October 25, 2025 - Red Dot Security

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Hello all,

A popular axiom in computing circles is, “It’s always DNS.” On Monday it became painfully real for much of the internet as Amazon Web Services (AWS) US-East-1 zone fell victim to a Domain Name Service (DNS) issue and took much of the internet down with it. Admins and consumers woke to internet chaos due to the sheer mass of sites that are hosted or route through the affected AWS infrastructure. It took until quite late in the day before any semblance of normalcy resumed, costing organizations billions in lost revenue and mitigation actions. Thankfully, service was mostly normal again the next day. Now, on to the headline news.

Headline NEWS:

Amazon’s DNS problem was discussed a moment ago. We’ve got several links in our Other News Events of Note and Interest that go into more detail about this massive AWS event from early in the week.
Chrome V8 JavaScript Engine Vulnerability found again, necessitating another Google Chrome browser update. At this point, it looks like Chrome updates to fix defects will continue to be regular occurrences, happening several times per month. I’d advise restarting your chromium based browsers at least once per week to ensure yours is up to date.
CISA added a large number of items to their KEV this week, including a Microsoft SMB defect that enables privilege escalation and that is under active attack. The latest October Patch Tuesday updates mitigate this flaw.
Oracle October 2025 Patch Updates addresses 170 CVE’s. Some of these are critical and under active attack. E-Business Suite has another component that has a hole large enough for a truck to drive through, enabling full takeover. And Oracle Virtual Box has similar defects that need to be patched. Hopefully, you have a paid Oracle subscription if you’re using these products, because most are behind a paywall.
Windows Software Update Server (WSUS) from Microsoft has a critical defect that allows remote code execution. It was patched via the October patch cycle, but proved ineffective necessitating an emergency patch that is now available. Aside from applying the patch, the only mitigation is to turn WSUS off.

In Ransomware, Malware, and Vulnerabilities News:

China claims NSA hacked its national timing systems using 42 “special cyber weapons” The pot is calling the kettle black. I find it almost funny that the Middle Kingdom is acting with righteous indignation that the United States is spying on them. In another interesting twist, I can’t help but wonder if the “42 special cyber weapons” aren’t alluding to the question that Deep Thought was pondering in Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy?

In Other News Events of Note and Interest:

Over 50 Percent of the Internet is Now AI Slop is an article that caught my attention, not because of the percentage number, but because of the use of the word “slop”. I’m seeing this bandied about like some sort of new “in-thing” to say to appear hip. And I see pundits labeling something AI “slop” simply because an AI was used to contribute to the item being reviewed. That’s ignorant and myopic. If the content is valid and informative, then whether an AI contributed to it is immaterial. Rate content on its own merit, not on the authorship.

Musings:

Festivities and commemorations for Halloween, Harvest Festivals, All Hallows’ Eve, All Saint’s Day, and Reformation Day will be held at the end of this week. Expect there to be lots of treats, clowns, ghouls, goblins, pranks, prayers, and introspective reflection. And on the cybersecurity front, which feels like the aforementioned calendar items pretty much every day, you can also expect lots of treats, clowns, ghouls, goblins, pranks, prayers, and introspective reflection as well.

Headline NEWS

Ransomware, Malware, and Vulnerabilities News

Other News Events of Note and Interest

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