An unpatched zero-day in Adobe Acrobat Reader has been actively exploited since at least November 2025 using booby-trapped PDF documents. The exploit, discovered by EXPMON researcher Haifei Li, works on the latest version of Adobe Reader without any user interaction beyond opening the file. It abuses privileged Acrobat JavaScript APIs (util.readFileIntoStream and RSS.addFeed) to silently harvest local files, OS details, language settings, and the Reader version from the victim's machine, then sends everything to an attacker-controlled server. The PDFs use Russian-language lures related to the oil and gas industry. The attack is a two-stage operation: the first pass fingerprints the target, and if the system meets the attacker's criteria, a follow-on RCE or sandbox escape payload is delivered. Only 5 out of 64 antivirus engines on VirusTotal detected the sample. No CVE has been assigned and no patch is available.
If you patched FortiClient EMS for CVE-2026-21643 two weeks ago by upgrading to 7.4.5, you're now vulnerable to a new zero-day. CVE-2026-35616 is a CVSS 9.1 pre-authentication API access bypass affecting versions 7.4.5 and 7.4.6 - the exact versions customers upgraded to. Defused Cyber spotted exploitation in the wild starting March 31. Fortinet released an emergency weekend hotfix on Saturday, with watchTowr noting attackers deliberately timed this for the Easter holiday when security teams are at half strength.
Cisco Talos uncovered a large-scale automated campaign by threat cluster UAT-10608 that exploits React2Shell - a CVSS 10.0 pre-auth RCE flaw in React Server Components used by Next.js. One crafted HTTP request is all it takes to get code execution, no credentials needed. The attackers scan with Shodan and Censys, breach Next.js apps, then deploy the NEXUS Listener framework to harvest database credentials, SSH keys, AWS tokens, Stripe API keys, Kubernetes secrets, and GitHub tokens at scale. At least 766 hosts across multiple cloud providers were compromised within 24 hours.
Google pushed an emergency Chrome update to fix a use-after-free bug in Dawn, the engine behind Chrome's WebGPU graphics standard. CVE-2026-5281 is already being exploited - an attacker who has compromised the browser's renderer process can use a crafted HTML page to execute arbitrary code, potentially escaping Chrome's sandbox. This is the fourth actively exploited Chrome zero-day in 2026, and the third targeting graphics or rendering subsystems. CISA added it to the KEV catalog with an April 15 deadline.
Check Point uncovered Operation TrueChaos - a Chinese-nexus espionage campaign that turned a video conferencing platform's update mechanism into a malware delivery system. The attackers compromised a central on-premises TrueConf server used by a government IT department, then swapped the legitimate client update with a weaponized package that deployed the Havoc post-exploitation framework. Every connected government agency pulled the poisoned update automatically, no individual endpoint compromise needed.
A CVSS 9.1 SQL injection flaw in Fortinet's FortiClient Endpoint Management Server is now being exploited in the wild - four days before anyone flagged it publicly. An attacker only needs one crafted HTTP request with a malicious Site header to execute arbitrary SQL against the backing PostgreSQL database, no credentials required. Roughly 1,000 to 2,400 FortiClient EMS instances are exposed to the internet, mostly in the US and Europe.
The Citrix NetScaler flaw we reported under active recon two days ago has escalated fast. Attackers are now sending crafted SAMLRequest payloads that trigger memory leaks exposing sensitive data through session cookies. CISA added CVE-2026-3055 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on March 30 with an unusually tight April 2 remediation deadline - just three days for federal agencies.
Remember that F5 BIG-IP APM bug from last year everyone treated as a denial-of-service issue? Turns out it's pre-auth remote code execution - CVSS 9.3. F5 quietly reclassified it after new findings in March 2026 and confirmed exploitation in the wild. CISA added it to the KEV catalog with a March 30 patch deadline. That's tomorrow.
Attackers didn't wait for a proof-of-concept. Within 20 hours of CVE-2026-33017 being disclosed in Langflow - an open-source AI workflow builder with 145K+ GitHub stars - they built working exploits straight from the advisory. One crafted HTTP POST to the public flow endpoint is all it takes, no credentials needed. Compromised instances leak API keys for OpenAI, AWS, and connected databases.