Russia-Linked Hackers Hit iOS, Android Devices With Exploit Chains via Watering Holes
Source SecurityWeek
Mentioned vulnerabilities
Exploited in the wild · KEV due 18 Nov 2026 : block it and hunt for it in your logs now.
Data as of 5 Nov 2026, 11:18 UTC
- KEV deadline
- US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:NExploitation evidence
t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 May 2024
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 2.5 years 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 Apple Inc.
, 77 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
, t = 0
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
, 2.5 years after disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
, 2.5 years 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 5 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| AppleSafari | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| AppleiOS and iPadOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| AppleiOS and iPadOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| ApplemacOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| AppletvOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| ApplewatchOS | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Description
A Russian state-sponsored threat actor known as Midnight Blizzard has conducted a large-scale watering hole campaign targeting iOS and Android devices primarily in the US, Europe, and Ukraine. The campaign involved compromising or cloning high-profile websites to inject malicious JavaScript that fingerprints visitors and delivers exploit chains targeting previously patched vulnerabilities. The iOS exploits leverage the DarkSword exploit kit and include CVE-2024-27834, patched in May 2024. The Android exploits target Chrome and Qualcomm vulnerabilities patched in 2026 and 2025, respectively. The final payloads harvest extensive personal and device data. The campaign also included a supply chain attack on a Ukrainian web analytics service, exposing hundreds of websites to the exploit kit.