Critical vulnerabilities identified in space mission systems

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued Emergency Directive 25-03, mandating federal agencies to identify and mitigate zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) exploited by an advanced threat actor. The directive requires agencies to account for all affected devices, collect forensic data, and upgrade or disconnect end-of-support devices by September 26, 2025. The vulnerabilities allow threat actors to maintain persistence and gain network access. Cisco identified multiple zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-20333, CVE-2025-20362, CVE-2025-20363, and CVE-2025-20352) in Cisco ASA, Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) software, and Cisco IOS software. These vulnerabilities enable unauthenticated remote code execution, unauthorized access, and denial of service (DoS) attacks. GreyNoise detected large-scale campaigns targeting ASA login portals and Cisco IOS Telnet/SSH services, indicating potential exploitation of these vulnerabilities. The campaign is widespread and involves exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities to gain unauthenticated remote code execution on ASAs, as well as manipulating read-only memory (ROM) to persist through reboot and system upgrade. CISA and Cisco linked these ongoing attacks to the ArcaneDoor campaign, which exploited two other ASA and FTD zero-days (CVE-2024-20353 and CVE-2024-20359) to breach government networks worldwide since November 2023. CISA ordered agencies to identify all Cisco ASA and Firepower appliances on their networks, disconnect all compromised devices from the network, and patch those that show no signs of malicious activity by 12 PM EDT on September 26. CISA also ordered that agencies must permanently disconnect ASA devices that are reaching the end of support by September 30 from their networks. The U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) confirmed that threat actors exploited the recently disclosed security flaws in Cisco firewalls to deliver previously undocumented malware families like RayInitiator and LINE VIPER. Cisco began investigating attacks on multiple government agencies in May 2025, linked to the state-sponsored ArcaneDoor campaign. The attacks targeted Cisco ASA 5500-X Series devices to implant malware, execute commands, and potentially exfiltrate data. The threat actor modified ROMMON to facilitate persistence across reboots and software upgrades. The compromised devices include ASA 5500-X Series models running specific software releases with VPN web services enabled. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security urged organizations to update to a fixed version of Cisco ASA and FTD products to counter the threat.

Cisco has released security updates to address a high-severity zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-20352) in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software. The flaw is a stack-based buffer overflow in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) subsystem, actively exploited in attacks. This vulnerability allows authenticated, remote attackers to cause denial-of-service (DoS) conditions or gain root control of affected systems. The vulnerability impacts all devices with SNMP enabled, including specific Cisco devices running Meraki CS 17 and earlier. Cisco advises customers to upgrade to a fixed software release, specifically Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.15.4a, to remediate the vulnerability. Temporary mitigation involves limiting SNMP access to trusted users and disabling the affected Object Identifiers (OIDs) on devices. Additionally, Cisco patched 13 other security vulnerabilities, including two with available proof-of-concept exploit code. Cisco also released patches for 14 vulnerabilities in IOS and IOS XE, including eight high-severity vulnerabilities. Proof-of-concept exploit code exists for two of the vulnerabilities, but exploitation is not confirmed. Three additional medium-severity bugs affect Cisco’s SD-WAN vEdge, Access Point, and Wireless Access Point (AP) software.

A vulnerability in the Cursor AI-powered Integrated Development Environment (IDE) allows automatic execution of tasks in malicious repositories upon opening. This flaw can be exploited to drop malware, hijack developer environments, or steal credentials and API tokens. The issue arises from Cursor disabling the Workspace Trust feature from Visual Studio Code (VS Code), which blocks automatic execution of tasks without explicit consent. This default behavior can be exploited by adding a malicious .vscode/tasks.json file in a publicly shared repository. The flaw affects Cursor's one million users who generate over a billion lines of code daily. The flaw can be exploited to leak sensitive credentials, modify files, or serve as a vector for broader system compromise, placing Cursor users at significant risk from supply-chain attacks. Cursor has decided not to fix the issue, citing the need to maintain AI and other features that depend on the autorun behavior. Users are advised to enable Workspace Trust manually or use a basic text editor for unknown projects.

