Security News

GSocket Backdoor Delivered Through Bash Script, (Fri, Mar 20th)

Yesterday, I discovered a malicious Bash script that installs a GSocket backdoor on the victim&#x27s computer. I don&#x27t know the source of the script not how it is delivered to the victim.

ISC Stormcast For Friday, March 20th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9858, (Fri, Mar 20th)

ISC Stormcast For Thursday, March 19th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9856, (Thu, Mar 19th)

Interesting Message Stored in Cowrie Logs, (Wed, Mar 18th)

This activity was found and reported by BACS student Adam Thorman as part of one of his assignments which I posted his final paper [1] last week. This activity appeared to only have occurred on the 19 Feb 2026 where at least 2 sensors detected on the same day by DShield sensor in the cowrie logs an echo command that included: "MAGIC_PAYLOAD_KILLER_HERE_OR_LEAVE_EMPTY_iranbot_was_here". My DShield sensor captured activity from source IP 64.89.161.198 between 30 Jan - 22 Feb 2026 that included portscans, a successful login via Telnet (TCP/23) and web access that included all the activity listed below captured by the DShield sensor (cowrie, webhoneypot & iptables logs).

Scans for "adminer", (Wed, Mar 18th)

A very popular target of attackers scanning our honeypots is "phpmyadmin". phpMyAdmin is a script first released in the late 90s, before many security concepts had&&#x23&#x3b;x26&#x3b;&#x23&#x3b;xc2&#x3b;&&#x23&#x3b;x26&#x3b;&#x23&#x3b;xa0&#x3b;been discovered. It&&#x23&#x3b;x26&#x3b;&#x23&#x3b;39&#x3b;s rich history of vulnerabilities made it a favorite target. Its alternative, "adminer", began appearing about a decade later (https://www.adminer.org). One of its main "selling" points was simplicity. Adminer is just a single PHP file. It requires no configuration. Copy it to your server, and you are ready to go. "adminer" has a much better security record&&#x23&#x3b;x26&#x3b;&#x23&#x3b;xc2&#x3b;&&#x23&#x3b;x26&#x3b;&#x23&#x3b;xa0&#x3b;and claims to prioritize security in its development.

ISC Stormcast For Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9854, (Wed, Mar 18th)

IPv4 Mapped IPv6 Addresses, (Tue, Mar 17th)

Yesterday, in my diary about the scans for "/proxy/" URLs, I noted how attackers are using IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses to possibly obfuscate their attack. These addresses are defined in RFC 4038. These addresses are one of the many transition mechanisms used to retain some backward compatibility as IPv6 is deployed. Many modern applications use IPv6-only networking code. IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses can be used to represent IPv4 addresses in these cases. IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses are not used on the network, but instead, translated to IPv4 before a packet is sent.

ISC Stormcast For Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9852, (Tue, Mar 17th)

/proxy/ URL scans with IP addresses, (Mon, Mar 16th)

Attempts to find proxy servers are among the most common scans our honeypots detect. Most of the time, the attacker attempts to use a host header or include the hostname in the URL to trigger the proxy server forwarding the request. In some cases, common URL prefixes like "/proxy/" are used. This weekend, I noticed a slightly different pattern in our logs:

ISC Stormcast For Monday, March 16th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9850, (Mon, Mar 16th)

SmartApeSG campaign uses ClickFix page to push Remcos RAT, (Sat, Mar 14th)

Introduction

A React-based phishing page with credential exfiltration via EmailJS, (Fri, Mar 13th)

On Wednesday, a phishing message made its way into our handler inbox that contained a fairly typical low-quality lure, but turned out to be quite interesting in the end nonetheless. That is because the accompanying credential stealing web page was dynamically constructed using React and used a legitimate e-mail service for credential collection.

ISC Stormcast For Friday, March 13th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9848, (Fri, Mar 13th)

ISC Stormcast For Thursday, March 12th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9846, (Thu, Mar 12th)

When your IoT Device Logs in as Admin, It?s too Late! [Guest Diary], (Wed, Mar 11th)

[This is a Guest Diary by Adam Thorman, an ISC intern as part of the SANS.edu BACS program]

Analyzing "Zombie Zip" Files (CVE-2026-0866), (Wed, Mar 11th)

A new vulnerability (CVE-2026-0866) has been published: Zombie Zip.

ISC Stormcast For Wednesday, March 11th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9844, (Wed, Mar 11th)

Microsoft Patch Tuesday March 2026, (Tue, Mar 10th)

Microsoft today released patches for 93 vulnerabilities, including 9 vulnerabilities in Chromium affecting Microsoft Edge. 8 of the vulnerabilities are rated critical. 2 were disclosed prior to today but have not yet been exploited. This update addresses no already-exploited vulnerabilities.

ISC Stormcast For Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9842, (Tue, Mar 10th)

Encrypted Client Hello: Ready for Prime Time?, (Mon, Mar 9th)

Last week, two related RFCs were published: