Trail of Bits, funded by the Sovereign Tech Agency, has implemented NIST-standardized post-quantum primitives ML-KEM (FIPS 203) and ML-DSA (FIPS 204) in pyca/cryptography version 48, making them available across the Python ecosystem via pip. The release includes Rust bindings, a cross-binding API, and AWS-LC backend support. Migration to post-quantum cryptography is not a drop-in replacement due to significantly larger key, signature, and ciphertext sizes that require protocol-level changes, and integration into real-world protocols like TLS and SSH is still ongoing.
Rust
23 posts
Shipping post-quantum cryptography to Python macOS.Gaslight | Rust Backdoor Turns Prompt Injection on the Analyst, Not the Sandbox SentinelLABS identified macOS.Gaslight, a DPRK-aligned Rust backdoor targeting macOS systems. The implant establishes a resilient C2 channel via the Telegram Bot API using AES-GCM over pinned TLS and achieves persistence via a masqueraded LaunchAgent. Notably, it embeds a 38-message prompt-injection payload designed to feed fabricated system errors to LLM-assisted triage tools, aiming to abort or corrupt automated analysis. The malware also stages a standalone Python environment to execute a credential and data stealer.
22nd June – Threat Intelligence Report This threat intelligence report highlights recent data breaches involving third-party vendors, emerging AI threat vectors such as prompt injection and WebSocket abuse, and active exploitation of critical vulnerabilities in Fortinet, Cisco, and Splunk products. Additionally, seasonal phishing campaigns targeting travelers and Amazon Prime members are surging alongside a cross-platform Rust-based crypto clipboard hijacker.
Killing me gently: Inside Gentlemen’s EDR killer framework ESET researchers analyzed the Gentlemen ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation, highlighting their unique approach of providing an in-house developed EDR killer framework, GentleKiller, directly to affiliates. The framework leverages Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) techniques to terminate over 400 security processes and is augmented by third-party tools like HexKiller and HavocKiller, all standardized with a shared defense-evasion layer.
From Stars to Upvotes: Fake Reputation Fueling a Crypto Clipboard Hijacker A threat actor is distributing Rust-based cryptocurrency clipboard hijackers for Windows and macOS by disguising them as trading bots and game predictors. The campaign leverages extensive social engineering, utilizing 'Ghost Networks' to artificially inflate engagement metrics across GitHub, SourceForge, YouTube, and VirusTotal to establish false credibility. The malware achieves persistence and continuously monitors the victim's clipboard to replace legitimate cryptocurrency addresses with attacker-controlled wallets.
15th June – Threat Intelligence Report This threat intelligence report highlights multiple critical vulnerabilities and active exploits, including a zero-day in Oracle PeopleSoft (CVE-2026-35273) exploited by ShinyHunters and an IKEv1 authentication bypass in Check Point VPNs (CVE-2026-50751) linked to Qilin ransomware. Additionally, the report details emerging AI-driven threats, a supply-chain compromise in the Arch User Repository deploying eBPF rootkits, and widespread patching efforts by Microsoft and Veeam.
Pointing a Cursor at evading detection Sophos researchers uncovered a threat actor utilizing AI-native development tools, specifically the Cursor IDE and Claude Opus, to build and iteratively test a post-exploitation framework designed to evade major EDR solutions. The framework automates the ingestion of public security research to generate and refine custom Rust and Go payloads, ultimately supporting ransomware and data theft operations.
AI Has Taken Over Open Source The integration of AI coding tools has fundamentally altered the open-source ecosystem, driving an exponential increase in npm package creation and automating dependency selection. This shift transforms the software supply chain into an automated black box, bypassing traditional human review processes and elevating the risk of supply chain malware infections, thereby requiring automated behavioral analysis for mitigation.
IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Mobile statistics In Q1 2026, mobile banking Trojans saw a significant surge, with Mamont variants driving a 50% increase in malicious installation packages. Additionally, a sophisticated new variant of the SparkCat crypto stealer was identified in official app stores, employing custom virtual machines and OCR techniques to compromise both Android and iOS users.
Kimsuky targets organizations with PebbleDash-based tools Kimsuky (APT43) has updated its arsenal with new PebbleDash and AppleSeed malware variants, including the Rust-based HelloDoor and httpMalice backdoors. The group is increasingly utilizing legitimate services like VSCode Remote Tunnels, Cloudflare Quick Tunnels, and DWAgent for covert C2 and post-exploitation access, primarily targeting South Korean entities and global defense sectors.
pnpm 11 Adds Supply Chain Protection Defaults for Minimum Release Age and Exotic Subdependencies The release of pnpm 11 introduces significant supply chain security enhancements, including a default 24-hour minimum release age for packages, the blocking of exotic subdependencies, and a streamlined allowBuilds model. These features are designed to mitigate rapid supply chain attacks, such as the recent Mini Shai-Hulud campaign, by restricting install-time execution and unexpected dependency sources.
