes a fix for variants that use 'start' to detach the payload process from its killed parent.

HuntressWindowsEDR
ClickFixHuntress Managed EDRFileFix+2

Blue Team & Detection· Published and added 5 Oct 2026

hackers-arise.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Pentesting: Managing Compromised Machines with Platypus

Walkthrough of Platypus, an open-source C2-style host management platform (github.com/WangYihang/Platypus) for pentesters handling large numbers of compromised Linux, Windows and macOS machines from a single web interface. Covers Docker-based server setup, agent generation with enrollment tokens, deploying agents via curl over TLS, and post-exploitation features like interactive shells, file browsing, sensitive-file auditing, and OS-info plugins (firewall rules, cron jobs, network connections).

DockerLinuxWindows+4
Red Team Operator

Offensive Security· Added 7 Oct 2026, published 2 Oct 2026

socket.devwriteup🛡️ Security

Pretty Themes, Hidden Loaders: GlassWorm-Linked Extensions Span VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX

Socket's Threat Research team uncovered a theme-extension cluster spanning four VS Code Marketplace and six Open VSX listings, including two confirmed malicious extensions: Aurora Nocturne Night Theme (a Windows downloader that fetches and silently executes temp_batch.cmd via cmd.exe from fingercakes4sale[.]store, tied to XWorm C2 infrastructure) and Cosmic Nebula Themes, whose app.js decrypts an AES-256-CBC embedded stage and uses a Solana transaction memo as a dead-drop to resolve follow-on payload infrastructure — the same AES key, Solana address, and execution model previously documented in GlassWorm activity. Git commit identities, near-identical theme source, shared Russian-language developer comments, and brandjacking (Coca-Cola, Aurora Borealis name-squatting) link the cluster together; a Dec 14, 2025 DEV Community article is assessed as promotional infrastructure driving Open VSX installs. The post provides full IOCs (hashes, domains, Solana address, AES key/IV, GitHub accounts) and MITRE ATT&CK mappings for defenders to hunt and inventory extensions across both registries.

VS CodeOpen VSXSolana+3
GlassWormXWormAurora Nocturne Night Theme+13

Supply Chain, Malware & RE, Threat Intel· Published and added 2 Oct 2026

latent.spacewriteup🧠 AI

Academia is for Ambition — Alex Zhang, MIT

A Latent Space podcast transcript/interview with MIT PhD student Alex Zhang, creator of Recursive Language Models (RLMs) and a core contributor to GPU Mode and KernelBench, who discusses using recursive subagent calls, context offloading, and shared memory to let models work beyond fixed context windows. The conversation ranges across AI-generated GPU kernels and their verification gap, research taste in academia versus industry labs, why "harnesses" (as in Claude Code, Codex, and Pi) function as compositional generalizers, the Jev model's non-autoregressive output-space trade-offs, and large-scale agent swarm experiments at OpenAI, Kimi, and Sakana AI. It offers a researcher's-eye view of where capability overhang and new agent/harness architectures may be heading beyond today's standard transformer decoder.

TransformerCUDAClaude Code+2
Alex ZhangMITGPU Mode+27

agents, research· Published and added 2 Oct 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Defender Exclusion Abuse: How Attackers Hide Malware from MDAV

Huntress breaks down how Microsoft Defender Antivirus (MDAV) path/extension exclusions can be abused to hide malicious binaries from scans, detailing the registry internals (HKLM...Windows Defender\Exclusions vs the GPO-driven Policies key) and the four ways to set them: PowerShell (Set/Add-MpPreference), the MSFT_MpPreference WMI class, GPO, and direct registry edits. It documents real-world abuse by GootKit (2019), WhisperGate (2022), and Muddled Libra (2024), plus an under-documented trick where setting HideExclusionsFromLocalAdmins blocks even SYSTEM from querying exclusions via PowerShell/WMI, and describes the registry-level telemetry and detections Huntress built to catch both behaviors.

