Cybersecurity 101
An exploit is the code or technique that turns a vulnerability into a real intrusion. What an exploit is, how it differs from a vulnerability and a payload, the main types, where they come from, and how to defend.
Vulnerabilities
Google's Threat Intelligence Group caught attackers exploiting CVE-2026-5426, a hardcoded ASP.NET machineKey in Digital Knowledge's KnowledgeDeliver LMS, to forge ViewState payloads, drop the Godzilla web shell, and stage Cobalt Strike Beacon. The patch alone is not enough.
Vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-48172, a CVSS 10.0 flaw in the LiteSpeed User-End cPanel plugin, lets anyone with a valid cPanel account run code as root. LiteSpeed confirms it is being actively exploited. On shared hosting, one cheap account is now a path to every account on the server.
Vulnerabilities
Trend Micro's own Incident Response team discovered CVE-2026-34926, a directory-traversal zero-day in Apex One, while it was being exploited. CISA added it to the KEV catalog with a June 4 federal deadline. Its modest 6.7 CVSS score conceals an environment-wide blast radius.
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft patched UnDefend (CVE-2026-41091) and RedSun (CVE-2026-45498), two Defender zero-days exploited in the wild since April. Their purpose is the security tool itself — one escalates through Defender, the other disables it. Barracuda ties the wave to the researcher behind MiniPlasma.
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft released mitigations for YellowKey (CVE-2026-45585), a BitLocker bypass disclosed by the researcher behind MiniPlasma. A USB port and a reboot defeat the encryption on any TPM-only device — and the only fix is a TPM+PIN configuration change, not a patch.
AI Security
Google Threat Intelligence Group disclosed the first known AI-developed zero-day used in the wild — a Python 2FA bypass intended for mass exploitation. Google identified the LLM fingerprint and coordinated a patch before the campaign could launch.
Vulnerabilities
Nightmare-Eclipse released MiniPlasma May 13, 2026 — a working SYSTEM-level exploit for cldflt.sys on fully patched Windows 11. The bug is CVE-2020-17103, patched by Microsoft in December 2020. The 2020 PoC still works — and no 2026 patch exists.
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft's February patch for a Windows zero-day actively exploited by Russia's APT28 blocked the remote code execution path — but left behind a zero-click authentication coercion flaw. Akamai researchers found it while testing the fix. That flaw is now CVE-2026-32202, confirmed exploited in
Vulnerabilities
A critical cPanel/WHM authentication bypass — CVE-2026-41940 — let attackers reach hosting control panels with no credentials, and was exploited as a zero-day for months before April's emergency patch. What to patch, lock down, and hunt for.
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Defender LPE (CVE-2026-33825) added to KEV catalog after Huntress confirms wild exploitation; 2 related zero-days remain unpatched. WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an urgent mandate for all Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to patch a high-severity Microsoft
Application Security
In a landmark moment for automated defense, Mozilla has patched 271 vulnerabilities in the latest version of Firefox — all identified by Anthropic’s specialized security model, Mythos. Mountain View, CA — Mozilla has released Firefox 150, an update that may represent the single largest leap in automated browser hardening to date.