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In our observations of network security trends, Unit 42 researchers have pinpointed several attacks based on proof-of-concept (PoC) availability and impact. We have detailed below which of these we believe should be on a defender's radar. Other insights that could assist defenders include the following: * Rankings of the most commonly used attack techniques and the types of vulnerabilities that attackers have recently favored. For example, among 5,190 newly published vulnerabilities, a large portion (almost 9.8%) involves cross-site scripting. * Lists of major vulnerabilities identified by evaluating more than 232 million attack sessions including remote code execution. * Insight into how these vulnerabilities are exploited in the wild based on real-world data collected from our Next-Generation Firewalls. * Summaries of key trends from August-October 2022. * Analysis of the most recently published vulnerabilities, including the severity and attack origin distribution. * Classification of these vulnerabilities to provide a clear view of the prevalence of the different types, such as cross-site scripting or SQL injection. * Lists of the most commonly exploited vulnerabilities attackers are using, as well as the severity, category and origin of each attack. Palo Alto Networks customers receive protections from the vulnerabilities discussed here through the Next-Generation Firewall and associated Cloud-Delivered Security Services including Threat Prevention, WildFire and Advanced URL Filtering. Protections are also available from Prisma Cloud's Web Application and API Security (WAAS) and Cortex XDR. | Types of Attacks and Vulnerabilities Covered | Cross-site scripting, denial of service, information disclosure, buffer overflow, privilege escalation, memory corruption, code execution, SQL injection, out-of-bounds read, traversal, command injection, improper authentication, arbitrary file download, security feature bypass | | Related Unit 42 Topics | [Network Security Trends](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/network-security-trends/), [exploits in the wild](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/exploit-in-the-wild/), [attack analysis](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/attack-analysis/) | |----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| ## **Analysis of Published Vulnerabilities, August-October 2022** From August-October 2022, a total of 5,190 new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) numbers were registered. To better understand the potential impact these newly published vulnerabilities could have on network security, we provide our observations based on the severity, availability of working proof-of-concept (PoC) code, and vulnerability categories. ### **How Severe Are the Latest Vulnerabilities?** To estimate the potential impact of vulnerabilities, we consider their severity and examine any reliable PoCs available that attackers could easily launch. Some of the public sources we use to find PoCs are Exploit-DB, GitHub and Metasploit. Distribution of the 5,190 CVEs that have an assigned severity score of medium or higher can be seen in the following table: | **Severity** | **Count** | **Ratio** | **Ratio Change From Last Quarter %** | **PoC Availability** | **Change in PoC Availability** | | **Critical** | 980 | 18.9% | -0.1% | 2.9% | -2.6% | | **High** | 2184 | 42.1% | +2.0% | 2.2% | -1.6% | | **Medium** | 2026 | 39.0% | -1.9% | 2.3% | -1.1% | |--------------|-----------|-----------|--------------------------------------|----------------------|--------------------------------| *Table 1. Severity distribution for CVEs registered August-October 2022, including only those rated medium to critical*\*.\*\*\* :chart: Figure 1. Severity distribution for CVEs registered August-October 2022, including only those rated medium to critical\*\*.\*\* Our classification of vulnerability levels is based on CVSS v3 scores. Many conditions must be met to rate a vulnerability as critical, so there are very few at this level. One of the common factors for rating a vulnerability at this level is whether it has a working PoC available. To be considered critical, vulnerabilities generally have low attack complexity, and it is often easy to create a PoC to exploit them. In the period we discuss here, PoC ratios decreased slightly for all severity levels. ### **Vulnerability Category Distribution** It is crucial to understand each type of vulnerability and its consequences. Out of the newly published CVEs that were analyzed, 26.6% are classified as local vulnerabilities, requiring prior access to compromised systems, while the remaining 73.4% are remote vulnerabilities, which can be exploited over a network. This means that most newly published vulnerabilities introduce potential opportunities for threat actors to attack vulnerable organizations from anywhere in the world. In Figure 2, the most common vulnerability types are ranked by how prevalent they were among the most recent set of published vulnerabilities. ![Image 2 is a stacked bar chart showing the vulnerability category distribution for CVEs registered through August and September of 2022. Medium has the largest portion in yellow for cross-site scripting.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-1.png) *Figure 2. Vulnerability category distribution for CVEs registered* August-October 2022\*.