Windows DefenderPowerShellWMI+1
GootKitWhisperGateMuddled Libra+1

Blue Team & Detection, Offensive Security· Added 1 Oct 2026, published 30 Sep 2026

blog.talosintelligence.comwriteup🛡️ Security

China-nexus UAT-11587 targets government and policy organizations across Asia with Antino backdoor

Cisco Talos details UAT-11587, a China-nexus threat cluster targeting government, defense, and policy organizations across Taiwan, India, the Philippines, Cambodia, and other Asian countries with spear-phishing and a five-stage infection chain (HTA/WSF stagers, JScript decryptors, .NET BinaryFormatter/ActivitySurrogateSelector deserialization gadgets, and DLL sideloading via the signed GatherOsState.exe) to deploy a new Rust-compiled backdoor called Antino. Antino uses Microsoft Graph/Outlook/OneDrive as a dead-drop C2 channel instead of a traditional C2 server, supports shell/PowerShell execution, file transfer, shellcode loading with a sleep-mask evasion technique, and abuses the Windows Scripted Diagnostics framework for persistence; Talos also notes possible infrastructure overlap with Symantec's "Jewelbug" cluster and Arctic Wolf's UNC6384 reporting. Includes ClamAV/Snort coverage and IOCs.

RustMicrosoft 365PowerShell+4
UAT-11587AntinoJewelbug+5

Threat Intel, Malware & RE· Added 7 Oct 2026, published 30 Sep 2026

microsoft.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Phishing Abuses RMM Tools for Persistent Access

Microsoft Defender Experts document a July 2026 phishing campaign that delivers a masqueraded but legitimately signed MSP360 RMM installer (v2.5.0.67) via meeting-invite, Zoom, Adobe, and DHL-themed lures hosted on both attacker infrastructure and legitimate cloud services (S3, Cloudflare R2, Dropbox, GitLab, Supabase). After UAC-elevated installation and service persistence, the RMM.Agent.exe service launches PowerShell to silently install a ConnectWise ScreenConnect client via msiexec, which the actor then uses via RunFile to drop credential-theft and reconnaissance tools disguised as Windows/Defender/Phone Link components. A separate July intrusion used FaronicsDeployAgent.exe the same way to deploy ScreenConnect, showing the technique is not MSP360-specific; Microsoft provides IOCs, hunting queries, and mitigation guidance (Application Control, AppLocker publisher rules, ASR rules) but does not attribute the activity.

MSP360ScreenConnectPowerShell+3
T1583.001T1583.006T1566.002+16

Threat Intel, Blue Team & Detection· Added 7 Oct 2026, published 29 Sep 2026

wiz.iowriteup🛡️ Security

The Blue Agent POV: Investigating Multi-Platform Data Exfiltration Across AWS and GitHub

Wiz walks through a case study of its "Blue Agent" autonomous SOC investigator tracing a compromised CI/CD service account (svc_automation) across AWS and GitHub. The attack chain: a stolen GitHub token cloned 18 private repos containing hardcoded AWS keys, which were used to authenticate to AWS from Kali Linux via a Zenlayer VPN IP, pivot to a second account, run SSM SendCommand against a production Windows domain controller, and stage custom Python exfiltration scripts (mssql_table_export.py, pg_table_export.py, billing_export2.py) in S3 to pull data from MSSQL, PostgreSQL, and billing systems. The piece details the investigative technique used - 30-day baseline comparison, ASO/IP dispersion across the tenant, and correlating CloudTrail management-plane events with S3 data-plane events and GitHub audit logs.

AWSGitHubKali Linux+3
AWS IAMSSM SendCommandAssumeRole

Blue Team & Detection, Cloud & Infra· Published and added 29 Sep 2026

pgj11.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Microsoft Windows NCSI Cross-Context Proxy Authentication Coercion - ZDI-26-708 - Part 2

Part 2 of a research series on ZDI-26-708, a Windows Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) flaw where a proxy configured in an unprivileged user's HKCU ends up used by the NETWORK SERVICE-owned netprofm process. The author reverse-engineers ncsi.dll and winhttp.dll with IDA/WinDbg to show the value actually arrives via a Windows Event Log subscription to Event ID 5600 (Microsoft-Windows-WinINet-Config) rather than the WNF notification initially suspected, is stored in NCSI's user-proxy state, and is later applied to a WinHttpSetOption(38) call for an active connectivity probe. It documents why option 193 (WINHTTP_OPTION_DISABLE_PROXY_AUTH_SCHEMES) fails to disable NTLM (wrong bitmask, 0x100 vs 0x04), and demonstrates cross-context NTLM proxy authentication capture/relay with impacket-ntlmrelayx toward ADCS, since the request runs under the netprofm/NETWORK SERVICE machine-account context.

