Microsoft says IT admins can re-enable the retired Exchange Web Services (EWS) API in Exchange Online to fix EWS apps that have stopped working. EWS is an API for developing apps that can access Exchange mailbox items (e.g., email messages, meetings, and contacts) from Exchange Online and on-premises Exchange servers. This API is used by various apps, including but not limited to Outlook desktop add-ins, older versions of Outlook for Windows, the Apple Mail / Calendar on macOS, and various other apps. In February, the company announced it will start blocking the EWS API by default on October 1, 2026, but will let IT administrators temporarily maintain access via an app allowlist until the final shutdown on April 1, 2027. However, when EWS is disabled, the apps show errors ranging from alerts that the EWS protocol is unavailable to repeated prompts to enter the username or password.
Attackers can steal credentials and begin exfiltrating data within minutes, often before security teams can respond. Exaforce examines real-world attacks involving stolen GitHub tokens, malicious AI installers, and MFA phishing, explaining why faster detection and automated containment are critical.
INTERPOL on Thursday announced that a coordinated law enforcement action has disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds. In tandem, the effort saw law enforcement agencies from 21 countries arrest 1,462 suspects. Codenamed Operation Serengeti III, the cybercrime crackdown took place between June 29 and August 31, 2026. "Authorities identified
GitLab has released security patches for a maximum-severity Regular Expression Compiler flaw that can let remote attackers run arbitrary code on vulnerable servers. This security issue is tracked as CVE-2026-110264 and was reported by a security researcher using the 'joaxcar' handle through GitLab's HackerOne bug bounty program. CVE-2026-110264 stems from an integer overflow weakness in GitLab's Regular Expression Compiler, a background engine that parses and validates regular expressions in configuration files. GitLab has fixed the vulnerability in GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) versions 19.5.1, 19.4.3, 19.3.6, 19.2.9, 19.1.9, 19.0.10, and 18.11.13, and warned users to patch their instances immediately. "GitLab has remediated an issue that, under certain conditions, could have allowed an unauthenticated user to execute arbitrary code on the GitLab server due to integer overflow when compiling a specially crafted regular expression," the company said.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider Railway on Wednesday disclosed "anomalous activity" related to systems that store customer environment variables. Upon further investigation, the company found that an unauthorized third party may have gained access to encrypted environment variables, and, in some cases, obtained the decrypted contents. The impact, it said, is limited to a "subset of users,
A flaw in the OpenCode AI coding agent allowed a malicious or hijacked MCP server to run code on a developer's Windows or WSL machine when the developer signed in. OpenCode connects to MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers to add outside tools, and such code would run with the developer's own access. Anomaly, the company behind OpenCode, fixed the flaw in version 1.18.33 on September
LiteLLM on Wednesday disclosed that threat actors compromised "multiple independent security controls" to push a malicious version of the Python package containing a credential stealer and a backdoor. On October 21, 2026, LiteLLM's release pipeline was compromised to push 1.107.0 to the Docker Hub registry and the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository. The incident took place around 4:00 a.m.
Law enforcement agencies have disrupted nearly 11,000 cybercriminal networks and arrested more than 1,400 people in Operation Serengeti III, which targeted business email compromise, ransomware, and online scams. Coordinated by Interpol, the operation involved authorities from 21 countries and private partners like Team Cymru, Kaspersky, Group-IB, and Fortinet, in a major crackdown on cybercrime across Africa. The action unrolled between June 29 and August 31 and led to the recovery of more than $105 million in illegal funds. In a press release today, Interpol says that Operation Serengeti III has resulted in the arrest of 1,462 suspected cybercriminals and the dismantling of 10,909 malicious networks. The investigation identified 65,929 victims and estimated financial losses at more than $385 million.
