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WhatsApp Zero-Day Exploited in Targeted Attacks

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2 unique sources, 3 articles

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A zero-day vulnerability in WhatsApp (CVE-2025-55177) was exploited in targeted attacks against specific users, chained with a separate iOS flaw (CVE-2025-43300). The flaw allowed unauthorized users to trigger content processing from arbitrary URLs on targeted devices. Apple issued threat notifications to users targeted in mercenary spyware attacks, which included individuals based on their status or function, such as journalists, lawyers, activists, politicians, and senior officials. The attacks highlight the risks of chaining multiple vulnerabilities to compromise targets, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security measures. WhatsApp patched the issue and notified affected users. Apple has sent threat notifications multiple times a year since 2021, alerting users in over 150 countries, including a fourth campaign in France in 2025. The attacks began with the exploitation of the WhatsApp zero-day vulnerability, which was chained with an iOS flaw in sophisticated attacks. Apple has been issuing threat notifications to users targeted in these attacks, advising them to enable Lockdown Mode and seek emergency security assistance. Apple introduced Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) in the latest iPhone models to combat memory corruption vulnerabilities, and the number of U.S. investors in spyware and surveillance technologies has increased significantly.

Timeline

  1. 11.09.2025 22:02 2 articles · 21d ago

    Apple issues threat notifications to targeted users

    Apple introduced Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) in the latest iPhone models to combat memory corruption vulnerabilities. The number of U.S. investors in spyware and surveillance technologies increased from 11 in 2023 to 31 in 2024. New spyware entities have emerged in Japan, Malaysia, and Panama, including vendors like Israel's Bindecy and Italy's SIO.

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  2. 01.09.2025 16:02 3 articles · 1mo ago

    Zero-day in WhatsApp exploited in targeted attacks

    Apple notified French users of a fourth spyware campaign in 2025, with alerts sent on September 3, 2025. Previous threat notifications were sent on March 5, April 29, and June 25, 2025. Apple has been sending these notices since November 2021. The attacks target individuals for their status or function, including journalists, lawyers, activists, politicians, senior officials, and members of strategic sectors.

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CISA Emergency Directive 25-03: Mitigation of Cisco ASA Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

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. Nearly 50,000 Cisco ASA and FTD appliances are vulnerable to actively exploited flaws. The vulnerabilities CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362 enable arbitrary code execution and access to restricted URL endpoints. The Shadowserver Foundation discovered over 48,800 internet-exposed ASA and FTD instances still vulnerable to the flaws. The majority of vulnerable devices are located in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Russia, Canada, and Denmark. The Shadowserver Foundation's data is as of September 29, indicating a lack of response to the ongoing exploitation activity. Greynoise had warned on September 4 about suspicious scans targeting Cisco ASA devices, indicating upcoming undocumented flaws. CISA's emergency directive gave 24 hours to FCEB agencies to identify and upgrade vulnerable Cisco ASA and FTD instances. CISA advised that ASA devices reaching their end of support should be disconnected from federal networks by the end of September. The U.K. NCSC reported that the hackers deployed Line Viper shellcode loader malware and RayInitiator GRUB bootkit.

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Cisco IOS and IOS XE SNMP Zero-Day Exploited in Attacks

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.

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Command injection flaw in Libraesva ESG exploited by state actors

Libraesva has released an emergency update for its Email Security Gateway (ESG) solution to address a command injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-59689). This flaw, exploited by a state-sponsored actor, allows arbitrary shell command execution via a crafted email attachment. The vulnerability affects all versions from 4.5 onwards and has been patched in versions 5.0.31, 5.1.20, 5.2.31, 5.3.16, 5.4.8, and 5.5.7. The exploit was discovered and patched within 17 hours of detection. The vulnerability is triggered by improper sanitization of compressed archive formats, enabling non-privileged users to execute arbitrary commands. The patch includes a sanitization fix, automated scans for indicators of compromise, and a self-assessment module to verify the update's application. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 6.1, indicating medium severity. Libraesva has identified one confirmed incident of abuse by a foreign hostile state entity. Customers using versions below 5.0 must upgrade manually to a supported release, as they have reached end-of-life and will not receive a patch for CVE-2025-59689.