WindowsImpacketIDA+1
ZDI-26-708NTLM relayEvent ID 5600+1

Offensive Security· Published and added 28 Sep 2026

pgj11.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Microsoft Windows NCSI Cross-Context Proxy Authentication Coercion - ZDI-26-708 - Part 1

A researcher reverse-engineers Windows NCSI (ncsi.dll, running under the Network List Service/netprofm as NETWORK SERVICE) to explain how a manual proxy or WPAD/PAC URL set by an unprivileged user gets applied to NCSI's active-probe HTTP request, causing the service account to NTLM-authenticate to an attacker-controlled proxy. On domain-joined hosts this cross-context proxy authentication can be captured/relayed (e.g. via ntlmrelayx) toward ADCS, Shadow Credentials, or RBCD; the finding was submitted to ZDI as ZDI-26-708 and Microsoft declined to assign a CVE, classifying it Moderate-Spoofing. Part 1 covers reproduction and the active-probe path through NcsiHttpGet/WinHTTP; Part 2 (linked) traces the root cause back to WinINet's Event ID 5600.

WindowsActive DirectoryImpacket+1
ZDI-26-708NCSInetprofm+12

Offensive Security· Published and added 28 Sep 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

OAuth Token Theft Through Microsoft's Front Door | Huntress

Huntress researcher Andrew Schwartz demonstrates a novel OAuth token-theft technique: a sideloaded AppX package registered via Add-AppxPackage -Register (requiring only Developer Mode, no admin beyond that toggle) can set ContentUriRules WindowsRuntimeAccess="all" so attacker-controlled JavaScript rendered inside the Microsoft-signed WWAHost.exe process gets full WinRT access, including the legacy WebAuthenticationBroker OAuth API. Using Microsoft Office's own client ID and the oob redirect URI, the attacker triggers a genuine login.microsoftonline.com/MFA dialog with no browser chrome, captures the auth code, and exchanges it for an access token plus a long-lived refresh token carrying the full Office delegated Graph scope set (mail, files, Teams, directory, AuditLog.Create) — validated end-to-end against a live Entra ID tenant with MFA and default Conditional Access. The post frames it as a class of vulnerable signed AppX host binaries sharing the same WinRT activation layer, and provides a Sigma rule keyed on the MSAppHost/3.0 EdgeHTML user agent reaching non-Microsoft destinations, plus Sysmon/Event ID and GPO-based mitigations (restricting Developer Mode, Conditional Access, shorter refresh-token lifetimes, CAE).

WindowsOAuthMicrosoft Entra ID+4
WWAHost.exeWebAuthenticationBrokeraskWAM+8

Identity & Access, Offensive Security, Blue Team & Detection· Published and added 23 Sep 2026

blog.talosintelligence.comwriteup🛡️ Security

The Closed Quorum: Inside the First Reported Autonomous AI C2 Implant

Cisco Talos' CAIRN project documents CLOSEDQUORUM, a 64-bit Go Windows implant that replaces traditional C2 infrastructure with a panel of up to four commercial LLM providers (DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, Gemini) that vote on the implant's next action via plurality voting, with each model queried against a structured JSON decision schema constrained to inject/persist/steal/move actions. Once deployed it autonomously dumps LSASS credentials, steals browser passwords and crypto wallets (MetaMask, Exodus, Ethereum), and exfiltrates AES-256-GCM-encrypted data to an operator's Discord webhook, all without further human tasking. The post details the developer's apparent credentials-as-a-service distribution model, deterministic tie-breaking favoring DeepSeek, and provides SHA256 hashes plus a YARA detection rule for the family (formerly tracked as BALZAK).

