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CVE-2026-82078MalwarePublished Updated

PaperCut MF Zero-Day Intrusion: Java Loader, Web Shell, and AdaptixC2 via CVE-2026-82078 and CVE-2026-81578

Affects papercut-mfSource AlienVault OTX General

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Mentioned vulnerabilities

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-82078· Critical 9.4

Malicious package : remove papercut-mf and rotate any secrets on hosts that installed it.

Data as of 31 Oct 2026, 04:09 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
9.4Critical
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
KEV deadline
 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

Exploitation evidence

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

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 28 Aug 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: evidence found.

    1 Metasploit module

  4. Exploited in the wild: evidence found.

    Listed in CISA KEV 3 days after disclosure

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

Timeline

  1. CVE ID reserved

    by PaperCut Software Pty Ltd

    , 12 hours before disclosure

  2. CVE published

    on cve.org

    , t = 0

  3. CISA SSVC assessment

    exploitation active

    , the same day as disclosure

  4. , 3 days after disclosure

  5. KEV remediation due

    US federal deadline

    , 17 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 30 Oct 2026.

What to do

Remove papercut-mf from every project, lockfile and image that pulls it in. Treat any host that installed it as compromised: rotate the credentials, tokens and keys it could read, from a clean machine.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Mavennet.papercut/papercut-mfpkg:maven/net.papercut/papercut-mfOther threatsAffected
  • =24.0.2
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

On August 31, 2026, threat actors exploited two zero-day vulnerabilities in PaperCut MF version 24.0.2, targeting an internet-facing print server in the Education sector. The attackers deployed an in-memory Java loader to establish a web shell, through which they delivered a trojanized Microsoft Copilot binary containing an AdaptixC2 implant. This implant connected to command-and-control infrastructure hosted on Alibaba servers. After a dormant period, the attackers performed reconnaissance and Active Directory enumeration, stole a token from a domain-privileged service account, and moved laterally to a domain controller. On the domain controller, they dumped credentials, enabled Windows Restricted Admin mode for pass-the-hash attacks, and extracted the NTDS.dit database, achieving full domain compromise.

Indicators of compromise

Hashes 16

  • d2e55213a02fd16a077298c986130522eb63196bdf8a8c1aec0eed6ef318b222
  • cf6dd15baf5ef66432a95b5a2ec64ba5c6de565b3fb9e10ae01b1a91612a1c2c
  • bc5fd75b307c2a11a602fbedb8275e0836ddf81cdd43af00a6bf0d850ff6cf58
  • 33d0a8294d2520608dbc4901c3ebd525aaeb7b8eceba9d140f62efa419a8c55a
  • a8ff38e5f21a5202e1ce33e62b9ddde4ec4faffabd52a4a146cff18c877fe7ca
  • f893ab902cf0ad1a62cdfe04c58ba7560db7a0f5153303af18bd549c6619a044
  • 9c8760f8b973360701774bc56c7c97295eb42d49a02a281cbaadc32c973bd8b2
  • d91c10536293d23bd3ebfc0f922e367303f455571556d83684170183dd6897f4
  • 8673371d266d041dae20f64e0532d2bca65c3b09a6c0faf16a6546e6067bac2e
  • 1a7541b30dcccd91e969f0e1586ba18fbf3a7d78f960654a5c1489108e516180

CVEs 4

  • CVE-2026-81578
  • CVE-2026-82078
  • CVE-2026-88771
  • CVE-2026-88772

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