Microsoft's September 2025 Patch Tuesday addresses 80 vulnerabilities, including one publicly disclosed flaw and eight critical vulnerabilities. The updates fix a range of issues, including privilege escalation, remote code execution, information disclosure, and denial-of-service vulnerabilities. The patches also cover a critical flaw in Azure Networking and address a new lateral movement technique dubbed BitLockMove. Additionally, security updates have been released by multiple vendors, including Adobe, Cisco, Google, and others. The September 2025 update includes 38 elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerabilities. The two zero-day vulnerabilities are CVE-2025-55234 in Windows SMB Server and CVE-2024-21907 in Microsoft SQL Server. The SMB vulnerability is exploited through relay attacks, while the SQL Server flaw involves improper handling of exceptional conditions in Newtonsoft.Json. The updates also include hardening features for SMB Server to mitigate relay attacks, with recommendations for administrators to enable auditing to assess compatibility issues. The KB5065429 cumulative update for Windows 10 22H2 and 21H2 includes fourteen fixes or changes, addressing unexpected UAC prompts and severe lag and stuttering issues with NDI streaming software. The update enables auditing SMB client compatibility for SMB Server signing and SMB Server EPA, and includes an opt-in feature for administrators to allow outbound network traffic from Windows 10 devices. The September 2025 update includes 38 elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-55234 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability with a CVSS score of 8.8. CVE-2025-54918 in Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) is marked as critical and has a CVSS score of 8.8. CVE-2025-54111 and CVE-2025-54913 are EoP vulnerabilities in Windows UI XAML. CVE-2025-55232 in the Microsoft High Performance Compute (HPC) Pack has a CVSS score of 9.8. CVE-2025-54916 in Windows NTFS has a CVSS score of 7.8 and can be exploited through SMB or local parsing routines. Microsoft has released the final non-security preview update for Windows 10, version 22H2, which includes fixes for the out-of-box experience and SMBv1 protocol connectivity. The update improves the servicing stack, updating Windows 10 22H2 systems to build 19045.6396. The update includes fixes and quality improvements from the KB5065429 cumulative update, enabling support for IT administrators to deploy hardening measures for SMB. The update addresses an issue causing non-admin users to receive unexpected User Account Control (UAC) prompts and fixes delays or uneven audio and video performance issues with Network Device Interface (NDI) streaming. Microsoft will stop providing security updates for Windows 10 after October 14, 2025, and the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program is available for Windows 10 users to delay the switch to Windows 11. Individual customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) can enroll in the ESU program for free.

SAP has released security updates addressing multiple vulnerabilities, including three critical flaws in NetWeaver and a high-severity issue in S/4HANA. The most severe, CVE-2025-42944, allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via an insecure deserialization vulnerability in the RMI-P4 module. The second critical flaw, CVE-2025-42922, enables authenticated attackers to upload arbitrary files, potentially leading to full system compromise. The third critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-42958, allows unauthorized high-privileged users to access sensitive data and administrative functions. Additionally, a high-severity missing input validation bug in SAP S/4HANA (CVE-2025-42916) was patched, which could permit attackers to delete the content of arbitrary database tables. These vulnerabilities affect SAP NetWeaver, the foundation for various business applications like ERP, CRM, SRM, and SCM, widely deployed in large enterprise networks. The RMI-P4 port, used for internal SAP-to-SAP communication, may be exposed to wider networks due to misconfigurations. SAP products are frequent targets for high-value compromises due to their handling of mission-critical data. Earlier this month, a critical code injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-42957) was exploited in S/4HANA, Business One, and NetWeaver products. SAP has also updated security notes for other high-severity vulnerabilities in Business One, Landscape Transformation Replication Server, and S/4HANA.