Last updated: August 19, 2026 at 1:47 AM UTC
All 741 Vulnerability 286 Breach 129 Threat 319 Defense 7

Clean GitHub repos trick AI coding agents into fetching and running malware

Researchers at Mozilla's 0DIN found that an AI coding agent told to clone and set up a seemingly harmless GitHub repository can be tricked into running malware that stays invisible to security scanners, the agent itself, and human reviewers. The trick is that nothing malicious sits in the repository's files. Instead, a routine-looking setup command runs a script that fetches a value hidden in a DNS TXT record and executes it as a shell command, pulling down and running an attacker's payload like a reverse shell. Because the payload lives outside the repo and arrives over DNS at setup time, code review and static scanning see nothing wrong.

Check
Review how your AI coding agents and developers set up unfamiliar repositories, and check whether setup or build commands can make outbound network or DNS requests that fetch and execute external content.
Affected
Developers and teams that let AI coding agents automatically run setup steps for untrusted repositories; the malicious payload is fetched at setup time over DNS, so scanning the repository alone misses it.
Fix
Run repository setup for untrusted code in sandboxes without credentials, restrict outbound network and DNS during setup, and treat agent setup and build commands as untrusted code execution rather than safe automation.

Self-spreading Shai-Hulud worm hits more npm packages and reaches into Go

Socket reports a new wave of the self-spreading Shai-Hulud supply-chain worm, in its Miasma and Hades variants, that compromised more npm packages and, for the first time, reached the Go ecosystem. On June 24 attackers used a hijacked maintainer account to push trojanized versions of LeoPlatform and RStreams npm packages, tied to cloud and serverless workloads, and also poisoned a Go module from the Verana blockchain project. The malware harvests developer and CI/CD credentials, abuses GitHub Actions, and polls GitHub hourly for a marker commit to pull down its Hades payload. Researchers note the campaign keeps shifting ecosystems and indicators to stay ahead of detection rather than changing its core behavior.

Check
Check whether your projects or pipelines pulled affected LeoPlatform, RStreams, or related npm packages or the compromised Verana Go module, and review developer and CI/CD systems for credential theft.
Affected
Developers and CI/CD pipelines that installed the compromised npm packages or Go module; the worm steals cloud, registry, and GitHub credentials, then uses them to spread to more packages and repositories.
Fix
Remove affected versions, rotate developer, cloud, and CI/CD credentials, pin and verify dependencies, restrict install-time and build-time execution, and monitor for unexpected GitHub Actions activity and new exfiltration repositories.

Attackers abuse OpenAI organization invites to phish data from security firms

Push Security reports that attackers are creating OpenAI organizations that impersonate legitimate companies and inviting employees, including at cybersecurity firms, to join them, aiming to trick people into entering sensitive company information into chats and projects under attacker control. The danger is that the invitations come from OpenAI's own infrastructure, so they are genuine messages and slip past email security controls that would catch ordinary phishing. It is a reminder that trusted SaaS platforms can be turned into phishing channels through their normal invitation features, where the message itself is legitimate even though the inviting organization is fraudulent. Verification of unexpected invites is the key defense.

Check
Tell staff to treat unexpected invitations to join an organization on OpenAI or other SaaS platforms with suspicion, and monitor which external organizations employees' work accounts have joined.
Affected
Employees, including at security firms, who receive genuine-looking organization invitations from SaaS platforms; data typed into an attacker-controlled organization's chats or projects is exposed to the attacker.
Fix
Train staff to verify unexpected SaaS organization invitations through a separate channel, monitor SaaS organization memberships, and set policies on which platforms and tenants employees may join with work accounts.

