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Security breach at AI aggregator exposes over 18 million files, including some very embarrassing chat records

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  • Researchers found 22.7TB of exposed data from AI aggregator 302.ai, including chat logs and personal information
  • Leaked records contained user prompts, AI responses, metadata, and sensitive corporate documents
  • Incident highlights the risks of sharing confidential data with third-party AI platforms and services

Security experts who were screaming “don’t share sensitive data with public AI” from the rooftops have been properly vindicated by an AI aggregator called 302.ai.

Researchers from Cybernews claim this company leaked terabytes of sensitive user and corporate data, including personally identifiable information (PII), confidential business documents, and a lot more.

Every hacker's dream

An AI aggregator is a platform that brings together multiple AI models and tools in one place. Users then get to switch between them without having to visit each provider separately.

For example, an AI aggregator might let a user start with Chat-GPT and switch to Claude with a push of a button, all through a single interface and a single subscription or API.

Although there are different use cases for AI aggregators, the number one is being able to compare the responses quickly and easily.

302.ai was launched six years ago by a company called Univerads Technology Limited, based in Hong Kong.

Cybernews says it kept an unencrypted, non-password-protected, publicly available Azure storage bucket that contained 17.6 million files. The entire archive was 22.72TB heavy, most of which went on image files (almost 9TB). Video took up 7.7TB, while audio took up 5.6TB. The rest - around 500GB, were user chat logs.

Totaling more than 144,000, these logs were stored in .json files and exposed plenty of personal information, including user prompts, replies from the AI bot, which model was used, how much it cost in tokens, timestamps, and other metadata. Users also seem to have provided plenty of data themselves, including their names, birth dates, genders, postal addresses, and other contact information.

Some of the information leaked this way was quite embarrassing, too. “What we found was that some companies used the service for enterprise tasks. For example, we found multiple chat logs from a customer support chatbot owned by a prominent sex doll manufacturer,” the team wrote.

This kind of private, even intimate, data is a goldmine for cybercriminals. They can use it to create highly customized and personalized phishing emails, knowing exactly which company to impersonate, what kind of context to mention, and how to phrase the lure email, to get the victim to react. That reaction usually ends up in business email compromise, wire fraud, or ransomware infections.

Database gets locked down

Cybernews’ researchers reached out to Univerads Technology, but did not hear back. In the meantime, the company locked down the database and it is no longer leaking sensitive files.

However, key questions remain unanswered: Does Univerads maintain this database, or was the job outsourced to a third party? When did the company first start collecting this data? How long did the archive stay unprotected? Cybernews found it in early August 2026, and saw it locked down a month later. Did anyone else find it before the Cybernews team did? Are there any indications that the files were copied or viewed by a third party? Is there any evidence of misuse or data spilling into the dark web?

It is highly unlikely these questions will be answered. Given the company’s prompt response and the closure of the database, it’s safe to assume that there was no ill intention, and that the leak is purely unintentional.

Accidental data spills such as this one are, unfortunately, very common. Many organizations either don’t know, or simply forget, that it is their responsibility to secure the data they generate and store in the cloud. As a result, new reports of large leaks emerge almost every week, some of which affect entire populations of certain countries, such as Brazil.



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Fortinet Releases Critical Security Updates for FortiOS, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer

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Fortinet has announced coordinated security hardening updates for FortiOS, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer, scheduled for October 22, 2026. These updates aim to address critical and high-severity vulnerabilities. The company urges customers to prioritize updating internet-facing systems and treat these upgrades as urgent, not routine maintenance. In an announcement on October 21, Fortinet’s Chief Information Security Officer, […]

The post Fortinet Releases Critical Security Updates for FortiOS, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer appeared first on GBHackers Security | #1 Globally Trusted Cyber Security News Platform.



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Hackers Use Critical NetScaler RCE Flaw to Target Appliances With Web Shells and Malware

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Hackers are exploiting a critical remote code execution vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler Application Delivery Controller and NetScaler Gateway to target appliances with web shells and malware.

