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Censys reported that a previously undocumented command-and-control framework dubbed SCOUT PROJECT was exposed on a public Linode host in Japan, revealing a threat actor’s source code, backdoor build system, and operational tooling. The exposed environment contained a C2 server, admin client, dropper builder, and payload, with malware communications using HTTP, fake PNG headers, and RC4-encrypted tasking. Censys said it did not identify matching SCOUT C2 servers deployed on the public internet at the time of its investigation.
Artifacts on the host showed the operator actively scouting and exploiting newly disclosed web application flaws, including CVE-2025-30208 in ViteJS, CVE-2025-3248 in Langflow, and CVE-2025-29927 in Next.js. Investigators found evidence that the actor identified nearly 100 potentially vulnerable Langflow targets, exfiltrated data from a Chinese NFT application using git-dumper, and attempted directory traversal attacks against asus.com, nasa.gov, and continental.com, indicating broad opportunistic targeting tied to exposed developer and AI workflow platforms.
TTPs, infrastructure, and targeting history in one profile.
6 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
Screenshots in the exposed malware documentation indicate the SCOUT PROJECT malware existed since at least May 7, 2024. This is the earliest explicit date anchor tied to the toolkit in the source material.
After scanning for matching Flask Werkzeug servers and probing the /client_api endpoint, Censys reported it found no internet-exposed hosts matching the specific SCOUT C2 response patterns at the time of its scan. This reflects a distinct investigative finding rather than a new victim or attack.
Censys found the source code and backdoor build system for a previously undocumented command-and-control toolkit called SCOUT PROJECT exposed in a public directory on a Linode host in Japan. The archive contained a C2 server, admin client, dropper builder, and payload.
Censys observed evidence suggesting the actor successfully exfiltrated data from a Chinese NFT application using git-dumper. The source does not explicitly date the exfiltration.
Artifacts showed the operator scanning for CVE-2025-30208 affecting ViteJS and using a customized Nuclei template for CVE-2025-29927 in Next.js. No explicit date is given for these scans.
Artifacts in the exposed directory showed the operator scanning for CVE-2025-3248 in Langflow AI and logs indicated they successfully identified just under 100 vulnerable targets. The source does not provide a specific date for this activity.
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Attackers are actively exploiting **CVE-2026-5027**, a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in the open-source AI application platform **Langflow**, to write files to arbitrary locations on target systems and potentially achieve remote code execution. The flaw affects the `POST /api/v2/files` endpoint, where the `filename` parameter is not properly sanitized, and exploitation is made more severe by Langflow's default unauthenticated auto-login behavior, which lets attackers obtain a valid session token with a single unauthenticated request. VulnCheck reported observed attacks writing apparent test files to victim hosts, while Tenable identified the issue and assigned it a **CVSS 8.8** score. Internet exposure increases the risk: Censys data indicates about **7,000** Langflow instances are reachable online, with the largest concentration in North America. The exploitation report also fits a broader pattern of sustained attacker interest in Langflow, with other vulnerabilities including **`CVE-2026-0770`**, **`CVE-2026-21445`**, **`CVE-2026-33017`**, and **`CVE-2025-34291`** also reported as exploited in 2026; the last has been linked in public reporting to the Iranian state-backed group **MuddyWater**. Separately, a newly disclosed flaw in **Roxy-WI** (**`CVE-2026-45556`**) shows a similar arbitrary file-write-to-RCE pattern on managed load balancers, but no public patch was available at publication.
Jun 29, 2026
A large-scale credential theft campaign, identified as PCPcat, compromised over 59,000 publicly exposed Next.js servers within a 48-hour period. Attackers exploited critical remote code execution vulnerabilities, specifically CVE-2025-29927 and CVE-2025-66478, using a custom malware (`react.py`) to scan and infiltrate targets. Once access was gained, the attackers extracted sensitive credentials from `.env` files, SSH keys, AWS configurations, Docker tokens, and Git credentials, and established persistent access through the installation of proxy and tunneling tools such as GOST SOCKS5 and FRP. The campaign's command-and-control infrastructure was exposed, revealing operational statistics and methods for target assignment, data exfiltration, and health checks, with key indicators of compromise including specific IP addresses, files, processes, and log artifacts. The operation was attributed to the group "PCP Cat," with evidence of their activity and communication channels found on Telegram. Security researchers provided detection rules for Suricata and YARA to identify malicious activity related to this campaign. The scale and speed of the attack, affecting over 59,000 servers in less than two days, highlight the critical need for organizations using Next.js to patch vulnerable systems and monitor for signs of compromise, especially given the attackers' use of prototype pollution and Docker API abuse for persistence and lateral movement.
Jun 29, 2026
Threat actors began actively exploiting **React2Shell** (`CVE-2025-55182`), a critical issue affecting *Next.js* and **React Server Components** that can enable **unauthenticated remote code execution** on vulnerable, internet-facing servers. Reporting describes exploitation starting within ~20 hours of public disclosure, with attacks observed as malicious HTTP `POST` requests targeting routes such as `/_next/server` and `/_next/flight`, abusing server-component serialization to inject commands into the application runtime. WhoisXMLAPI attributed a large share of scanning/exploitation activity to the **“ILOVEPOOP”** toolkit, which used centralized infrastructure (noted as high-traffic nodes hosted in the Netherlands), rotating scanner nodes, and a distinctive request fingerprint including non-standard headers like `X-Nextjs-Request-Id: poop1234` and `Next-Action: x`. Separately, two additional JavaScript supply-chain/library vulnerabilities were disclosed that can be triggered via attacker-controlled input in Node.js applications. *Axios* is affected by a high-severity **denial-of-service** flaw (`CVE-2026-25639`, CVSS 7.5) in `mergeConfig`, where a configuration object containing an own `__proto__` property can cause a `TypeError` and crash the Node.js process when user input is parsed (e.g., via `JSON.parse()`) and passed into Axios configuration. CERT/CC also published **VU#458422** for a **prototype pollution** vulnerability in *CASL Ability* (versions 2.4.0–6.7.4) in `rulesToFields()` / `setByPath()` (extra module), where insufficient sanitization of path segments allows writing to `Object.prototype` via special keys (e.g., `prototype`, `constructor`, and `_proto_`), potentially enabling broad application compromise up to **arbitrary code execution** depending on how polluted properties are later used.
Jun 29, 2026