Hotel phishing campaign launders email authentication to drop a Node.js implant

Microsoft is tracking a phishing campaign hitting hotels across Europe and Asia since April, using guest-complaint and inspection-themed emails to get front-desk staff to open photo-themed ZIP files. The lures pass email authentication through what Microsoft calls authentication laundering, routing messages through Calendly's notification system and Google redirects so they appear legitimate. The ZIP hides a shortcut posing as an image that runs obfuscated PowerShell, quietly installs a legitimate Node.js runtime, and launches a JavaScript implant called TonRAT. TonRAT resolves its command servers through a blockchain API, communicates over encrypted WebSockets on unusual ports, disables Microsoft Defender for itself, and persists through the registry. The attackers' ultimate goal is still unclear.

Check
Alert front-desk staff to complaint-themed emails carrying photo ZIP files, and hunt for Node.js running from user paths, new Defender exclusions, and beacons to non-standard ports such as 8443 or 56001.
Affected
Hotels and hospitality organizations in Europe and Asia whose reception and reservations staff open image or document attachments; the campaign laundered email authentication and installs a persistent Node.js implant.
Fix
Block and alert on the campaign's domains and ports, restrict execution of shortcut files from archives, monitor for unauthorized Node.js runtimes and Defender exclusions, and remove both registry persistence keys during cleanup.

FBI warns Russian hackers now steal Signal backup recovery keys to hijack accounts

The FBI and CISA have updated an earlier warning about Russian intelligence targeting Signal accounts, noting the operators have added a step: tricking targets into handing over their Signal backup recovery key. With that key, an attacker can restore the account's backup, read its private and group message history, and take over the account, and the key keeps working afterward. The campaign uses social engineering against high-value targets such as government officials, military personnel, and journalists. It reflects a broader shift toward stealing the recovery and session secrets that sit behind multi-factor authentication rather than attacking the login directly.

Check
High-risk users should review who could have prompted them to share a Signal backup or recovery key, and check Signal for unexpected linked devices or signs their account history was restored elsewhere.
Affected
Signal users targeted by Russian intelligence, especially officials, military personnel, journalists, and activists; a stolen backup recovery key exposes full message history and grants lasting account takeover.
Fix
Never share your Signal backup or recovery key, store it offline, regenerate it if you suspect exposure, verify linked devices, and distrust anyone guiding you through backup steps.

DPRK macOS malware Gaslight plants fake errors to derail AI-assisted analysis

SentinelOne detailed Gaslight, a Rust-based macOS backdoor and information stealer tied with high confidence to North Korea, whose standout trick targets the analyst rather than the sandbox. The sample embeds a block of 38 fabricated "system" messages, formatted to mimic the prompt scaffolding of an AI triage assistant, that try to make an LLM-assisted analysis tool doubt its session and abort, truncate, or refuse the analysis. Beyond that, Gaslight steals browser data, Keychain secrets, and command history, using a Telegram bot for command and control and self-redacting its bot token from its own output. It is an early example of malware built to weaponize the AI tools now common in reverse engineering.

Check
If you use AI or LLM tools in malware triage, review whether sample contents are passed to the model as trusted input, and check macOS hosts for the Telegram-based persistence described.
Affected
macOS users targeted by this North Korea-linked stealer, and analysts whose AI-assisted triage pipelines can be manipulated when malicious sample text is fed to the model as if it were instructions.
Fix
Treat the contents of analyzed samples as adversarial input, never as instructions, and isolate hostile text from AI models. On endpoints, hunt for the published indicators and suspicious com.apple-style LaunchAgents.

Chrome ad blocker with 10 million installs hides dormant code-injection capability

Researchers at Island found that a popular Chrome extension, "Adblock for YouTube," with more than 10 million installs and a Featured badge, contains the machinery to run arbitrary JavaScript on any website the user visits. The extension works as advertised, but it can fetch a rule from its server that creates script elements with attacker-supplied content, giving access to page data, sessions, and forms. The capability is dormant, not absent: switching it on takes a single server-side change, with no extension update and no store review. The add-on changed ownership years ago, requests access to all sites, and is linked to other extensions previously pulled for malware.

