Attackers Chain Three Ivanti Connect Secure Flaws to Gain Unauthenticated Root Access
thehackernews.com Oct 31, 2026

Attackers Chain Three Ivanti Connect Secure Flaws to Gain Unauthenticated Root Access

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added two Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog after confirming active exploitation. The vulnerabilities—CVE‑2026‑111357 and CVE‑2026‑118527—were part of a three‑step exploit chain first detailed by Volexity, which combined an authentication bypass (CVE‑2026‑104935, CVSS 8.6), a remote code execution flaw, and a local privilege escalation to achieve unauthenticated root‑level code execution. Threat actor UTA0576 used the chain to harvest credentials, query Active Directory metadata, and locate administrator passwords and BitLocker keys, rather than merely deploying malware. Ivanti released patches for all three CVEs; the authentication bypass fix was already in QA, while the LPE patches were rolled out in the latest release. Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies must apply the fixes by early November 2026.

💡 Why It Matters

  • · The chain demonstrates how attackers can stitch together multiple bugs to bypass authentication entirely, turning routine VPN appliances into gateways for deep network reconnaissance.