The cybersecurity landscape during the final week of 2025 was dominated by a series of smaller-scale vulnerabilities rather than a single major incident. Trusted tools exhibited unintended behaviors, while both long-standing flaws and emerging weaknesses were quickly exploited. This growing trend emphasized a critical theme: adversaries operated at a pace that often outstripped available fixes. Access typically reserved for legitimate business purposes—such as updates and support—was frequently exploited, leaving lingering repercussions long after initial incidents were declared resolved.
This week’s recap consolidates these critical narratives, stripping away excess noise to highlight significant developments that shaped the threat landscape as 2025 drew to a close. Business leaders are encouraged to take note of these incidents, as the evolving risks merit immediate attention.
⚡ Threat of the Week
Exploitation of MongoDB Vulnerability— A newly disclosed critical vulnerability in MongoDB, designated as CVE-2025-14847, is currently being actively exploited, with around 87,000 instances worldwide identified as potentially vulnerable. This security flaw permits unauthenticated attackers to leak sensitive data from the server memory. Titled “MongoBleed,” this vulnerability has a CVSS score of 8.7, indicating high severity. Most affected instances are situated in the U.S., China, Germany, India, and France. Data from Censys reveals that 42% of cloud environments may host a MongoDB version vulnerable to this exploit. Businesses utilizing MongoDB are urged to promptly update to versions 8.2.3, 8.0.17, 7.0.28, 6.0.27, 5.0.32, or 4.4.30 to mitigate the risk of exposure.
🔔 Top News
In other critical updates, Trust Wallet announced a significant security incident involving its Chrome extension, leading to losses approaching $7 million due to a breach exploited via a malicious version of the extension. The attackers allegedly utilized a leaked Chrome Web Store API key. Trust Wallet advised users to update to the latest version to enhance their security, while promising to reimburse affected individuals.
Separately, a sophisticated cyber espionage operation attributed to a China-linked group named Evasive Panda was uncovered, wherein DNS poisoning was employed to distribute the MgBot malware across targeted entities in Türkiye, China, and India. Kaspersky reported that this campaign utilized adversary-in-the-middle tactics to deliver compromised updates for popular software applications.
Meanwhile, findings from TRM Labs revealed that the 2022 LastPass breach has led to significant cryptocurrency theft, with bad actors exploiting stolen encrypted vault backups. Aligned with the Russian cybercriminal ecosystem, at least $35 million in assets have been siphoned as a result of weak master password exploitation since the breach.
Fortinet has also issued a warning regarding renewed attacks exploiting the five-year-old flaw CVE-2020-12812 in FortiOS SSL VPN. This vulnerability can bypass two-factor authentication under specific conditions, and Fortinet has encouraged affected customers to audit their systems and reset credentials where necessary.
Additionally, a new malicious npm package masquerading as a WhatsApp API was identified, which, upon installation, could intercept messages and link the attacker’s device to victims’ WhatsApp accounts. Although the malicious code would be removed upon uninstalling the package, the linked session would persist, granting continued access until manually severed by the user.
️🔥 Trending CVEs
The relentless pace of exploitation by attackers underscores the need for vigilance regarding security updates. This week, notable vulnerabilities include CVE-2025-14847 (MongoDB), CVE-2025-68664 (LangChain Core), and CVE-2025-68613 (n8n), among others. Businesses are urged to prioritize remediation for these emerging threats, as a single oversight could lead to substantial breaches.
📰 Around the Cyber World
The cybersecurity community has witnessed the arrest of a former Coinbase customer service agent in India, connected with illicit access to sensitive user data, implicating over 69,000 individuals. The incident highlights vulnerabilities in outsourced customer support frameworks and ongoing threats to data integrity.
In a separate report, the threat actor known as Cloud Atlas has commenced operations targeting organizations in Russia and Belarus through spear-phishing strategies involving malicious document attachments that deploy backdoors capable of extensive data exfiltration.
The recent surge in Cobalt Strike servers signifies an escalating trend in malicious actor infrastructure deployment, raising eyebrows within cybersecurity circles regarding the implications for targeted industries. Meanwhile, ongoing investigations into the NATO-affiliated research facilities reveal alarming ties to Chinese military advancements facilitated through the exploitation of U.S. taxpayer-funded research.
This week’s events reflect a rapidly evolving threat landscape, necessitating proactive measures and robust cybersecurity protocols to safeguard sensitive information as 2026 approaches. By understanding and addressing the vulnerabilities at hand, organizations can bolster their defenses against an increasingly sophisticated array of cyber threats.
Stay informed, stay secure.