\* Cross-site scripting remains the most reported vulnerability during August-October 2022. We also saw that the prevalence of buffer overflow vulnerabilities increased during this time. The number of new vulnerabilities of other types, such as cross-site scripting and denial-of-service, has decreased. Most of the recently published cross-site scripting and information disclosure vulnerabilities are usually at medium or high severity (rather than critical). ![Image 3 is a column chart showing the vulnerability category distribution for CVEs registered through August and September of 2022. Medium has the largest portion in yellow for cross-site scripting. It compares the previous quarter to August and September.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/word-image-126464-3.png) Figure 3. Vulnerability category distribution compared with the previous quarter. ## **Network Security Trends: Analysis of Exploits in the Wild, August-October 2022** ### **Data Collection** By leveraging Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls as sensors on the perimeter, Unit 42 researchers observed malicious activities from August-October 2022. The malicious traffic we identified is further processed and based on metrics such as IP addresses, port numbers and timestamps. This ensures the uniqueness of each attack session and thus eliminates potential data skews. We analyzed 232 million valid malicious sessions and then correlated the refined data with other attributes to infer attack trends over time to get a picture of the threat landscape. ### **How Severe Were the Attacks Exploited in the Wild?** To arrive at 232 million valid malicious sessions, we excluded the original set of low-severity signature triggers used to detect scanning and brute-force attacks, as well as internal triggers used for research purposes. Therefore, we consider exploitable vulnerabilities with a medium and higher severity ranking (based on the [CVSS v3 Score](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln-metrics/cvss)) as a verified attack. ![Image 4 is a pie chart measuring attack severity distribution of critical, high, and medium CVEs registered through August and September of 2022. The largest percent is “critical” at 58.6%.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-2.png) *Figure 4. Attack severity distribution,* August-October 2022\*, including only medium-critical vulnerabilities.\* Figure 4 shows the ratio of attacks grouped by the severity of each vulnerability. Compared with the previous quarters' severity distribution, this quarter shows an increase in critical attacks. We further analyzed the data and found that the attacks against the Realtek Jungle SDK remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2021-35394) accounted for 71.4% of all critical attacks, accounting for 41.8% of the total number of attacks. ![Image 5 is a column chart showing the vulnerability severity distribution for CVEs registered through August and September of 2022 compared to the previous quarter, showing a decrease in medium and high and a rise in critical.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-3.png) Figure 5. Vulnerability severity distribution compared with the previous quarter. ![Image 6 is a graphic comparing the numbers of the total number of critical-severity attacks with the proportion of those attacking CVE-2021-35394.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-4.png) Figure 6. Proportion of attacking CVE-2021-35394. Numbers are rounded to the nearest million. ### **When Did the Network Attacks Occur?** ![Image 7 is a bar chart detailing the severity of exploits in the wild measured weekly from August to October of 2022. There is a spike in critical attacks towards the end of the year.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-5.png) Figure 7. Severity of exploits in the wild measured weekly from August-October 2022. During August-October 2022, there has been a spike in critical attacks over several weeks, most likely related to the increase in attacks referenced in the [previous section](#post-126464-_n2ws7k1wokpi), and a slight increase in attacks exploiting medium-severity vulnerabilities in September. There were no significant fluctuations in the number of attacks of other severities at other times. As we've seen in the past, attackers frequently use recently disclosed vulnerabilities, especially those from 2021-2022. This shows the importance of updating security products and applying software patches as soon as they become available to protect against the most recently discovered vulnerabilities. Due to the extremely large number of attacks exploiting the Realtek Jungle SDK remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2021-35394), the distribution of CVE numbers in attacks in the wild this quarter has been dramatically different from that of previous quarters. ![Image 8 is a bar chart showing by month and week the observed attacks in which the exploited CVE was disclosed. Included CVEs are CVEs from 2021 to 2022, yellow, 2019 to 2020, purple, 2016 to 2018, blue, 2010 to 2015, dashed green and before 2010, orange.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-6.png) *Figure 8. Observed attacks broken down by the year in which the exploited CVE was disclosed, measured weekly from* August-October 2022\*.\* ### **Attack Category Distribution** We classified each network attack by category and organized them in terms of prevalence. In the period discussed, remote code execution ranks first, followed by traversal. ![Figure 19 is a stacked bar chart showing the attack category and severity of critical, high, and medium CVEs from August to October 2022. Remote code execution far outranks any other at 155 million.