Check
Inventory browser extensions across the organization, flag high-permission ones like ad blockers that request access to all sites, and identify extensions that fetch configuration or rules from external servers.
Affected
Anyone using the 'Adblock for YouTube' Chrome extension or similar high-install add-ons with all-site access and server-controlled logic; a single server change could turn them into code-injection tools.
Fix
Remove or restrict extensions whose permissions exceed their purpose, prefer those with self-contained rules over server-controlled ones, enforce an extension allowlist, and monitor for ownership and permission changes.

Bluekit phishing service adds browser-in-the-middle to steal logins and sessions

The Bluekit phishing-as-a-service platform has added a browser-in-the-middle technique that streams a real login page's contents to the victim over a WebSocket, capturing not just passwords but session cookies that let attackers bypass multi-factor authentication. Netcraft reports nearly 70 new Bluekit hostnames in the past week. The kit, which markets dozens of templates for services like Outlook, Gmail, GitHub, and crypto wallets and includes an AI assistant built on a safety-stripped open-weight model, layers on heavy evasion: randomized page styling to defeat screenshot detection, frequently rotating obfuscated code, custom CAPTCHAs, browser fingerprinting, and detection of proxies and security crawlers. Operators can watch victims in real time as they log in.

Check
Hunt for the Bluekit signals Netcraft lists, including randomized CSS filters on top-level elements, periodically rotated obfuscated JavaScript, and WebSocket traffic carrying encrypted data on login pages, across email and proxy logs.
Affected
Users of widely targeted services like Outlook, Gmail, GitHub, and crypto wallets; stolen session cookies let attackers replay authenticated sessions and bypass multi-factor authentication entirely.
Fix
Move to phishing-resistant, hardware-backed authentication like passkeys or FIDO2 keys, which resist session-theft phishing, shorten session lifetimes, monitor for anomalous session reuse, and train staff on login-page verification.

Scammers abuse Shopify's Shop app to plant fake receipts for callback phishing

Attackers are abusing Shop, the order-tracking app from Shopify, by getting fake purchase receipts to appear in users' order histories, then using them to lure victims into callback phishing. Because the bogus orders show up inside a legitimate, trusted app rather than in an easily spotted scam email, they look convincing. The fake receipts typically reference an unexpected charge and a phone number to call to dispute it; when the victim calls, the scammers pose as support staff and walk them into handing over sensitive information or account access. It is a twist on callback phishing that borrows credibility from a real shopping platform.

Check
Warn users that unexpected orders or receipts appearing in the Shop app may be fake, and that any phone number prompting them to call about a charge should be treated as suspicious.
Affected
Shop app users who see unfamiliar purchase receipts in their order history; the goal is to provoke a panicked phone call where scammers extract payment details, credentials, or remote access.
Fix
Verify charges only through official banking and merchant channels, never the phone number in an unexpected receipt, and report suspicious entries. Organizations should add callback phishing to security-awareness training.

Edgecution malicious Edge extension escapes the browser sandbox to plant a backdoor

Zscaler detailed Edgecution, a malicious Microsoft Edge extension used in ransomware-linked intrusions that abuses Chrome's native messaging feature, which normally lets extensions talk to desktop apps, to break out of the browser sandbox and run a Python backdoor on the host. The extension beacons to a command server and relays commands to the backdoor, giving attackers filesystem access and code execution, while running in a hidden headless browser to stay invisible. Attacks start with social engineering on Microsoft Teams, where the actor poses as IT support and directs employees to a fake "Outlook Updates" page. Researchers tie the activity to an access broker linked to the Payouts King ransomware operation.

Check
Review which browser extensions are installed across the organization and audit native messaging host registrations, and treat unsolicited Microsoft Teams messages from supposed IT support directing software installs as suspicious.
Affected
Organizations whose employees can install browser extensions and be reached by external Microsoft Teams messages; the technique escapes the browser sandbox to give attackers host-level access for ransomware staging.
Fix
Restrict browser extension installation through policy, control native messaging host configurations, lock down external Teams contact, and train staff to reject IT-support prompts pushing browser or software updates.