Tracked as CVE-2026-88771, the flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to run arbitrary commands without enabling any optional features.

Citrix disclosed the vulnerability on September 27, 2026, and confirmed exploitation against unmitigated deployments.

The company assigned a CVSS v4.0 score of 9.5. CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog the same day, highlighting the need for urgent action.nvd.nist+1

According to the supplied Zscaler ThreatLabz analysis, attackers combined access-log poisoning, forged authentication records, appliance fingerprinting, and attempts to install several web shells. Researchers also observed delivery of a Rust-based FreeBSD implant.

Hackers Exploit NetScaler RCE

The attack begins with HTTP GET requests to common NetScaler login pages. These requests contain a User-Agent value starting with INDEX:, followed by a Base64-encoded payload.

The appliance records the value in its HTTP access logs, storing the malicious instructions without immediately executing them.

Attackers then submit login requests containing fake Packet Processing Engine failure messages. These messages imitate legitimate alerts, including “PPE missed too many heartbeats” and “PPE unexpectedly died,” but include shell commands.

The trigger arrives when the legitimate diagnostic script /netscaler/ns_monuploadd_err.pl processes matching failure records.

It inserts attacker-controlled log content into a shell command without safely handling special characters. This allows the embedded instructions to execute with the script’s privileges.

The commands retrieve the staged payload from HTTP logs, decode it, and execute it. CERT-EU found that the script selects the last matching record, explaining why attackers repeatedly submit forged messages to keep their entry most recent.

ThreatLabz reported attempts to create fingerprint files and deploy PHP and Perl web shells across several web-accessible directories.

Attackers also tried changing /etc/httpd.conf to enable PHP and CGI execution. A separate delivery attempt downloaded a FreeBSD x64 implant from 209.141.43[.]95.

ThreatLabz linked that server to infrastructure previously observed during StyleSmuggler exploitation against Adobe Commerce and Magento. However, shared infrastructure alone does not establish common ownership or attacker attribution.

Administrators should identify internet-facing appliances, confirm their software builds, and preserve forensic evidence before updating. CERT-EU recommends capturing evidence before promptly applying patches.

Citrix’s bulletin lists fixed releases beginning with 14.1-73.37, 13.1-64.23, 14.1-73.37 FIPS, and 13.1.37.279 for FIPS and NDcPP deployments. Organizations should install the appropriate supported update or a later release.

Defenders should examine HTTP logs for INDEX: markers and encoded User-Agent content, then correlate them with suspicious PPE failure messages. Unexpected changes to /etc/httpd.conf can reveal attempts to activate web shells, zscaler said.

Indicators of Compromise

Indicator typeIndicatorDescription
Payload delivery IP209.141.43[.]95Server used to deliver the FreeBSD x64 implant
Payload URLhxxp://209.141.43[.]95/files/kw2-freebsd-x64-s11Observed implant download location

Note: IP addresses and domains are intentionally defanged (e.g., [.]) to prevent accidental resolution or hyperlinking. Re-fang only within controlled threat intelligence platforms such as MISP, VirusTotal, or your SIEM.

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The post Hackers Use Critical NetScaler RCE Flaw to Target Appliances With Web Shells and Malware appeared first on Cyber Security News.



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Amazon says PHP2Shell exploitation began 4 days before patches

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Security researchers at Amazon Threat Intelligence say attackers began targeting the PHP2Shell flaws four days before security patches were released on Wednesday. [...]
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Chinese hackers spied on thousands of companies after breaching IT giant ConnectWise

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Microsoft points the blame for ConnectWise's breach at a China-aligned hacker, which relied on AI agents to rapidly hack into thousands of its customers.
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Warning: Calendly Phishing Pages Are Targeting Job Seekers

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Researchers at Malwarebytes warn that a phishing campaign is using spoofed Calendly pages to trick users into handing over their Facebook and Google account credentials. The phishing sites pose as Calendly booking pages for job interviews at Meta, asking users to enter their information to sign up for a phone call with a recruiter.

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