Remote code execution via the Reading Pane, without user interaction Executive summary On May 12, 2026, as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday cycle, Microsoft released a fix for CVE-2026-40361, a critical use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) officially classified by the vendor as a “Microsoft Office Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability” (1) (2). Researcher Haifei Li, founder…
Universal Local Privilege Escalation in the Linux Kernel Executive summary On May 7, 2026, researcher Hyunwoo Kim (alias @v4bel) publicly disclosed a new class of Linux kernel vulnerabilities named Dirty Frag (1) (2). This disclosure, brought forward as a result of an embargo break by an unrelated third party, exposes an exploitation chain combining two…
TLP:CLEAR | CTI Team | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Designations (vendor aliases) The group is tracked under the following designations: Agrius (SentinelLabs), Agonizing Serpens (Palo Alto Networks Unit 42), Pink Sandstorm (Microsoft, formerly Americium), Marshtreader (Security.com), BlackShadow (public hack-and-leak persona), DEV-0022 (Microsoft pre-attribution). Additional alias: G1030 (MITRE ATT&CK). Origin Iran. Presumed sponsor…
TLP:CLEAR | CTI Team | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Designations (vendor aliases) The group is tracked under the following designations by vendors: APT42 (Mandiant/Google TI, reference designation : first public documentation September 2022), Damselfly (Mandiant internal), UNC788 (Mandiant pre-attribution), CALANQUE (Google Threat Analysis Group), OwlSandstorm (Microsoft), Yellow Garuda (PwC), ITG18 (IBM X-Force).…
TLP:CLEAR | CTI Team | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Designations (vendor aliases) The group is tracked under the following designations by vendors: MERCURY (Microsoft, historical designation), MuddyWater (ClearSky, common usage designation), Mango Sandstorm (Microsoft, current designation), Seedworm (Symantec/Broadcom), Static Kitten (CrowdStrike), Earth Vetala (Trend Micro), TEMP.Zagros (Mandiant/FireEye pre-attribution), TA450 (Proofpoint), Boggy Serpens…
TLP:CLEAR | CTI Team | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Designations (vendor aliases) The group is tracked under the following designations by vendors: APT39 (Mandiant/Google TI, reference designation), Chafer (Symantec, CrowdStrike), REMIX KITTEN (CrowdStrike), Burgundy Sandstorm (Microsoft), Radio Serpens (ESET), COBALT HICKMAN (SecureWorks), ITG07 (IBM X-Force), TA454 (Proofpoint), Cadelspy (Symantec), Remexi (Kaspersky). Additional…
Technical and Strategic AnalysisFBI/CISA PSA I-032026-PSA — March 20, 2026 | TLP:CLEAR 1. Executive Summary — Board Level / Strategic View On March 20, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) jointly published a public service announcement (PSA I-032026-PSA) alerting the public to an active campaign by…
TLP:CLEAR | CTI Team | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Denominations (known aliases by vendor) The group is tracked under the following denominations: APT35 (Mandiant/Google TI, reference designation), Phosphorus / Mint Sandstorm (Microsoft), TA453 (Proofpoint), Charming Kitten (ClearSky), Ballistic Bobcat (ESET), ITG18 (IBM X-Force), Yellow Garuda (PwC), NewsBeef (Kaspersky). Additional documented aliases: Ajax…
TLP:CLEAR | CTI Analysts | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Naming (known aliases by vendor) The group is tracked under the following names across vendors: APT33 (Mandiant/FireEye, reference designation), Elfin / Elfin Team (Broadcom/Symantec), Refined Kitten (CrowdStrike), Peach Sandstorm (Microsoft, formerly HOLMIUM), MAGNALLIUM (Dragos), COBALT TRINITY (SecureWorks), ATK35, TA451, G0064 (MITRE ATT&CK) (1)(2)(3)(4).…
TLP:CLEAR | General Public | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Naming (known aliases by vendor) The group is tracked under the following names across vendors: Handala, Handala Hack, Handala Hack Team, Void Manticore (Check Point Research), Storm-0842 / Storm-842 (Microsoft), BANISHED KITTEN (CrowdStrike), Dune (other vendors) (1)(2). Associated operational personas include Karma (alias…
TLP:CLEAR | Mixed audience | Updated: March 2026 1. IDENTIFICATION & ATTRIBUTION Designations: OilRig (CrowdStrike), Helix Kitten (CrowdStrike), APT34 (Mandiant/Google), IRN2 (SecureWorks), COBALT GYPSY (SecureWorks), Crambus (Symantec), Earth Simnavaz (Trend Micro), EUROPIUM (Microsoft) Origin: Iran Suspected sponsor: Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS — Vezarat-e Ettela’at va Amniat-e Keshvar) Sophistication level: High (confirmed APT, persistent operations…
On March 13, 2026, Microsoft released out-of-band update KB5084597 to remediate three remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in the RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Service) MMC snap-in: CVE-2026-25172, CVE-2026-25173, and CVE-2026-26111. Attack surface and exploitation vector The vulnerability resides in the RRAS MMC snap-in used for remote server management. The attack vector is client-side: the…
