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
Mentioned vulnerabilities
Malicious package : remove papercut-mf and rotate any secrets on hosts that installed it.
Data as of 31 Oct 2026, 04:09 UTC
- 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:HExploitation evidence
t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: evidence found.
Exploited in the wildExploited: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 3 days after disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
Timeline
CVE ID reserved
by PaperCut Software Pty Ltd
, 12 hours before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
, t = 0
CISA SSVC assessment
exploitation active
, the same day as disclosure
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
, 3 days after disclosure
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
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Mavennet.papercut/papercut-mfpkg:maven/net.papercut/papercut-mfOther threats | Affected
| 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
CVEs 4
- CVE-2026-81578
- CVE-2026-82078
- CVE-2026-88771
- CVE-2026-88772