Exposed security-training web apps exploitation wave
Exploitation Wave
Summary
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DVWA, OWASP Juice Shop, Hackazon, and bWAPP instances exposed in cloud environments are being actively exploited, putting Fortune 500 companies and security vendors at risk of cloud takeover, miner deployment, and webshell persistence. Pentera found 1,926 live vulnerable applications on AWS, GCP, and Azure, with many tied to overly privileged IAM roles and default credentials. Several affected organizations, including Cloudflare, F5, and Palo Alto Networks, have since remediated the exposed instances.
Related Happenings
WP-SHELLSTORM webshell access brokerage campaign
Campaign
H score71
First: 10.07.2026 14:30
Last: 10.07.2026 14:30
Sources 1
About this happening:
The WP-SHELLSTORM campaign exposed its own infrastructure, revealing a webshell access brokerage that targeted WordPress and Joomla sites at scale and backdoored *...
WP-SHELLSTORM webshell access brokerage campaign
CampaignAbout this happening: The WP-SHELLSTORM campaign exposed its own infrastructure, revealing a webshell access brokerage that targeted WordPress and Joomla sites at scale and backdoored *...
AWS environment hit by data theft breach
Incident
H score26
First: 08.07.2026 15:30
Last: 08.07.2026 15:30
Sources 1
About this happening:
An AWS environment was compromised in an AI-assisted intrusion that enabled extortion, creating immediate risk of data theft and operational disruption. The actor...
AWS environment hit by data theft breach
IncidentAbout this happening: An AWS environment was compromised in an AI-assisted intrusion that enabled extortion, creating immediate risk of data theft and operational disruption. The actor...
Amazon Q Developer MCP trust flaw (CVE-2026-12957)
Vulnerability
H score32
First: 26.06.2026 16:53
Last: 26.06.2026 16:53
Sources 1
About this happening:
Amazon Q Developer had a high-severity trust-boundary flaw in MCP server handling that could let a malicious repository trigger commands on a developer machine and ste...
Amazon Q Developer MCP trust flaw (CVE-2026-12957)
VulnerabilityAbout this happening: Amazon Q Developer had a high-severity trust-boundary flaw in MCP server handling that could let a malicious repository trigger commands on a developer machine and ste...
Google Cloud Vertex AI SDK Python predictable bucket squatting security flaw
Vulnerability
H score1
First: 16.06.2026 22:05
Last: 16.06.2026 22:05
Sources 1
About this happening:
Google Cloud Vertex AI SDK for Python had a predictable temporary bucket flaw that let an attacker hijack model uploads and reach code execution inside Google's servin...
Google Cloud Vertex AI SDK Python predictable bucket squatting security flaw
VulnerabilityAbout this happening: Google Cloud Vertex AI SDK for Python had a predictable temporary bucket flaw that let an attacker hijack model uploads and reach code execution inside Google's servin...
AWS exposed-key hardening guidance for Amazon SES phishing abuse
Defensive Guidance
H score14
First: 04.05.2026 23:03
Last: 04.05.2026 23:03
Sources 1
About this happening:
Kaspersky urged organizations to harden AWS IAM and credential handling after exposed access keys were linked to phishing delivery through Amazon SES, reducing the...
AWS exposed-key hardening guidance for Amazon SES phishing abuse
Defensive GuidanceAbout this happening: Kaspersky urged organizations to harden AWS IAM and credential handling after exposed access keys were linked to phishing delivery through Amazon SES, reducing the...
Timeline
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21.01.2026 16:00 3 articles · 5mo ago
Pentera reports active exploitation of exposed security-training web apps in cloud environments
Initial DisclosurePentera reports active abuse of misconfigured security-training and internal pentest web apps such as DVWA, OWASP Juice Shop, Hackazon, and bWAPP that were exposed on AWS, GCP, and Azure and often tied to overly privileged IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles and default credentials. The findings cover 1,926 live vulnerable applications and indicate attacker activity including XMRig Monero mining, webshell deployment, persistence mechanisms, and access paths into cloud resources such as S3 buckets, GCS, Azure Blob Storage, Secrets Manager, and container registries; Cloudflare, F5, and Palo Alto Networks received the findings and fixed exposed instances.
Show sources
- Hackers exploit security testing apps to breach Fortune 500 firms — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 21.01.2026 16:00
- Hackers exploit security testing apps to breach Fortune 500 firms — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 21.01.2026 16:00
- Exposed Training Open the Door for Crypto-Mining in Fortune 500 Cloud Environments — thehackernews.com — 11.02.2026 13:30