Increased Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Login Portals
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A significant increase in scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals was observed on October 3, 2025. The activity involved 1,300 unique IP addresses, with 91% classified as suspicious and 7% as malicious. The scans were geolocated primarily in the U.S., with smaller clusters in the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, and Russia. The scans were directed at Palo Alto GlobalProtect and PAN-OS profiles, indicating targeted reconnaissance efforts. This surge shares characteristics with recent scanning activity targeting Cisco ASA devices, which was followed by the disclosure of zero-day vulnerabilities. An automated campaign targeting multiple VPN platforms, including Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect and Cisco SSL VPN, was observed starting on December 11, 2025. The number of login attempts aimed at GlobalProtect portals peaked at 1.7 million during a 16-hour period. The attacks originated from more than 10,000 unique IP addresses, primarily from the 3xK GmbH (Germany) IP space, and targeted infrastructure in the United States, Mexico, and Pakistan. The threat actor reused common username and password combinations, with most requests using an uncommon Firefox user agent for automated login activity. The activity reflects scripted credential probing designed to identify exposed or weakly protected GlobalProtect portals. On December 12, 2025, activity from the same hosting provider using the same TCP fingerprint started probing Cisco SSL VPN endpoints, with unique attack IPs jumping to 1,273 from a normal baseline of less than 200. The login payloads followed normal SSL VPN authentication flows, indicating automated credential attacks rather than exploits. Palo Alto Networks confirmed the activity and recommended using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication protection.
Timeline
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04.10.2025 17:18 2 articles · 2mo ago
Increased Exploitation Attempts on Grafana Path Traversal Vulnerability
An increase in exploitation attempts of an old path traversal vulnerability in Grafana was observed, with 110 unique malicious IPs, most from Bangladesh, launching attacks on September 28, 2025. The Grafana attacks targeted primarily the United States, Slovakia, and Taiwan, with consistent destination ratios indicating automation.
Show sources
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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04.10.2025 13:39 6 articles · 2mo ago
Palo Alto Networks Login Portals Scanning Activity Spikes
An automated campaign targeting multiple VPN platforms, including Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect and Cisco SSL VPN, was observed starting on December 11, 2025. The number of login attempts aimed at GlobalProtect portals peaked at 1.7 million during a 16-hour period. The attacks originated from more than 10,000 unique IP addresses, primarily from the 3xK GmbH (Germany) IP space, and targeted infrastructure in the United States, Mexico, and Pakistan. The threat actor reused common username and password combinations, with most requests using an uncommon Firefox user agent for automated login activity. The activity reflects scripted credential probing designed to identify exposed or weakly protected GlobalProtect portals. On December 12, 2025, activity from the same hosting provider using the same TCP fingerprint started probing Cisco SSL VPN endpoints, with unique attack IPs jumping to 1,273 from a normal baseline of less than 200. The login payloads followed normal SSL VPN authentication flows, indicating automated credential attacks rather than exploits. Palo Alto Networks confirmed the activity and recommended using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication protection.
Show sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
Information Snippets
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GreyNoise observed a nearly 500% increase in IP addresses scanning Palo Alto Networks login portals on October 3, 2025.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:393 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The scanning activity involved 1,300 unique IP addresses, a significant increase from around 200 unique IP addresses observed previously.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:393 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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93% of the IP addresses involved in the scanning activity were classified as suspicious, and 7% as malicious.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:393 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The majority of the IP addresses were geolocated in the U.S., with smaller clusters in the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, and Russia.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:393 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The scanning activity shares characteristics with recent scanning activity targeting Cisco ASA devices, including regional clustering and fingerprinting overlap.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:393 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Both Palo Alto Networks and Cisco ASA scanning traffic share a dominant TLS fingerprint tied to infrastructure in the Netherlands.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:393 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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In April 2025, similar suspicious login scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS GlobalProtect gateways was reported.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:392 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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In early September 2025, GreyNoise warned about suspicious scans targeting Cisco ASA devices, which preceded the disclosure of two zero-day vulnerabilities.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:392 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Over 45,000 Cisco ASA/FTD instances are still susceptible to the two vulnerabilities disclosed in September 2025.
First reported: 04.10.2025 13:392 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning Activity on Palo Alto Networks Portals Jump 500% in One Day — thehackernews.com — 04.10.2025 13:39
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The scans were directed at Palo Alto GlobalProtect and PAN-OS profiles, indicating targeted reconnaissance efforts.
First reported: 04.10.2025 17:182 sources, 4 articlesShow sources
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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The scans were directed at GreyNoise’s emulated Palo Alto profiles, suggesting the activity is targeted in nature, likely derived from public or attacker-originated scans fingerprinting Palo Alto devices.
