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The Q1 2026 vulnerability landscape shows a continued rise in overall CVEs and KEVs, with a significant focus on software supply chain compromises and networking gear. A notable emerging threat is the abuse of the n8n AI workflow automation platform to bypass traditional security filters, alongside the discovery of the PowMix botnet targeting Czech workers and ongoing exploitation of legacy vulnerabilities.
A China-nexus threat actor, assessed with medium confidence as Mustang Panda, targeted the Persian Gulf region using a multi-stage attack chain themed around the Middle East conflict. The campaign leverages LNK and CHM files to execute a heavily obfuscated shellcode loader via DLL sideloading, ultimately deploying a PlugX backdoor capable of HTTPS and DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) C2 communications.
Arctic Wolf Labs has identified a cyber espionage campaign by the Chinese-affiliated threat actor UNC6384 targeting European diplomatic entities. The campaign exploits the ZDI-CAN-25373 Windows shortcut vulnerability to deliver malicious LNK files, ultimately deploying the PlugX RAT via DLL side-loading of legitimate Canon printer utilities.
