U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) adds Apple flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added an Apple flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-27834 (CVSS score of 5.5), to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. “This type of vulnerability is a frequent attack vector for malicious cyber actors and poses significant risks to the federal enterprise.” reads the advisory by CISA. CVE-2024-27834 is a security vulnerability affecting Apple’s operating systems and Safari. It could allow an attacker who already has arbitrary read and write capabilities on a device to bypass Pointer Authentication (PAC), a hardware-based security mechanism designed to protect memory addresses and prevent certain types of memory-corruption attacks. Pointer Authentication is a security feature implemented in Apple processors. It adds cryptographic signatures to pointers, helping ensure that memory addresses have not been maliciously modified. An attacker who gains the ability to read and write arbitrary memory could potentially exploit CVE-2024-27834 to circumvent these protections. This could weaken an important security barrier and make further exploitation of the device easier. What is the impact? Bypassing Pointer Authentication protections. Weakening defenses against memory-corruption attacks. Potentially facilitating further exploitation when combined with other vulnerabilities. Apple addressed the vulnerability through improved security checks in: Safari 17.5 iOS 16.7.8 and iOS 17.5 iPadOS 16.7.8 and iPadOS 17.5 macOS Sonoma 14.5 tvOS 17.5 watchOS 10.5 Cybersecurity firm Sekoia reports on attacks attributed with moderate to high confidence to Russia-linked cyberespionage group APT29. Attackers used compromised websites, fake websites and a supply-chain compromise of Plerdy SEO Tracker to deliver malicious JavaScript. The zero-click exploit chain targeted Safari and Chrome vulnerabilities to bypass security protections and deploy information-stealing malware capable of collecting browser cookies and device data. “Achieving arbitrary read/write access within the renderer is no longer sufficient for full exploitation on modern Apple silicon. This architecture relies on Pointer Authentication Codes (PAC) to cryptographically sign control-flow pointers. Because of this, even if an attacker can manipulate memory, they cannot simply overwrite a function pointer to hijack the execution flow, triggering an improperly signed pointer will crash the process rather than execute the payload.” Sekoia writes. “To overcome this mitigation and forge the valid pointers required for arbitrary code execution, the exploit chain incorporates a PAC bypass utilizing CVE-2024-27834.” According to Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01: Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, FCEB agencies have to address the identified vulnerabilities by the due date to protect their networks against attacks exploiting the flaws in the catalog. Experts also recommend that private organizations review the Catalog and address the vulnerabilities in their infrastructure. CISA orders federal agencies to fix the flaw by November 18, 2026. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, CISA)
A Canadian man was extradited to the U.S. to face charges over hacking universities and hijacking their computers to mine cryptocurrency. A Canadian man, Ryan James Roach (35), has been extradicted to the United States to face charges tied to a hacking operation that targeted universities and other schools. Roach was extradited on October 28 and now faces federal charges alongside Mathiew James Stubbings, 41, of Ontario. The indictment alleges that, from June 2016 to December 2019, the two men hacked computers, stole login details, and used victims’ machines to mine cryptocurrency for themselves. “They used virtual private servers in multiple countries, which were registered under false names. These servers transmitted malware and mining software to victim computers and stored stolen login credentials.” DoJ states. “Victims of the scheme included educational institutions in New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. Some of the computers damaged by the defendants were located at an institution of higher learning in the Western District of New York.” The targets were not random home PCs. Prosecutors say the pair went after U.S. schools with supercomputers, including institutions in New York, Tennessee, North Carolina and Massachusetts. Some affected computers belonged to a higher-education institution in western New York. “To carry out the scheme, Roach and Stubbings surreptitiously accessed victim computers without authorization, deployed malware to gain control, stole victim login credentials, exfiltrated the data to servers that they controlled, and forcing victim computers to use their processing power to mine cryptocurrency for the financial benefit of the defendants.” DoJ continues. That is a lot of effort to turn someone else’s research hardware into a personal crypto rig. The alleged method was also more involved than a single phishing email. The indictment says they looked for weaknesses in victims’ networks, used servers and compromised machines from one victim to hide their tracks, and then moved through the network once inside. The duo used sophisticated techniques and tools to conduct reconnaissance and expand their access within the network. The charges include conspiracy to obtain information from and damage protected computers, obtaining information from a protected computer, and intentional damage to a protected computer. Each carries up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors also allege the pair damaged at least 10 protected computers in one year and caused at least $5,000 in losses. Roach appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen and is being held pending a detention hearing. Extradition proceedings for Stubbings continue in Canada. The FBI, the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and the Office of International Affairs worked on the case. For security teams, the useful part is not the alleged crypto-mining. It is the reminder that universities remain attractive targets because they hold powerful computing resources, broad networks, and plenty of people with access. Patch quickly, watch for unusual processing load, and treat credential theft as a serious incident rather than a nuisance. “The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.” DoJ concludes. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, University Supercomputers)
