December 22, 2025

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 22nd December, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin.

TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES

• An adult content platform PornHub has disclosed a data breach linked to analytics provider Mixpanel. The breach exposed more than 200 million records related to Premium users, including email addresses, search, watch, and download histories, locations, and associated video details collected prior to 2021. Pornhub stated that no passwords, payment information, or government-issued IDs were compromised. OpenAI also acknowledged a related incident that was caused by compromise of Mixpanel. The breach has been attributed to the ShinyHunters extortion group.
• SoundCloud, an online audio streaming platform, has confirmed a cyber attack that resulted in threat actors gaining unauthorized access to a database containing users’ email addresses and public profile information. The breach affected approximately 20% of SoundCloud’s users, which might impact 28 million accounts, and caused outages and VPN connection issues. The ShinyHunters extortion gang has claimed responsibility for this attack.
• Autoparts giant LKQ has acknowledged a cyberattack tied to the Oracle E-Business Suite compromise. The company said personal data of over 9,070 people, including Employer Identification Numbers and Social Security numbers, was exposed.

Check Point IPS provides protection against this threat* (Oracle Multiple Products Remote Code Execution)*

• DXS International, a British NHS technology supplier, has encountered a cyber-attack on December 14th that resulted in unauthorized access to its internal office servers, affecting internal systems but not disrupting clinical services. It remains unclear whether NHS patient data was compromised.
• The University of Sydney has suffered a data breach that resulted in hackers gaining access to an online coding repository and stealing files containing personal information of staff and students. Over 27,000 individuals were affected, including names, dates of birth, phone numbers, home addresses, and job details for current and former staff, students, alumni, and affiliates.
• Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Venezuela’s state oil company, has experienced a cyberattack that resulted in disruptions to its export operations and offline systems managing the country’s main crude terminal. The incident affected administrative and operational network systems, leading to a halt in cargo deliveries. The scope of data or user information compromised has not been disclosed.
• Denmark’s water utility has experienced a cyber attack that resulted in a disruption of critical water infrastructure systems. The attack impacted operational control systems supporting essential services, forming part of a broader campaign of attacks targeting Denmark’s critical infrastructure and electoral environment. The Danish Defence Intelligence Service attributed the incident to the Russia affiliated group Z-Pentest.

VULNERABILITIES AND PATCHES

• Critical severity vulnerability with a CVSS score of 10.0 was disclosed in HPE OneView Software. The flaw, CVE-2025-37164, allows unauthenticated remote code execution and affects all versions prior to 11.00, including versions 5.20 through 10.20. Successful exploitation could enable a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on affected centralized IT infrastructure management systems.

*Check Point IPS provides protection against this threat *(HPE OneView Remote Code Execution (CVE-2025-37164))

• A critical remote code execution vulnerability, CVE-2025-14733, in WatchGuard Firebox firewalls running Fireware OS 11.x and later is being actively exploited. The out-of-bounds write flaw enables unauthenticated remote code execution on unpatched devices with IKEv2, without user interaction.
• Researchers spotted active exploitation of CVE-2025-59718 and CVE-2025-59719, critical authentication bypass flaws in Fortinet FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiWeb, FortiProxy, and FortiSwitchManager. Attackers can log in without credentials and export full device configurations, risking cracked passwords.

THREAT INTELLIGENCE REPORTS

• Check Point Research revealed a sophisticated wave of attacks attributed to the Chinese threat actor Ink Dragon, which targets European governments while continuing campaigns in Southeast Asia and South America. The threat actor converts compromised IIS servers into relay nodes with ShadowPad, exploits predictable configuration keys for access, and deploys a new FinalDraft backdoor for exfiltration and lateral movement.

Check Point Threat Emulation and Harmony Endpoint provide protection against this threat

• Check Point Research analyzed GachiLoader, a Node.js–based malware loader observed in a campaign linked to the YouTube Ghost Network. The campaign is notable for extensive obfuscation and a previously undocumented PE injection technique. GachiLoader deploys a second-stage loader, Kidkadi, which abuses Vectored Exception Handling (VEH) in a novel method, dubbed Vectored Overloading, to load its malicious payload.

*Check *Point Threat Emulation and Harmony Endpoint provide protection against this threat

• Check Point Research noticed a surge in darknet campaigns recruiting insiders at banks, crypto exchanges, telecoms, and major tech firms to sell access and data. Listings advertise payouts of $3,000 to $15,000, offer datasets like 37 million records for $25,000, and solicit telecom staff for SIM swapping to bypass two-factor authentication.
• Check Point researchers updated on a global surge in AI-driven holiday scams across phishing, fake retail sites, and social media giveaways. They recorded 33,502 phishing emails in two weeks and over 10,000 daily ads impersonating delivery brands like Royal Mail, FedEx, UPS and DPD, while AI chatbots help fraudulent stores appear credible.

BLOGS AND PUBLICATIONS

• Check Point Research Publications
• Global Cyber Attack Reports
• Threat Research

February 17, 2020

“The Turkish Rat” Evolved Adwind in a Massive Ongoing Phishing Campaign

• Check Point Research Publications
• Global Cyber Attack Reports
• Threat Research

January 22, 2020

The 2020 Cyber Security Report

• Global Cyber Attack Reports

December 15, 2021

StealthLoader Malware Leveraging Log4Shell