GoWindowsDeepSeek+3
CLOSEDQUORUMCAIRNBALZAK

AI Security, Malware & RE, Threat Intel· Added 30 Sep 2026, published 22 Sep 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

The Tale of Two INC Ransom Notes: A Ransomware Timeline | Huntress

Huntress details a post-incident investigation into an INC ransomware attack that hit 175+ endpoints, reconstructed from surviving EDR telemetry and Windows event logs rather than live detection. The intrusion shows a 17-day gap between initial scheduled-task persistence and RDP lateral movement (possibly an initial access broker), and a second wave using AnyDesk, a BYOVD tool (hwau.exe loading the HwAudio kernel driver) to disable security controls, and Impacket's atexec.py to deploy INC ransomware. Attackers dropped two distinct ransom notes 53 minutes apart: a standard INC-README.txt and a detailed DATALEAK_PRESS_RELEASE.txt threatening to notify media, employees and partners with a full inventory of stolen files.

AnyDeskImpacketPowerShell+3
INC ransomwareBYOVDnetscan.exe

Threat Intel, Blue Team & Detection· Added 22 Sep 2026, published 21 Sep 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Ready, Settra, Go: New Settra Ransomware Variant Deploys MeshAgent RMM

Huntress analysts detail two Settra ransomware incidents (July and September) observed in customer environments, documenting the threat actor's use of the MeshAgent RMM for persistence, BYOVD via the gdrv.sys driver, and anti-forensic techniques including Windows Event Log clearing, reagentc /disable, diskpart-based recovery partition removal, and cipher.exe free-space wiping. The post includes specific IOCs — C2 IPs 45.13.122[.]7 and 193.5.65[.]114, the recurring workstation name WIN-LIVFRVQFMKO, and the RESTORE_FILES.txt ransom note — supplementing prior public reporting from MoxFive and SOCRadar on this newer ransomware variant first seen in June.

MeshAgentWindowsEDR+1
Settra ransomwareBYOVDgdrv.sys+4

Threat Intel, Blue Team & Detection· Added 22 Sep 2026, published 17 Sep 2026

opensourcemalware.comwriteup🛡️ Security

WeaselBiscuit Strips BeaverTail and OtterCookie Down to Essentials

OpenSourceMalware researchers detail WeaselBiscuit, a newly discovered lightweight JavaScript infostealer found hidden in 11+ npm packages (e.g. process-tailwind, engin1, the @biz44 scope), which shares tradecraft with DPRK-linked BeaverTail/OtterCookie but strips out wallet-draining, password decryption, and remote-shell features. The writeup walks through the full infection chain - a package auto-running a detached Node loader, fetching a Base64-encoded second stage from Npoint dead-drop URLs, and beaconing to a hardcoded HTTP C2 (103.170.217.184:8787) - plus its capabilities (Chrome extension-storage theft, clipboard capture, Windows keylogging) and a campaign-cluster graph tying packages together via shared hashes and resolver URLs. Attribution to DPRK is explicitly labeled a tentative hypothesis rather than confirmed.

npmNode.jsChrome
WeaselBiscuitBeaverTailOtterCookie+3

Supply Chain, Threat Intel, Malware & RE· Published and added 17 Sep 2026

group-ib.comwriteup🛡️ Security

HEAVYGRAM: A Telegram-based Surveillance Backdoor Linked to Handala Hack

Group-IB documents previously undocumented samples of HEAVYGRAM, a Python/PyInstaller-based Windows backdoor that uses the Telegram bot API for command-and-control, screen/audio capture, data exfiltration, and DLL side-loading, alongside the related CRUDEEXCLUDE loader that adds Windows Defender exclusions. The research corroborates and extends a March 2026 US DOJ affidavit and FBI FLASH report, attributing the malware with moderate confidence to the Handala Hack persona — assessed as a false-flag "hacktivist" front for Void Manticore (aka Storm-0842/Banished Kitten), operating on behalf of Iran's MOIS — used since Fall 2023 against Iranian dissidents, journalists, and critics of the Iranian government via Telegram-delivered, Delphi-packaged lures (fake KeePass, Telegram, Pictory apps). It details four infection-chain variants (WSF/VBS downloaders, HTA Telegram-polling scripts, Delphi droppers with embedded archives), the implant's command prefixes (@@/**/##) and attachment handlers, dual-bot C2 configurations, and provides IOCs and detection/hardening recommendations.