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-7.png) Figure 9. Attack category and severity, August-October 2022. Compared with the previous quarter, due to the aforementioned Realtek Jungle SDK remote code execution vulnerability being greatly exploited, this quarter's remote code execution increased sharply. In addition, traversal rose almost double compared to the previous quarter, and information disclosure fell by almost a third of the previous quarter. ### **Where Did the Attacks Originate?** After identifying the region from which each network attack originated, we discovered that the majority of them seem to originate from the United States, followed by Vietnam then Russia. Attacks from Vietnam increased significantly this quarter. However, we recognize that the attackers might leverage proxy servers and VPNs located in those countries to hide their actual physical locations. ![Figure 20 is a chart showing the percentage by country of attack origins from August to October. The highest is the United States at just over half, following by “Other” at 12.4% and Vietnam at 8.8%.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-8.png) *Figure 10. Locations ranked in terms of how frequently they were the origin of observed attacks from* August-October 2022\*.\* ![Figure 21 is a column chart showing the CVE attack origin distribution compared to the previous quarter, where the United States has taken a dip and Vietnam and Russia have risen.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-9.png) Figure 11. Attack originate distribution compared to the previous quarter. ![Figure 22 is a heat map of the attack geolocation distraction from August to October of 2022. The darkest area of the map is the United States.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/chart-10.png) *Figure 12. Attack geolocation distribution from* August-October 2022\*.\* ## **Conclusion** The vulnerabilities disclosed from August-October 2022 indicate that web applications remain popular targets for attackers, and that critical vulnerabilities are more likely to have PoCs publicly available. In the meantime, we continue to capture newly published vulnerabilities that are exploited in the wild. This emphasizes the need for organizations to promptly patch their systems and implement security best practices. Attackers continue to make a concerted effort to expand their tool kit of exploits whenever possible. While cybercriminals will never cease their malicious activities, Palo Alto Networks customers receive protections from the attacks discussed in this blog through the [Next-Generation Firewall](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/services/bpa) and [Cloud-Delivered Security Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/security-subscriptions), including [Threat Prevention](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/secure-the-network/subscriptions/threat-prevention), [WildFire](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/secure-the-network/wildfire) and [Advanced URL Filtering](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-url-filtering), as well as through [Cortex XDR](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cortex-xdr). To further mitigate any risks to your network: * Run a [Next-Generation Firewall](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/services/bpa) to identify where your configuration could be altered to improve your security posture. * Run a [Security Lifecycle Review](https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/security-lifecycle-review/security-lifecycle-review-getting-started) to get a consolidated view of your largest threats and if you have coverage to prevent them. * Continuously update your Next-Generation Firewalls with the latest Palo Alto Networks [Threat Prevention](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/secure-the-network/subscriptions/threat-prevention) content (e.g., versions 8649 and above). * Prisma Cloud customers using WAAS receive protection from these threats through the App Firewall feature, which detects attacks such as cross-site scripting, SQL injection, directory traversals and more. ## **Additional Resources** * [Top CVEs to Patch: Insights from the 2022 Unit 42 Network Threat Trends Research Report](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-threat-trends-research-report/) * [Network Security Trends: May-July 2022](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security-trends-update/) * [Network Attack Trends: February-April 2022](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/recent-exploits-network-security-trends/) * [Network Security Trends: November 2021 to January 2022](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security-trends-cross-site-scripting/) * [Network Security Trends: August-October 2021](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-attacks-trends-august-october-2021/) Back to top ### Tags * [Attack analysis](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/attack-analysis/ "attack analysis") * [Exploit in the wild](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/exploit-in-the-wild/ "exploit in the wild") * [Network security trends](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/network-security-trends/ "network security trends") * [Proof of Concept](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/proof-of-concept/ "Proof of Concept") [Threat Research Center](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com "Threat Research") [Next: Security Issue in JWT Secret Poisoning (Updated)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/jsonwebtoken-vulnerability-cve-2022-23529/ "Security Issue in JWT Secret Poisoning (Updated)") ### Table of Contents * ### Related Articles * [Fake CVE-2023-40477 Proof of Concept Leads to VenomRAT](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/fake-cve-2023-40477-poc-hides-venomrat/ "article - table of contents") * [Network Security Trends: November 2022-January 2023](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security-trends-nov-jan/ "article - table of contents") * [Realtek SDK Vulnerability Attacks Highlight IoT Supply Chain Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/realtek-sdk-vulnerability/ "article - table of contents") ## Related Vulnerabilities Resources ![Pictorial representation of a group of people interacting with a dynamic 3D holographic display of colorful, undulating data waves on a table.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/11_Myth-Busting_Overview_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Insights-icon-white.svg)Insights](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/insights/) August 4, 2026 [#### The Frontier AI Vulnerability Burst: Industrializing Autonomous Zero-Day Discovery in Open-Source Software](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/frontier-ai-vulnerability-burst/) * [AI](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ai/ "AI") * [Frontier AI](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/frontier-ai/ "Frontier AI") * [Vulnerability Exploitation](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/vulnerability-exploitation/ "Vulnerability Exploitation") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/frontier-ai-vulnerability-burst/ "The Frontier AI Vulnerability Burst: Industrializing Autonomous Zero-Day Discovery in Open-Source Software") ![Pictorial representation of AI-enabled autonomous cyberattacks. A digital illustration depicting abstract, interconnected data streams in vibrant colors on a dark blue background](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AdobeStock_992950050-3-782x440.jpeg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) July 30, 2026 [#### Chinese-Speaking Threat Actor Harnesses AI Models for Autonomous Cyberattacks](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/autonomous-ai-cyber-attack-campaign/) * [ChatGPT](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/chatgpt/ "ChatGPT") * [Claude code](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/claude-code/ "Claude code") * [CVEs](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cves/ "CVEs") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/autonomous-ai-cyber-attack-campaign/ "Chinese-Speaking Threat Actor Harnesses AI Models for Autonomous Cyberattacks") ![Pictorial representation of three zero-day vulnerabilities in Siemens ROX II OT switches. Digital illustration of a global network featuring interconnected lines and nodes over a map of the world, highlighted with neon lights and digital elements.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/03_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) July 17, 2026 [#### Three Steps to the Terminal: A Siemens ROX II Zero-Day Trilogy](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/siemens-rox-ii-zero-day-vulnerabilities/) * [Command injection](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/command-injection/ "Command injection") * [CVE-2025-40947](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2025-40947/ "CVE-2025-40947") * [CVE-2025-40948](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2025-40948/ "CVE-2025-40948") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/siemens-rox-ii-zero-day-vulnerabilities/ "Three Steps to the Terminal: A Siemens ROX II Zero-Day Trilogy") ![Pictorial representation of PAN-OS CVE-2026-0257. A vibrant city skyline at night, with tall skyscrapers and glowing digital beams extending into the sky, suggesting advanced technology and connectivity.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/07_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) June 9, 2026 [#### Threat Brief: Active Exploitation of PAN-OS CVE-2026-0257](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/active-exploitation-of-pan-os-cve-2026-0257/) * [CVE-2026-0257](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-0257/ "CVE-2026-0257") * [Vulnerability](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/vulnerability/ "vulnerability") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/active-exploitation-of-pan-os-cve-2026-0257/ "Threat Brief: Active Exploitation of PAN-OS CVE-2026-0257") ![Pictorial representation of CVE-2026-30300. Digital illustration of a map of North America with interconnected glowing lines and dots symbolizing network connections across the continent.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/06_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-3-1-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) May 6, 2026 [#### Threat Brief: Exploitation of PAN-OS Captive Portal Zero-Day for Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/captive-portal-zero-day/) * [CVE-2026-0300](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-0300/ "CVE-2026-0300") * [EarthWorm](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/earthworm/ "EarthWorm") * [PAN-OS](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/pan-os/ "PAN-OS") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/captive-portal-zero-day/ "Threat Brief: Exploitation of PAN-OS Captive Portal Zero-Day for Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution") ![Pictorial representation of a severe Linux vulnerability. Close-up of a woman wearing glasses and focusing intently on a computer screen.