Report · Check Point ResearchAbout CVE-2025-8088Published 4 Feb 2026

Amaranth-Dragon: Weaponizing CVE-2025-8088 for Targeted Espionage in the Southeast Asia

Source Check Point Research

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Authoritative record:CVE-2025-8088· High 8.4

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 2 Sep 2025 : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to affected systems now.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 14:41 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

8.4High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

KEV deadline: 2 Sep 2025 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Active
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: High
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable system is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or through terminal emulation (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., using social engineering techniques to trick a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Active: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a targeted user to perform specific, conscious interactions with the vulnerable system and the attacker’s payload, or the user’s interactions would actively subvert protection mechanisms which would lead to exploitation of the vulnerability.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: High: There is a total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the Vulnerable System; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the Vulnerable System (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 4 days after disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

CVE ID reserved
by ESET, spol. s r.o.
23 Jul 202515:35 UTC, 16 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
8 Aug 202511:11 UTC, t = 0
In Threat Radar
record ingested
8 Aug 202511:32 UTC, 21 minutes after disclosure
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed · ransomware use known
12 Aug 2025, 4 days after disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
2 Sep 2025, 25 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Conduct a thorough inventory to identify any systems potentially affected by CVE-2025-8088, even if specific affected versions are not listed, focusing on government and critical infrastructure assets.
Apply any available patches or security updates related to CVE-2025-8088 promptly once released by vendors.
Implement network segmentation to isolate sensitive government or critical systems from general user networks to limit lateral movement.
Enhance monitoring and detection capabilities for unusual activities indicative of exploitation attempts, such as anomalous privilege escalations or unauthorized access patterns.
Conduct threat hunting exercises focusing on indicators of compromise related to Amaranth-Dragon TTPs, leveraging threat intelligence feeds.
Train security teams on the geopolitical context and espionage tactics to improve incident response readiness.
Collaborate with national cybersecurity agencies and intelligence partners to share information and receive timely alerts.
Review and strengthen supply chain security to prevent indirect compromise through third-party vendors connected to Southeast Asia.
Limit exposure of sensitive information related to Southeast Asian operations or partnerships to reduce target attractiveness.
Maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans tailored to espionage scenarios.

Description

Amaranth-Dragon is a targeted espionage campaign exploiting CVE-2025-8088, focusing on government entities in Southeast Asia. The threat actor demonstrates geopolitical motivations, aiming to gather intelligence through weaponizing this vulnerability. Although no known exploits are currently active in the wild, the medium severity rating indicates moderate risk. The campaign's focus on sensitive government targets suggests potential for significant confidentiality breaches if exploited. European organizations are not directly targeted but could face indirect risks through geopolitical spillover or supply chain connections. Mitigation requires proactive vulnerability management, network segmentation, and enhanced monitoring for suspicious activity related to CVE-2025-8088 exploitation attempts. Countries with strong geopolitical ties or intelligence-sharing agreements with Southeast Asia, such as the UK, Germany, and France, may have heightened interest or exposure. Given the medium severity, the threat poses moderate risk with potential confidentiality impact but limited scope and no current active exploitation. Defenders should prioritize awareness and readiness to respond to any emerging exploitation attempts.

Impact

For European organizations, the direct impact of Amaranth-Dragon is limited given the campaign's geographic focus on Southeast Asia. However, European governments and entities with diplomatic, economic, or intelligence ties to Southeast Asian countries could face indirect risks, including espionage attempts targeting shared information or supply chain vulnerabilities. The exploitation of CVE-2025-8088 could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, compromising confidentiality and potentially integrity of information. If European organizations use software or systems affected by this vulnerability, they could become secondary targets or collateral victims. The geopolitical nature of the campaign suggests that intelligence agencies or government contractors in Europe might be of interest to the threat actor, especially those involved in Southeast Asian affairs. Additionally, the campaign could inspire similar tactics or copycat attacks in Europe. The medium severity indicates moderate risk, with potential for data breaches but no widespread disruption or availability impact currently observed.

Summary

The Amaranth-Dragon campaign, identified by Check Point Research, involves a series of targeted espionage activities exploiting the vulnerability CVE-2025-8088. This vulnerability, while not detailed in the provided information, is weaponized by a motivated threat actor focusing on government entities across Southeast Asia. The campaign's geopolitical focus suggests the attacker aims to gather sensitive intelligence, likely leveraging the vulnerability to gain unauthorized access or escalate privileges within targeted networks. Although no active exploits have been observed in the wild, the campaign's discovery highlights the potential for future exploitation. The medium severity rating implies that the vulnerability may allow attackers to compromise confidentiality or integrity but likely requires some level of access or conditions to be met. The lack of affected versions and patch links indicates that either the vulnerability is newly disclosed or details remain limited. The campaign's targeting of government sectors underscores the strategic nature of the threat, emphasizing espionage rather than disruption. The detailed research article from Check Point Research provides an extensive analysis of the campaign's tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), though these specifics are not included here. Overall, Amaranth-Dragon represents a sophisticated threat leveraging a specific vulnerability for intelligence gathering in a geopolitically sensitive region.

References

research.checkpoint.com/2026/amaranth-dragon-weaponizes-cve-2025-8088-for-targeted-espionage/ (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

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Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Feb 2026, 09:58 UTC

Public exploits and detectionGitHub proofs of concept

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