First reported: 04.10.2025 17:182 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The scans targeting Palo Alto Networks products showed a weaker correlation to previous zero-day vulnerabilities compared to the Cisco ASA scans.
First reported: 04.10.2025 17:182 sources, 3 articlesShow sources
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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An increase in exploitation attempts of an old path traversal vulnerability in Grafana was observed, with 110 unique malicious IPs, most from Bangladesh, launching attacks on September 28, 2025.
First reported: 04.10.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The Grafana attacks targeted primarily the United States, Slovakia, and Taiwan, with consistent destination ratios indicating automation.
First reported: 04.10.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- Massive surge in scans targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 04.10.2025 17:18
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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GreyNoise observed a 500% surge in scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks login portals on October 3, 2025, the largest observed in three months.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
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The surge involved 1,300 unique IP addresses, a significant increase from the usual 200 IP addresses observed in the previous 90 days.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The activity is targeted and likely derived from public or attacker-originated scans fingerprinting Palo Alto devices.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The scanning activity shares characteristics with recent scanning activity targeting Cisco ASA devices, including regional clustering and fingerprinting overlap.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Both Palo Alto Networks and Cisco ASA scanning traffic share a dominant TLS fingerprint tied to infrastructure in the Netherlands.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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GreyNoise will continue monitoring the activity in case it precedes a new Palo Alto vulnerability disclosure.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Security products remain a popular target for threat actors, with recent increases in attacks from the Akira ransomware group aimed at SonicWall SSL VPN appliances.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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AI is being used by cyber-threat actors to enhance existing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) in victim reconnaissance, vulnerability research, and exploit development.
First reported: 06.10.2025 13:002 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Scanning of Palo Alto Portals Surges 500% — www.infosecurity-magazine.com — 06.10.2025 13:00
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Malicious scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect VPN login portals increased 40 times in 24 hours, indicating a coordinated campaign.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Activity began climbing on November 14 and hit its highest level in 90 days within a week.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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GreyNoise identified a significant escalation in malicious activity targeting Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect portals.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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The primary ASN used in these attacks is identified as AS200373 (3xK Tech GmbH), with 62% of the IPs being geolocated to Germany, and 15% to Canada.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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A second ASN involved in this activity is AS208885 (Noyobzoda Faridduni Saidilhom).
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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Between November 14 and 19, GreyNoise observed 2.3 million sessions hitting the */global-protect/login.esp URI on Palo Alto PAN-OS and GlobalProtect.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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The URI corresponds to a web endpoint exposed by a Palo Alto Networks firewall running GlobalProtect and shows a page where VPN users can authenticate.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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Login attempts are mainly aimed at the United States, Mexico, and Pakistan, with similar volumes across all of them.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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GreyNoise has previously underlined the importance of blocking these attempts and actively tracking them as malicious probes, instead of disregarding them as failed exploit attempts targeting long-patched flaws.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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As the company's stats show, these scanning spikes typically precede the disclosure of new security flaws in 80% of cases, with the correlation being even stronger for Palo Alto Networks' products.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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Concerning malicious activity for Palo Alto Networks this year, there have been two cases of active exploitation of flaws in February, with CVE-2025-0108, which was later chained with CVE-2025-0111 and CVE-2024-9474.
First reported: 20.11.2025 19:081 source, 1 articleShow sources
- GlobalProtect VPN portals probed with 2.3 million scan sessions — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 20.11.2025 19:08
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A campaign targeting Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals with login attempts and scanning activity against SonicWall SonicOS API endpoints was observed starting on December 2, 2025.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The activity originated from more than 7,000 IP addresses from infrastructure operated by the German IT company 3xK GmbH (AS200373).
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The actor initially targeted GlobalProtect portals with brute-force and login attempts, then pivoted to scanning SonicWall API endpoints.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The GlobalProtect login attempts targeted two profiles in GreyNoise's sensor network for passive capture of scanning and exploitation activity.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The surge used three client fingerprints previously observed in scanning attempts recorded between late September and mid-October.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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This past activity originated from four ASNs with no history of malicious activity, generating over 9 million non-spoofable HTTP sessions, mostly targeting GlobalProtect portals.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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GreyNoise attributes both activities to the same actor based on the analyzed indicators.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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On December 3, the same three fingerprints were seen in scanning activity targeting SonicWall SonicOS API.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
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Palo Alto Networks confirmed that the increased scanning aimed at GlobalProtect interfaces represents credential-based attacks, not an exploit of a software vulnerability.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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Palo Alto Networks recommends customers enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to protect against credential abuse.