Node.js released security updates on October 21 for its three supported release lines, 22.x, 24.x and 26.x, fixing 10 flaws. The most serious is a bug in the Brotli decompression code that Node.js bundles, which the project says can allow remote code execution, meaning an attacker could run code of their choosing on the affected system. Each supported line has one fixed version:
SafePay ransomware has hit 600+ organizations since 2024, using stolen credentials, VPN access and double extortion to pressure victims into paying. CISA, the FBI, the US Secret Service, Germany’s Landeskriminalamt Rheinland-Pfalz, and two UK law enforcement agencies jointly published an advisory this week on SafePay, a ransomware group they describe as one of the most active operations currently running. The group has breached at least 600 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors since August 2024, spanning North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. “Since August 2024, SafePay ransomware group’s operations have affected a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. SafePay ransomware was among the most active ransomware groups in 2026. The SafePay threat actors have impacted at least 600 separate victims from multiple critical infrastructure sectors.” reads the joint advisory, “The authoring agencies encourage organizations to implement the recommendations in the Mitigations section of this advisory to reduce the likelihood and impact of SafePay ransomware incidents.” SafePay appeared in mid-2024 as an independent ransomware group that operates without affiliates. This is unusual because many major ransomware groups work like franchises, allowing other criminals to use their tools and services. SafePay grew as groups such as BlackCat and LockBit declined, and its activity has continued. The advisory includes findings from FBI, US Secret Service, and German investigations through August 2026. SafePay’s preferred entry points are exposed credentials, brute force password attacks, and VPN access. “The FBI, USSS, and cybersecurity researchers observed SafePay threat actors obtaining initial access [TA0001] to organizations through various means, including credential exposure, implementing brute force password attacks [T1110], and exploiting virtual private network (VPN) access.” states the advisory. “SafePay threat actors use the IP addresses of the VPN provider “Mullvad” to attain initial access—specifically, SafePay threat actors use phished account profiles to access victim networks to exploit the following known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) for edge device products” Security teams should watch for unusual login attempts coming from Mullvad VPN IP addresses. SafePay also uses stolen account credentials and automated scripts to exploit known vulnerabilities in internet-facing devices. These include Cisco VPN flaws from 2020 and 2023, a Veeam vulnerability, and a SonicWall access control issue. Once inside a network, the attackers rely on common tools rather than specialized malware. They use PsExec, WinRM, RDP, and PowerShell to move between systems. A PowerShell script called ShareFinder.ps1 helps them find shared folders and identify valuable data. Mimikatz is used to steal credentials, while AnyDesk and TeamViewer provide remote access. To steal data, the group uses tools such as FileZilla, RClone, WinSCP, and even OneDrive. Encryption uses a ChaCha20 stream cipher combined with RSA for key exchange, with methods customized based on file type and size. Files get the .SafePay extension appended. “Data encrypted with the SafePay ransomware variant (appended with .SafePay) cannot be recovered without the decryption key. SafePay threat actors hold the encrypted data for ransom and typically demand a subset of company revenue in cryptocurrency in exchange for decryption software.” states the advisory. “SafePay threat actors leave a ransom note on the victim’s system, typically on the desktop or root directory, advising them that SafePay locked their system and to reach out over a chat portal at a TOR .onion website link with a victim ID as the login. “ Paying the ransom remains the only path to decryption for encrypted files, and even that isn’t guaranteed to work. The group runs a double-extortion model: steal first, encrypt second, threaten to post the stolen data publicly if the victim doesn’t pay. After encryption, SafePay sends victims to a Tor-based chat portal for negotiations. A representative also makes phone calls to apply pressure. If no payment comes, everything goes on the leak site. The group also deletes Volume Shadow Copies and resets network-attached backup devices to factory settings, which is the operational equivalent of cutting off every exit before the fire starts. The advisory recommends several basic security measures. Keep internet-facing devices, especially VPNs and firewalls, up to date. Prioritize vulnerabilities listed in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for VPNs, webmail, and accounts that access critical systems. Limit the number of accounts allowed to use administrative tools. SafePay relies on legitimate Windows tools to move through compromised networks, making its activity harder to detect. Organizations should also keep backups offline, encrypted, and immutable so attackers cannot access, change, or delete them. CISA also recommends reviewing all accounts with admin privileges, setting time-limited access where possible, and disabling command-line tools for any account that doesn’t need them. The advisory includes IOC files in STIX XML and JSON format, full MITRE ATT&CK mapping, and complete file and IP indicators. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, ransomware)
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