Intelligence Center Cisco Talos identified an intrusion campaign utilizing the CloudZ RAT and a novel plugin named Pheno to intercept SMS and OTP messages. The malware abuses the Microsoft Phone Link application's PC-to-phone bridge, allowing attackers to steal sensitive authentication data from local SQLite databases without deploying malware directly to the victim's mobile device.
Intelligence Center Cisco Talos identified UAT-8302, a China-nexus APT, targeting global government entities using a diverse toolkit of custom and shared malware. The threat actor leverages DLL side-loading to deploy implants like NetDraft, CloudSorcerer v3, and VSHELL, while utilizing open-source tools for extensive network reconnaissance, credential harvesting, and lateral movement.
Extending Ruzzy with LibAFL Trail of Bits detailed the technical process of integrating the LibAFL fuzzing engine into Ruzzy, their coverage-guided fuzzer for Ruby. The integration required resolving ELF linker constraints with .preinit_array sections and adjusting shared object loading to satisfy LibAFL's strict coverage map initialization requirements.
Trailmark turns code into graphs Trail of Bits has released Trailmark, an open-source library that converts source code into queryable call graphs to enhance AI-assisted security analysis. By integrating with Claude Code, Trailmark enables advanced mutation testing triage, blast radius analysis, and the identification of architectural bottlenecks in cryptographic libraries.
We beat Google’s zero-knowledge proof of quantum cryptanalysis Trail of Bits researchers successfully forged a zero-knowledge proof for a quantum circuit by exploiting memory safety and logic vulnerabilities in Google's Rust-based zkVM prover. By leveraging unsafe deserialization and register aliasing, they bypassed resource counters and quantum reversibility constraints, demonstrating critical attack surfaces in modern zero-knowledge proof implementations.
North Korea’s Contagious Interview Campaign Spreads Across 5 Ecosystems, Delivering Staged RAT Payloads North Korea's Contagious Interview campaign has launched a coordinated supply chain attack across five major open-source ecosystems. The threat actors published malicious packages masquerading as legitimate developer tools that act as staged loaders to deliver remote access trojans (RATs) and infostealers to developer workstations.
Intelligence Center Cisco Talos identified a new threat actor, UAT-10362, targeting Taiwanese organizations with a sophisticated Lua-based malware suite named LucidRook. The attack leverages spear-phishing, DLL sideloading, and compromised FTP servers to deliver staged Lua bytecode payloads while employing strict geo-fencing to evade analysis.
Weaponizing Trust Signals: Claude Code Lures and GitHub Release Payloads Following an accidental leak of Anthropic's Claude Code source material, threat actors rapidly deployed a social engineering campaign using fake GitHub repositories. The campaign distributes trojanized archives containing a Rust-compiled dropper that deploys Vidar stealer and GhostSocks proxy malware, specifically targeting developers seeking AI tools.
Mutation testing for the agentic era Trail of Bits has introduced MuTON and mewt, advanced mutation testing tools designed to identify untested code paths in smart contracts and blockchain applications. These tools leverage Tree-sitter for accurate syntax parsing and integrate with AI agents to optimize testing configurations and triage results, addressing the historical performance limitations of mutation testing.
Anthropic Claude Code Leak | ThreatLabz Anthropic accidentally leaked the source code for its Claude Code CLI tool via an npm package source map. Threat actors are exploiting the high interest in this leak by creating fake GitHub repositories that distribute a Rust-based dropper, which subsequently installs Vidar infostealer and GhostSocks proxy malware on developer workstations.
Boggy Serpens Threat Assessment Boggy Serpens (MuddyWater) is conducting ongoing cyberespionage campaigns targeting critical infrastructure and diplomatic entities globally. The group leverages hijacked accounts for trusted relationship compromises, delivering advanced, AI-assisted malware toolkits including Rust-based backdoors and custom C2 protocols to maintain long-term persistence and evade detection.
5 Malicious Rust Crates Posed as Time Utilities to Exfiltrate .env Files A coordinated supply chain attack on the Rust ecosystem involved five malicious crates masquerading as time utilities. These crates silently exfiltrated .env files containing sensitive developer credentials to a threat actor-controlled lookalike domain using background curl processes.
