Multiple vulnerabilities in Plex Media Server version 1.43.2 and earlier are actively exploited in the wild to achieve remote code execution. Attackers chain four CVEs to deploy the XMRig cryptominer and a proxy tool named myawesomeproxy. Exploitation attempts began on October 17, 2026, with malicious payloads downloaded from known IP addresses. The proxy software may enable threat actors to use residential IPs to access corporate VPNs and email systems. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available via the plex2shell project. No official patch or remediation information is currently provided.
During Q3 2026, attacks targeting poorly managed Linux SSH servers were observed, primarily using brute force and dictionary attacks. The main malware families involved were ShellBot, a Perl-based DDoS bot, and Fisieredoor, a backdoor capable of command execution and deploying SSH dictionary attack tools. Attackers used wget or curl to download malware, then installed user-mode rootkits, process masking tools (XHide), and XMRig cryptocurrency miners. The malware launcher used ld.so.preload to inject rootkits and disguised mining processes as legitimate bash sessions. Fisieredoor also deployed tools for credential harvesting and lateral movement, transmitting successful authentication data to command servers.
Between May and July 2026, security researchers deployed an unauthenticated Model Context Protocol (MCP) honeypot server to observe how threat actors exploit AI agent infrastructure. Of approximately 1,000 sources that reached the decoy, 596 spoke the protocol and 24 proceeded to actively exploit it. These operators executed 628 shell commands, 255 file reads, and 248 secrets-store lookups, with 19 hunting credentials and 4 attempting container escapes. Activity escalated from 39 tool calls in May to 877 by mid-July. Three stolen credentials were subsequently used against a live AWS account, with two cases involving Bedrock model invocation for LLMjacking. The attacks demonstrated automated reconnaissance, credential harvesting, container escape attempts, backdoor account creation, and Kubernetes enumeration, revealing that exposed MCP servers represent a growing attack surface as AI agent infrastructure proliferates.
The ViciousTrap campaign involves a threat actor compromising over 5,500 edge devices, including SOHO routers, SSL VPNs, DVRs, and BMC controllers, primarily end-of-life models. The attacker exploits CVE-2023-20118 to deploy a script named NetGhost, which redirects incoming traffic to attacker-controlled infrastructure, effectively turning these devices into distributed honeypots. The campaign has been active since March 2025 and targets more than 50 device brands, mainly across Asia, with infrastructure hosted in Malaysia. The actor appears to be collecting exploitation attempts and possibly zero-day vulnerabilities by observing traffic through these compromised devices. The campaign is linked to a medium severity threat with known exploitation in the wild.
