Chinese Hackers Exploit Ivanti CSA Zero-Days to Target French Government and Telecoms
On July 3, 2025, France’s cybersecurity agency disclosed that multiple sectors—including government, telecommunications, media, finance, and transport—were affected by a cyber campaign led by a Chinese hacking group. This group exploited several zero-day vulnerabilities in Ivanti Cloud Services Appliance (CSA) devices. The campaign, identified in early September 2024, has been linked to an intrusion set known as Houken, which reportedly shares characteristics with the threat cluster tracked by Google Mandiant as UNC5174 (also referred to as Uteus or Uetus). According to the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI), “Houken’s operators use both zero-day vulnerabilities and sophisticated rootkits, alongside a variety of open-source tools primarily developed by Chinese-speaking programmers.” The attack infrastructure utilized by Houken features a mix of components, including commercial VPNs and other tools.
Chinese Hackers Target French Government and Telecoms Using Ivanti CSA Zero-Days On July 3, 2025, the French cybersecurity agency disclosed a significant cyberattack that has affected various sectors, including government, telecommunications, media, finance, and transport. The assault has been attributed…