First reported: 06.12.2025 17:181 source, 2 articlesShow sources
- New wave of VPN login attempts targets Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 06.12.2025 17:18
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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An automated campaign targeting multiple VPN platforms, including Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect and Cisco SSL VPN, was observed starting on December 11, 2025.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The number of login attempts aimed at GlobalProtect portals peaked at 1.7 million during a 16-hour period on December 11, 2025.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The attacks originated from more than 10,000 unique IP addresses, primarily from the 3xK GmbH (Germany) IP space.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The malicious traffic targeted infrastructure located in the United States, Mexico, and Pakistan.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
-
The threat actor reused common username and password combinations, with most requests using an uncommon Firefox user agent for automated login activity.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The activity reflects scripted credential probing designed to identify exposed or weakly protected GlobalProtect portals.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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On December 12, 2025, activity from the same hosting provider using the same TCP fingerprint started probing Cisco SSL VPN endpoints.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The unique attack IPs jumped to 1,273, from a normal baseline of less than 200.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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The login payloads followed normal SSL VPN authentication flows, indicating automated credential attacks rather than exploits.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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Cisco warned customers of a maximum-severity zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-20393) in Cisco AsyncOS, but GreyNoise found no evidence linking the observed activity to this vulnerability.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
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Palo Alto Networks confirmed the activity and recommended using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication protection.
First reported: 18.12.2025 19:271 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New password spraying attacks target Cisco, PAN VPN gateways — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 18.12.2025 19:27
Similar Happenings
Active Exploitation of Unpatched Cisco AsyncOS Zero-Day in SEG and SEWM Appliances
Cisco has identified an unpatched, critical zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-20393) in AsyncOS, affecting Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and Secure Email and Web Manager (SEWM) appliances. The flaw is actively exploited by a Chinese threat group, UAT-9686, to deploy backdoors and other malware. The attacks have been ongoing since at least late November 2025. Cisco recommends securing and restricting access to vulnerable appliances and advises customers to contact TAC for further assistance. The vulnerability allows threat actors to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges and deploy tools like AquaShell, AquaTunnel, Chisel, and AquaPurge. CISA has added CVE-2025-20393 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring FCEB agencies to apply mitigations by December 24, 2025. Additionally, GreyNoise detected a coordinated campaign targeting enterprise VPN infrastructure, including Cisco SSL VPN and Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect portals.
GreyNoise IP Check Tool Detects Botnet Participation
GreyNoise Labs has launched a free tool called GreyNoise IP Check to help users determine if their IP address has been involved in malicious scanning activities, such as botnet or residential proxy networks. The tool provides a simple way to check for malicious activity without requiring deep technical analysis. The tool offers three possible results: Clean, Malicious/Suspicious, and Common Business Service. For suspicious activity, it provides a 90-day historical timeline to help identify potential infection points. Users are advised to investigate their devices, run malware scans, update firmware, and secure network settings if suspicious activity is detected.
Active Spyware Campaigns Targeting High-Value Signal and WhatsApp Users
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an alert warning of active spyware campaigns targeting high-value Signal and WhatsApp users. These campaigns leverage sophisticated social engineering and zero-click exploits to compromise mobile devices and exfiltrate sensitive data. The targets include government officials, military personnel, political figures, and civil society organizations across the U.S., Middle East, and Europe. A new campaign, dubbed GhostPairing, abuses the legitimate device-linking feature to hijack WhatsApp accounts via pairing codes. This campaign was first spotted in Czechia but has the potential to spread to other regions. The attack involves tricking victims into linking an attacker's browser to their WhatsApp device, granting the attacker full access to the account without requiring any authentication.
Large-scale RDP targeting campaign detected from multi-country botnet
A large-scale botnet targeting Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) services in the United States has been detected. The campaign, which began on October 8, 2025, originates from over 100,000 IP addresses across multiple countries. The botnet uses two primary attack methods: RD Web Access timing attacks and RDP web client login enumeration. The botnet's activity was first detected by GreyNoise, a threat monitoring platform, following an unusual traffic spike from Brazil. Subsequent activity was observed from Argentina, Iran, China, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Ecuador, and over 100 countries in total. The campaign highlights the ongoing threat to RDP services, which are commonly used by administrators, helpdesk staff, and remote workers. Attackers often exploit vulnerabilities, perform brute-force logins, or use timing attacks to gain unauthorized access.
Increased Scanning for PAN-OS GlobalProtect Vulnerability
SANS Internet Storm Center has observed a significant rise in internet-wide scans targeting the critical PAN-OS GlobalProtect vulnerability (CVE-2024-3400). This flaw, disclosed last year, allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code with root privileges on affected firewalls. The scans involve attempts to upload and retrieve files, indicating potential pre-exploit staging activities. The vulnerability is a command injection flaw that can be exploited to gain unauthorized access and control over vulnerable firewalls. This development underscores the ongoing threat posed by unpatched systems and the importance of timely security updates. The scans are part of a broader trend of increased cyber activity targeting critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.