July 10, 2026
Valkyrie-bot deployed a WHQL-signed kernel rootkit (WindowsService.sys) operating as a device filter driver with ring0 memory-access capabilities, evading endpoint detection through novel persistence primitives. GodDamn ransomware, a rebrand of Beast, uses the PoisonX Microsoft-signed kernel driver to neutralize EDR in attacks against US companies, continuing BYOVD abuse tactics. Microsoft patched RoguePlanet (CVE-2026-50656), a privilege-escalation flaw in Defender's mpengine.dll that grants SYSTEM access, after a researcher published a PoC following June Patch Tuesday. A pre-auth remote-code execution zero-day in OpenWRT (claimed CVSS 9.6) was disclosed affecting routers; the same vulnerability technique also impacts Horde, Django, WordPress, GitLab, and Dropbear.
June 21, 2026
Fortinet networks face massive credential exposure via FortiBleed affecting 86,644 devices, while North Korea's Sapphire Sleet compromised 145 Mastra npm packages with an infostealer, and Google Cloud Vertex AI SDK suffered a cross-tenant RCE vulnerability. Critical CVEs in Splunk, NGINX, Cisco SD-WAN, and Joomla are under active exploitation, alongside emerging AI-focused attacks including AutoJack and malicious JetBrains plugins stealing API keys.
June 18, 2026
A critical vulnerability blitz dominates this digest: Oracle PeopleSoft CVE-2026-35273, Splunk CVE-2026-20253, and an unpatched Microsoft Defender RoguePlanet zero-day are actively exploited, with ShinyHunters and other threat actors targeting higher education and enterprise networks. The AI/security layer has emerged as a major attack surface, exemplified by Microsoft 365 Copilot SearchLeak (one-click data exfiltration), Google Vertex AI cross-tenant RCE, and the Novo Nordisk breach that exposed proprietary AI model checkpoints and training infrastructure as ransomware extortion payload—underscoring that AI IP is now a strategic target.