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In the last 72 hours, four signals set the weekend posture: Microsoft’s first Patch Tuesday of 2026 fixed 114 flaws and confirmed one zero-day under active exploitation; Fortinet published fresh critical advisories affecting FortiFone and FortiSIEM as well as FortiGuard notes on unauthenticated command paths; CISA added new entries and updates to its advisories and KEV resources; and researchers flagged an active malware campaign abusing c-ares DLL side-loading.
Priorities: close Microsoft and Fortinet patch gaps with evidence, raise watch on signed-binary proxying and side-loading, and keep KEV-tracked items on an executive clock.
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Top-level takeaways this week:
Exploit and Zero-Day Velocity ↑ — Microsoft confirmed one exploited Windows zero-day amid 114 fixes.
Edge and Appliance Exposure ↑ — Fortinet advisories include critical issues in FortiFone and FortiSIEM plus unauthenticated paths.
Toolchain and Side-Loading Risk ↑ — Active campaign abuses c-ares DLL side-loading to bypass controls.
1) Microsoft January Patch Tuesday: 114 fixes with one actively exploited zero-day – High
What changed: Microsoft shipped patches for 114 CVEs, including an actively exploited Windows Desktop Window Manager bug. See January 2026 Patch Tuesday overview and supporting analysis.
Why this matters: Patch velocity needs to be enforced. One exploited Windows flaw plus dozens of elevation and info-leak bugs increase token and memory-harvest risk on executive endpoints.
2) Fortinet advisories: critical FortiFone and FortiSIEM, plus new unauthenticated paths – High
What changed: Fortinet and industry coverage disclosed critical flaws in FortiFone and FortiSIEM and published new PSIRT items, including Fortinet PSIRT critical advisories and unauthenticated remote command injection and unauthenticated configuration exposure notes.
Why this matters: Internet-facing or poorly segmented admin planes on voice, SIEM, or management portals are reliable pivots to credentials, configs, and lateral movement.
3) c-ares DLL side-loading used in active malware campaign – Medium-High
What changed: Researchers detailed an ongoing campaign that exploits c-ares DLL side-loading to bypass security and deliver stealers and trojans.
Why this matters: Signed-binary proxying and side-loading reduce detection in EDR-heavy fleets and often lead to quick token theft.
4) CISA updates: new advisories and KEV maintenance – Medium-High
What changed: CISA posted new items across alerts and advisories this week and continues to update the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and advisory hub.
Why this matters: KEV inclusion and advisory cadence set real deadlines for regulated entities and drive audit exposure if left open.
Stage | Vector / System | What we are seeing |
|---|---|---|
Initial access | Browser/Windows userland, appliance admin planes | Patch-lag exploitation and unauthenticated Fortinet paths enable fast footholds. |
Privilege & persistence | Side-loading and signed-binary proxy | c-ares DLL side-loading used to drop stealers and maintain quiet access. |
Impact | Data theft and policy tampering | Admin-plane compromise leads to config theft, token abuse, and rule changes. |
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🔄 Patch & Hardening
Windows fleet: Enforce January Patch Tuesday across exec and admin tiers. Verify DWM zero-day fixed on all supported builds.
Fortinet estate: Apply FortiFone and FortiSIEM fixes. If any Forti* admin plane is internet-reachable, gate it behind VPN or JIT allow-lists and forward admin logs to SIEM.
Appliance exposure: Review public interfaces for Fortinet components referenced in FG-IR-25-772 and FG-IR-25-260 and apply mitigations.
🧑💻 People & Monitoring
Endpoints: Alert on unsigned module loads into signed processes, suspicious DLL search-order events, and new LOLBins executing from user-writable paths.
Edge/Appliances: Watch for new admin accounts, policy pushes, exports, or config reads outside change windows.
KEV tracking: Confirm ownership and remediation dates for any items overlapping your stack.
📋 Process
Freeze non-essential changes on edge and identity control planes through Monday.
Tabletop (30 min): “Windows userland exploit → DLL side-loading persistence → Fortinet admin-plane pivot → exfil.”
🤝 Partners
MSPs and network teams: attest Fortinet versions, exposure, and log forwarding.
IT ops: provide Patch Tuesday coverage report for exec devices with exceptions documented.
Side-loading trail: Signed process spawning from non-standard paths plus immediate credential-provider or browser token access.
Fortinet tampering: Admin logins from rare ASNs, sudden policy edits, or config exports after hours.
KEV watch: Assets matching fresh KEV entries flagged until attested closed.
Overall: High for Windows userland exploitation and appliance-plane exposure, Medium-High for side-loading-based persistence where application control is weak, Medium for KEV compliance drift.
Patch speed is posture. The exploited Windows bug plus high-count fixes require visible coverage.
Treat appliance admin planes like crown-jewel systems. If they touch the internet, that is a policy exception that needs approval.
Signed does not mean safe. Side-loading evades weak allow-lists and creates durable persistence.
🔄 Verify: January Windows updates are complete on exec and admin devices and tracked to evidence.
📊 Validate: Fortinet versions patched and management surfaces gated behind VPN or JIT.
💼 Confirm: Side-loading controls in place (application control, block DLLs from user-writable paths).
🔹 Double-check: Monday tabletop — “Userland exploit → side-load → admin-plane pivot.”
Final Insight: A quiet weekend requires two proofs on paper: Patch Tuesday coverage for exec workstations and zero external paths to your Fortinet admin planes. Everything else is noise until those two are done.
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