A critical heap buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2026-39919) in the Ghostscript interpreter and rendering engine could allow remote code execution through specially crafted PDF files. The flaw was discovered on August 23 by researchers at Defiant's platform Wordfence using their Argus AI-powered system. Ghostscript is a PostScript and PDF interpreter that can render PDFs as images, generate thumbnails for previews, and optimize PDF files by compressing embedded images and removing unnecessary font data. When generating a PDF thumbnail, WordPress can use the PHP Imagick extension to call ImageMagick, which launches Ghostscript. A specially crafted PDF file containing a JPEG 2000 image can trigger incorrect handling of low-bit-depth samples and mismatched component resolutions. Using Argus, the researchers developed two exploits for CVE-2026-39919 that force Ghostscript to write 1,024 bytes into a 256-byte buffer, corrupting nearby memory and leading to unauthenticated remote code execution in a WordPress deployment.
Anthropic is warning that small AI models could soon be able to self-replicate across consumer IoT devices, from Android TV boxes to smart ovens, creating distributed botnets capable of running AI workloads without relying on data centers. The company's experiments showed that models could identify unfamiliar devices, connect them into a network, and prepare them to run an AI model. Although the researchers successfully distributed the Gemma4-26B-A4B model from Google DeepMind on 15 off-brand Android TV boxes, they did not demonstrate a fully autonomous, self-replicating AI worm running on real IoT hardware. However, they estimate that smaller models could achieve self-replication by the end of the year if they continue to improve at their historical rate. “Our experiments suggest that small AI models may be months away from being capable enough to self-replicate on commercial internet-of-things (IoT) devices, like smart ovens and off-brand Android TV boxes,” Anthropic warns.
Today is Microsoft's October 2026 Patch Tuesday, with security updates addressing a record-breaking 1,411 flaws, including one actively exploited and two publicly disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities. This Patch Tuesday addresses 70 "Critical" vulnerabilities, 57 of which are remote code execution, 11 are elevation of privileges, and 2 are spoofing. The approximate number of bugs in each vulnerability category is listed below: When BleepingComputer reports on Patch Tuesday security updates, we only count vulnerabilities released by Microsoft on Patch Tuesday itself. Therefore, today's total excludes 348 flaws fixed earlier this month, including vulnerabilities in Azure API Center, Azure App Service, Azure Event Grid, Azure SRE Agent, Mariner, Microsoft Bookings, Microsoft Dataverse, Microsoft Exchange Server, and Microsoft Partner Center.
Microsoft released the Windows 10 KB5126657 extended security update, which includes this month's record-breaking October 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes and a few bug fixes and changes. If you are running Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC or are enrolled in the ESU program, you can install this update like normal by going into Settings, clicking on Windows Update, and manually performing a 'Check for Updates.' After installing this update, Windows 10 will be updated to build 19045.7807, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 will be updated to build 19044.7807. Microsoft no longer releases new features for Windows 10, and the KB5126657 update mainly includes security updates and bug fixes. The update also includes fixes released as part of today's record-breaking October 2026 Patch Tuesday, which fixed a massive 1,411 vulnerabilities across Microsoft's products, including one actively exploited zero-day flaw.
Microsoft announced today that devices running Windows 11 24H2 Home and Pro editions have reached the end of support and will no longer receive monthly security and non-security preview updates. However, according to Microsoft's lifecycle policy, Windows 11 24H2 Enterprise and Education editions remain under mainstream support until October 12, 2027. "Today, October 13, 2026, Windows 11, version 24H2 Home and Pro, and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 have reached end of updates. The October 2026 monthly security update is the last update available for these editions," Microsoft said in a message center update. "Devices running these editions will no longer receive monthly security and non-security preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats." Microsoft advises users to upgrade to Windows 11 26H2, the latest Windows 11 version, also known as the Windows 11 2026 Update, which is now rolling out in phases to eligible Windows 11 devices where the "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available" option has been enabled.
The U.K. Housing Ombudsman Service is investigating a third-party IT security incident that impacted its case management system on Tuesday. Established under the Housing Act 1996, the Housing Ombudsman is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government. The watchdog settles disputes between social housing residents and social landlords in England, including housing associations, landlords, managers, and letting agents. On Tuesday, the service added an alert to its official website, warning that it's working with the affected service provider to assess the incident's impact and said social housing residents cannot file new complaints until systems are back online. Those who must raise new complaints are advised to call the Housing Ombudsman's phone line or email the watchdog at info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk.
U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) adds Ivanti Connect Secure flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added an Ivanti Connect Secure FortiMail flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-104935 (CVSS score of 8.6), to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. The vulnerability is an authentication bypass issue caused by spoofing in ICS versions before 25.1.3.0 that could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands. ICS versions 22.7R2.14 and earlier are not affected. “Authentication bypass by spoofing in ICS before version 25.1.3.0 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands. This does not impact ICS version 22.7R2.14 or prior.” reads the advisory. “Ivanti has released updates for Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) which addresses one high severity vulnerability. Successful exploitation could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands.” The company confirmed that the vulnerability was exploited in attacks in the wild. “We are aware of exploitation in the wild affecting a limited number of customers at the time of disclosure.” continues the report. 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 October 16, 2026. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, CISA)
Microsoft has released the Patch Tuesday Windows 11 KB5127648 and KB5126653 cumulative updates for versions 26H2/25H2/24H2 and 23H2 to fix security vulnerabilities and bugs, and add new features. Today's updates are mandatory as they contain the October 2026 Patch Tuesday security patches for hundreds of vulnerabilities discovered in previous months. You can install today's update by going to Start > Settings > Windows Update and clicking on 'Check for Updates.' You can also manually download and install the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog. This is the tenth 'Patch Tuesday' release in 2026, and it's based on 24H2, which means 25H2 or 26H2 get the same update. There are no exclusive or special changes. You'll get the same fixes across the two versions of Windows 11. With today's update, Microsoft is adding new emojis to Windows 11 and fixing minor issues with File Explorer.
An attacker chained three zero-day flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure, a VPN appliance, to run commands as root without logging in, security firm Volexity said on October 13. Ivanti has released fixes for two of the flaws and told customers on affected versions to "act immediately." A fix for the third is still pending, according to Volexity. Volexity, which reported the flaws to Ivanti,
TFG London detected a cybersecurity incident that impacted IT systems used by the Phase Eight, Hobbs, and Whistles premium fashion brands. The company disclosed earlier today that several IT systems remain unavailable, although physical stores remain open for customers. According to the press release, the incident has not affected the group’s other brands, Inside Story and White Stuff, or its operations in Australia and Africa. TFG London is the UK subsidiary of South Africa’s The Foschini Group, which owns the aforementioned five fashion and homeware brands. As of mid-2026, the group operated 649 retail locations globally and reported annual sales of £488 million ($646M). The company said it detected the cyberattack on October 11 and immediately activated its incident response and business continuity plans, bringing in external cybersecurity experts to help contain the threat.
Confirm this action.
Leaving now will discard your changes.