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ShadowLeak: Undetectable Email Theft via AI Agents

A new attack vector, dubbed ShadowLeak, allows hackers to invisibly steal emails from users who integrate AI agents like ChatGPT with their email inboxes. The attack exploits the lack of visibility into AI processing on cloud infrastructure, making it undetectable to the user. The vulnerability was discovered by Radware and reported to OpenAI, which addressed it in August 2025. The attack involves embedding malicious code in emails, which the AI agent processes and acts upon without user awareness. The attack leverages an indirect prompt injection hidden in email HTML, using techniques like tiny fonts, white-on-white text, and layout tricks to remain undetected by the user. The attack can be extended to any connector that ChatGPT supports, including Box, Dropbox, GitHub, Google Drive, HubSpot, Microsoft Outlook, Notion, or SharePoint. The ShadowLeak attack targets users who connect AI agents to their email inboxes, such as those using ChatGPT with Gmail. The attack is non-detectable and leaves no trace on the user's network. The exploit involves embedding malicious code in emails, which the AI agent processes and acts upon, exfiltrating sensitive data to an attacker-controlled server. OpenAI acknowledged and fixed the issue in August 2025, but the exact details of the fix remain unclear. The exfiltration in ShadowLeak occurs directly within OpenAI's cloud environment, bypassing traditional security controls.

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SonicWall MySonicWall Breach Exposes Firewall Configuration Files

SonicWall has released a firmware update to remove rootkit malware from SMA 100 series devices, following a breach that exposed firewall configuration backup files. The breach, caused by brute-force attacks, affected less than 5% of customers and may have exposed sensitive information. SonicWall has advised customers to reset credentials and update secrets. Additionally, the Akira ransomware group has been targeting unpatched SonicWall devices, exploiting a year-old security flaw (CVE-2024-40766) and bypassing MFA on VPN accounts using previously stolen OTP seeds. There is no evidence that threat actors have leveraged exposed data against impacted customers in attacks at this time. In September 2025, SonicWall disclosed a security breach affecting MySonicWall accounts, resulting in the exposure of firewall configuration backup files for less than 5% of its customers. The breach, caused by a series of brute-force attacks, could facilitate easier exploitation of SonicWall firewalls by threat actors. SonicWall has advised customers to reset credentials, update secrets, and follow detailed guidance to mitigate potential risks. The company has cut off attackers' access and is collaborating with cybersecurity and law enforcement agencies. The exposed files may contain sensitive information, such as credentials and tokens, for services running on SonicWall devices. Additionally, the Akira ransomware group has been targeting unpatched SonicWall devices, exploiting a year-old security flaw (CVE-2024-40766) and bypassing MFA on VPN accounts using previously stolen OTP seeds. SonicWall confirmed that attackers accessed the API service for cloud backup and there is no evidence that threat actors have leveraged exposed data against impacted customers in attacks at this time. The threat actor UNC6148 has been deploying the OVERSTEP malware, a previously unknown persistent backdoor/user-mode rootkit, to maintain persistent access, steal sensitive credentials, and conceal its own components. The malware modifies the appliance's boot process to evade detection and hide files and activity. UNC6148 may have used an unknown zero-day remote code execution vulnerability to deploy OVERSTEP on SonicWall SMA appliances. Potential vulnerabilities exploited by UNC6148 include CVE-2021-20038, CVE-2024-38475, CVE-2021-20035, CVE-2021-20039, and CVE-2025-32819. SonicWall has advised customers to look for signs of compromise, such as gaps or deletions in SMA logs, unexpected appliance reboots, persistent admin sessions, unauthorized configuration changes, and reoccurring access following patching or resets. CISA recommends upgrading firmware, replacing and rebuilding SMA 500v, resetting OTP bindings, enforcing MFA, resetting passwords, and replacing certificates with private keys stored on the appliance.

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