TelegramPowerShellPython+3
Handala HackVoid ManticoreStorm-0842+12

Threat Intel, Malware & RE· Added 1 Oct 2026, published 17 Sep 2026

specterops.iowriteup🛡️ Security

Pass-the-Passkey Family of Attacks

SpecterOps research introduces "Pass-the-Passkey," a family of 20+ attack techniques against passkey/WebAuthn authentication, including three zero-days: Windows 11 logging complete WebAuthn assertions to an Event Log readable by unprivileged users (patched July 2026), Microsoft Entra ID historically failing to enforce WebAuthn anti-replay protections (challenge reuse, session binding, signature counters), and local malware that calls the native Windows WebAuthn API directly to phish users with a convincing native-looking passkey prompt. The write-up argues these implementation failures mirror classic credential-relay attacks like Pass-the-Hash and NTLM Relay, and recommends device-bound passkeys with attestation enforcement for high-value accounts.

WindowsMicrosoft Entra IDWebAuthn
Pass-the-PasskeyPass-the-HashNTLM Relay

Identity & Access, Offensive Security· Added 2 Oct 2026, published 16 Sep 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Google Doc Sidebar Sends Mac and Windows Users Down Different Paths to Malware

Huntress SOC analysts Ryan Dowd and Jon Semon tore apart a live social-engineering campaign that began with a fake CoinDesk marketing exec DMing a researcher a Google Doc containing a container-bound Apps Script sidebar. The script ran client-side without OAuth consent, exfiltrated victim IP/geolocation/wallet presence via the Telegram API, then routed macOS users to a piped zsh/DMG AMOS stealer chain and Windows users through ClickOnce and PowerShell loaders using three stolen or fraudulent code-signing certificates (a Norwegian company, Discord, and Lenovo). The Windows chain culminated in NetSupport Manager RMM abuse, a Ledger wallet implant, and a self-generated rogue root certificate authority (spoofing Google Trust Services) installed via MsBuild.exe hollowing to silently intercept HTTPS traffic, which the authors flag as the artifact most likely to survive incident remediation short of full reimaging.

WindowsmacOSGoogle Workspace+3
AMOS stealerClickFixMacSync+6

Threat Intel, Malware & RE· Added 11 Sep 2026, published 15 Sep 2026

endorlabs.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Shai-Hulud 2 Malware Campaign Targets GitHub and Cloud Credentials Using Bun Runtime | Blog | Endor Labs

Endor Labs' live incident tracker for the Shai-Hulud 2.0 npm supply-chain worm that began around Nov 24, 2025, compromising packages from Zapier, ENS Domains, Postman and PostHog. It details the infection chain (malicious preinstall script, setup_bun.js dropper, obfuscated bun_environment.js payload), TruffleHog-style credential theft from AWS, GCP, Azure, GitHub and npm, self-replication via stolen npm and GitHub tokens, a self-hosted GitHub Actions runner backdoor abusing repository Discussions for command injection and C2, and destructive wiper behavior that shreds the user's home directory on Windows and Linux.

npmBunGitHub Actions+3
Shai-Hulud 2.0Shai-HuludZapier+3

Supply Chain, Threat Intel, DevSecOps· Published and added 11 Sep 2026

huntress.comwriteup🛡️ Security

Grand Theft Auto VI hype leads to malware

Huntress analyzed a fake GTA6 game ISO (some padded to 100GB+ with junk data) distributed via SEO poisoning, gaming forums, and torrents ahead of the game's real release. The ISO's "installer" drops a Russian-language crack-themed installer that stages multiple NJRAT copies, a DCRAT implant, the Mercurial Grabber infostealer (exfiltrating browser/Discord/Roblox/Minecraft data via Discord webhooks), Chaos ransomware repurposed as a destructive wiper (with a fake "license not found" error to mask the compromise), and an unexplained Yandex Browser install. The writeup includes IOCs (C2 IPs, ngrok tunnel, hosts-file modifications, malicious Discord webhook URL) and notes current Windows Defender detects the components.

WindowsWindows DefenderMicrosoft Edge
NJRATDCRATMercurial Grabber+2

Malware & RE, Threat Intel· Added 11 Sep 2026, published 9 Sep 2026

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