Weekly Roundup: Critical Vulnerabilities Hit VMware ESX, FortiOS, Chrome, fastjson, Cisco FMC and Ruby on Rails
Security NEXT has released its weekly ranking of the most-read articles published between July 26 and August 1, 2026. The list is led by reports of serious vulnerabilities in several major enterprise and consumer platforms.
The top story covers newly disclosed critical flaws in VMware ESX and VMware vCenter, accompanied by official patches. Second place went to confirmation from U.S. authorities that threat actors are actively exploiting vulnerabilities in FortiOS and VeloCloud Orchestrator.
Google issued a large security update for Chrome that resolves 370 vulnerabilities. A separate entry highlights a flaw in the Java data-conversion library fastjson that has already been observed in exploitation attempts.
Apple released iOS 26.6 and iPadOS 26.6, addressing 87 security issues. Cisco warned customers about a vulnerability in its firewall management product Cisco FMC that is already being exploited in the wild.
Other notable items include a cyber-attack on an ANA Group online store that may have resulted in the leakage of personal information, a serious vulnerability in OpenAM, an update for Node.js fixing 11 issues, and a critical flaw named KindaRails2Shell affecting Ruby on Rails.
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Anatomy of HTC Sense Vulnerability: Bypassing FRP Lock on HTC U11 Plus Without PC
A detailed technical breakdown reveals how an old HTC U11 Plus running Android 8 or 9 can have its Factory Reset Protection bypassed after a forgotten pattern lock. The method uses the device's own email client and credential storage system to force a new PIN without any PC or external tools. Multiple standard bypass attempts failed due to HTC Sense restrictions, including muscle memory recovery, Google account removal, Find My Device, and bootloader unlocking. The working exploit leverages the Exchange account setup flow to trigger Credential Storage Bypass, which overrides FRP flags by prioritizing certificate requests over setup wizard locks. A combined fingerprint and PIN option then allows creation of a new credential that survives reboot and passes the post-reset Google verification. The technique exploits architectural priority conflicts between the Biometric Framework and FRP enforcement in HTC Sense firmware.
Node.js Issues Security Updates Patching Ten Vulnerabilities Including High-Severity TLS Name Verification Bypasses
The Node.js project released security updates on October 21 for release lines 26, 24, and 22, addressing ten vulnerabilities with four rated high severity. The most critical issue, CVE-2026-111497, resides in the Brotli decoder and involves an out-of-bounds write that could enable remote code execution across all three supported lines. Two additional high-severity flaws affect TLS name verification: CVE-2026-105483 bypasses checks when addresses contain full-width digits, while CVE-2026-106069 fails on imprecise IP address resolution, potentially allowing a certificate to be accepted for an unintended destination. A fourth high-severity vulnerability, CVE-2026-105482, causes the dns.resolve function to truncate names containing null characters, creating inconsistencies between queried and resolved names. Medium-severity issues include out-of-order processing in HTTP socket keep-alive, improper certificate validation for non-standard IPv4 addresses, and repeated cryptographic random values in snapshot initialization and single-executable applications affecting crypto.randomUUID and crypto.randomInt. The updates also refresh c-ares, CA certificates, Undici, OpenSSL, and SQLite, with recommendations to test HTTPS outbound connections, DNS handling, Brotli-compressed content, and permission-restricted workloads.
Yandex Station Root Access Flaw Exploited via Trusted Certificates Error, Patch Now Rolling Out
Enthusiasts discovered a method to obtain root access on their own Yandex Station smart speaker by exploiting an error in the trusted certificates system, bypassing the need to physically disassemble the device. The technique involved instructing the Alice voice assistant to play music and then probing for administrator privileges on the hardware. Yandex confirmed the vulnerability and has begun distributing an over-the-air update to close the access vector. Root privileges enable users to modify device software with far fewer restrictions than standard settings allow, expanding options for custom experimentation. The company emphasized that the flaw only affected a user's own device and that remote compromise of third-party units remained nearly impossible before the fix. Yandex also noted that owners previously could achieve similar customization by opening the device and flashing custom firmware, but the new method avoids any hardware intrusion. Work continues on refining the factory reset process, though specific details remain undisclosed.
PHP Foundation Reveals Two Critical RCE Vulnerabilities Fixed After 2024 Discovery Delays
The PHP Foundation has disclosed details surrounding two severe remote code execution vulnerabilities in PHP that were addressed in updates released on October 21, 2026. The issues, tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, affect memory management and error handling routines used in nearly every request. Although signs of one flaw were identified during an external audit in 2024, resource constraints and prioritization of other issues delayed remediation. The foundation had planned a coordinated disclosure, but information leaked prematurely, causing confusion among stakeholders. Updated versions PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, and 8.2.35 are now available, and immediate patching is strongly recommended for all users. The vulnerabilities' broad impact and the challenges in balancing security fixes with performance considerations made the response particularly complex.