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/05_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-2-1-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) May 5, 2026 [#### Copy Fail: What You Need to Know About the Most Severe Linux Threat in Years](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/cve-2026-31431-copy-fail/) * [Containers](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/containers/ "Containers") * [CVE-2026-31431](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-31431/ "CVE-2026-31431") * [Kubernetes](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/kubernetes/ "Kubernetes") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/cve-2026-31431-copy-fail/ "Copy Fail: What You Need to Know About the Most Severe Linux Threat in Years") ![Pictorial representation of CVE-2023-33538. Abstract image of a glowing red Wi-Fi symbol on a circuit board, with intricate patterns and a futuristic appearance.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/04_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) April 16, 2026 [#### A Deep Dive Into Attempted Exploitation of CVE-2023-33538](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/exploitation-of-cve-2023-33538/) * [Botnet](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/botnet/ "botnet") * [Command injection](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/command-injection/ "Command injection") * [CVE-2023-33538](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2023-33538/ "CVE-2023-33538") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/exploitation-of-cve-2023-33538/ "A Deep Dive Into Attempted Exploitation of CVE-2023-33538") ![Pictorial representation of BeyondTrust vulnerability CVE-2026-1731. Digital art depicting a stylized mountain range with vibrant blue and red hues. The peaks are accentuated by glowing particles and an abstract, starry backdrop, creating a futuristic landscape.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/14_Overview_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) February 19, 2026 [#### VShell and SparkRAT Observed in Exploitation of BeyondTrust Critical Vulnerability (CVE-2026-1731)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/beyondtrust-cve-2026-1731/) * [Bash](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/bash/ "bash") * [CVE-2026-1731](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-1731/ "CVE-2026-1731") * [PowerShell](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/powershell/ "PowerShell") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/beyondtrust-cve-2026-1731/ "VShell and SparkRAT Observed in Exploitation of BeyondTrust Critical Vulnerability (CVE-2026-1731)") ![](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/AdobeStock_1020436911-786x440.jpeg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/top-threats.svg)High Profile Threats](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/top-cyberthreats/) February 17, 2026 [#### Critical Vulnerabilities in Ivanti EPMM Exploited](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ivanti-cve-2026-1281-cve-2026-1340/) * [CVE-2026-1281](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-1281/ "CVE-2026-1281") * [CVE-2026-1340](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2026-1340/ "CVE-2026-1340") * [Ivanti](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ivanti/ "Ivanti") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ivanti-cve-2026-1281-cve-2026-1340/ "Critical Vulnerabilities in Ivanti EPMM Exploited") ![Pictorial representation of CVE-2025-0921. Digital illustration of a map of North America with interconnected glowing lines and dots symbolizing network connections across the continent.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/06_Vulnerabilities_1920x900-2-1-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) January 30, 2026 [#### Privileged File System Vulnerability Present in a SCADA System](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iconics-suite-cve-2025-0921/) * [CVE-2025-0921](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cve-2025-0921/ "CVE-2025-0921") * [Privilege escalation](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/privilege-escalation/ "privilege escalation") * [SCADA](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/scada/ "SCADA") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iconics-suite-cve-2025-0921/ "Privileged File System Vulnerability Present in a SCADA System") * ![Slider arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/slider-arrow-left.svg) * ![Slider arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/slider-arrow-left.svg) ![Close button](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/close-modal.svg) ![Enlarged Image]() ![Newsletter](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/unit42-footer-subscribe-desktop.png) ![UNIT 42 Small Logo](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/palo-alto-logo-small.svg) Get updates from Unit 42 ## Peace of mind comes from staying ahead of threats. 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