A critical finding can move through several security tools and still leave the organization exposed. The vulnerability has a severity score, and a ticket has reached the queue. Progress then depends on information the finding may lack: who owns the system, whether attackers can reach it, what protection exists, and how a change could affect the business. Each missing detail creates
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has disclosed that an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted threat actor it tracks as Crafty Falcon is targeting organizations in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sectors in the country. Describing the threat as active and ongoing, the activity involves the use of publicly-available AI-driven offensive security tools
Zyxel GS1900 network switches that received the vendor's earlier fix for an actively exploited flaw are still open to the exploit attackers used, researchers at Binarly found. The exploit lets anyone who can reach a switch's web management interface run commands on it without logging in. Zyxel has released new firmware for 10 GS1900 models that closes the hole. The earlier fix is the 2.90
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday added a medium-severity security flaw impacting multiple Apple operating systems to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, following reports of active exploitation. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-27834 (CVSS score: 5.5), a case of improper authentication that could allow an attacker with
OpenAI on Wednesday detailed a pipeline that employed an upcoming cyber-focused artificial intelligence (AI) model to validate and patch 948 local privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Linux for $1.2 million in API costs. "Our prototype identified and analyzed 2,308 candidate Linux kernel findings, dynamically reproduced 1,724 vulnerabilities, and produced 948 local privilege escalation (LPE)
Vercel is gradually rolling out Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC) on its platform as a key defense against information stealer malware. The new feature, announced by Vercel's CTO Malte Ubl on X, binds a login session to the user's device with a private key stored in a TPM, so even if the session cookie is stolen, it can't be reused on another device. Vercel is a cloud platform developers use to deploy and host websites, web applications, and AI agents. The company also develops the popular Next.js web framework. Its latest announcement concerns logins to Vercel's platform at vercel.com, where developers manage their projects and deployments. "DBSC works by storing a private key in your device's TPM (the same device that the fingerprint sensor or similar biometric devices on your laptop or phone uses) and using that key to sign your cookie," explained Ubl.
Barracuda patched two flaws that can be chained to give attackers root access to Email Security Gateway appliances. Barracuda has patched two vulnerabilities that can be chained to gain root access to its Email Security Gateway (ESG) appliances. CVE-2026-116606 (CVSS score of 9.3) is an authentication bypass that lets unauthenticated attackers modify appliance configurations. CVE-2026-111560 (CVSS score of 8.6) is a command injection flaw affecting six Barracuda products. An attacker with administrator privileges could exploit it to execute operating system commands as root. “Barracuda has identified two vulnerabilities affecting certain Barracuda products: a pre-authentication authorization bypass vulnerability and a command injection vulnerability. The vulnerabilities have been assigned CVE-2026-116606 and CVE-2026-111560, respectively.” states the advisory. “Successful exploitation requires an attacker to have access to the administrative interface of an affected product. If exploited in combination, these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to bypass authorization controls and obtain root access to the device.” Barracuda quickly began fixing the problem and released security patches for affected products. Customers should check the affected products and follow the remediation guidance, make sure their systems use the latest firmware, and install all security patches. It has released patches and urges customers to update their systems, below are the affected products: Email Security Gateway (ESG) — affected by both vulnerabilities; patch with BNSF-40425 for version 9.4.017 or later, or BNSF-40430 for versions below 9.4.017. Load Balancer Application Delivery Controller (ADC) — affected by CVE-2026-111560; patch with BNADC-16586. Message Archiver (BMA) — affected by CVE-2026-111560; patch with BNMA-32468. WAF Control Center (WCC) — affected by CVE-2026-111560; patch with BNWF-60060. Web Application Firewall (WAF) — affected by CVE-2026-111560; patch with BNADC-16586. Web Security Gateway (WSG) — affected by CVE-2026-111560; patch with BNYF-24789. The vendor recommends that customers: Restrict administrative interfaces to trusted internal networks and use network access controls to reduce exposure. Check that devices are running the latest firmware and that all security patches are installed. If a device is several versions behind, install updates step by step; more than one update may be needed. Contact Barracuda Support if help is required. “If a patch has not been automatically applied, customers should manually apply the appropriate patch as soon as possible. If customers have turned off automatic patching, Barracuda recommends setting devices to automatically receive patches.” concludes the advisory. “Guidance on how to manually apply the patch or update firmware can be found on Barracuda Campus.” Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, Barracuda)
Zyxel has patched a zero-day vulnerability in its GS1900 series network switches that hackers exploited to compromise nearly 1,000 devices worldwide and steal configuration files and credentials. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-107441, is an out-of-bounds write flaw in the switches' web management interface that allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to execute operating system commands using specially crafted HTTP requests. The flaw affects ten GS1900 switch models, and Zyxel released security updates on October 22 and published a security advisory on November 3. However, the vulnerability was initially mistaken for an older flaw that Zyxel had already patched months before the attacks began. On June 16, 2026, Zyxel released security updates addressing CVE-2026-7273, a pre-authentication buffer overflow vulnerability affecting the same GS1900 switches.
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