Palo Alto Networks scrambled to patch a critical remote code execution (RCE) flaw in its PAN-OS software this week. The bug, tracked as CVE-2024-3400, let attackers run code on firewalls and prisms from outside the network. It scored a 9.8 on the CVSS scale, meaning it’s about as bad as it gets. The company pushed fixes fast, but not before reports surfaced of active exploits in the wild. Anyone still running unpatched systems is basically handing over the keys to their network. It’s the kind of mess that keeps CISOs up at night, and for good reason—firewalls are supposed to be the first line of defense, not the weak link. Palo Alto Networks confirmed the attacks started within hours of the flaw being disclosed, so patching now isn’t optional; it’s survival.\n\n\nOn the same day, Mythos, the AI startup backed by Peter Thiel, disclosed a serious bug in its cURL integration. The issue let remote attackers send specially crafted requests to Mythos servers, leading to crashes or, worse, full system compromise. The bug, tracked as CVE-2024-2042, wasn’t just a minor hiccup—it exposed servers running Mythos’s AI models to takeover. Mythos pushed an emergency patch within 24 hours, but the damage was already spreading. Developers using Mythos’s tools for AI workloads found their servers rebooting unexpectedly or, in some cases, getting hijacked for cryptomining. It’s a reminder that even cutting-edge AI infrastructure isn’t immune to old-school vulnerabilities.\n\n\nThen there’s the AI tokenizer attacks. Security researchers spotted a wave of novel attacks targeting AI models by exploiting tokenizers—tools that break down text into chunks for AI processing. The attacks bypassed safety filters, letting users trick models into generating harmful or misleading content. One researcher found a way to jailbreak an AI assistant by feeding it a long string of tokens that looked like normal text but triggered unsafe outputs. The attacks aren’t just theoretical; they’re happening now, and they’re getting smarter. Companies like OpenAI and Google DeepMind raced to update their tokenizers, but the cat-and-mouse game is far from over.\n\n\nMeanwhile, supply chain attacks are spinning out of control. Hackers are turning attacks into a twisted game for clout and cash, selling access to compromised networks on dark web forums. One recent example involved a fake Python package uploaded to PyPI, the Python Package Index. The package, named urllib3-secure, looked legit but contained a backdoor that stole AWS credentials. It’s not the first time PyPI’s been abused this way, but it’s one of the slickest. Victims installed the package, thinking it was a security update, only to find their cloud accounts drained. The scam highlights how even trusted repositories can become hunting grounds for attackers.\n\n\nUsers are getting tricked left and right. Fake help desks are popping up everywhere, impersonating tech support for major companies like Microsoft and Apple. Victims get a call or email claiming their account’s been locked, then asked to “verify” their credentials on a spoofed login page. It’s classic phishing, but with a twist: the attackers use AI-generated voices to sound more convincing. Call centers in India and Southeast Asia are churning out these scams at scale, targeting elderly users and small businesses. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 3,000 reports of these scams in the last month alone.\n\n## What’s the bigger picture here?\n\nThis week’s chaos isn’t just bad luck—it’s a perfect storm of old vulnerabilities and new attack techniques. Remote code execution flaws in enterprise software, supply chain trickery, and AI-specific attacks are colliding at a time when companies are already stretched thin. The Mythos cURL bug and PAN-OS RCE show that even well-funded tech giants can drop the ball. At the same time, the AI tokenizer attacks prove that as models get more advanced, so do the ways to break them.\n\nThe bigger problem? Many of these flaws shouldn’t still exist. The Mythos bug involved a common cURL library function that’s been patched in other projects for years. The PAN-OS flaw was in a feature added just two years ago. It’s not just about keeping systems updated—it’s about writing secure code in the first place. Companies are still treating security as an afterthought, and it’s costing them.\n\n## What’s next?\n\nPalo Alto and Mythos have released patches, but the real work starts now. IT teams need to audit their systems for signs of compromise, especially if they’re running unpatched versions of PAN-OS or Mythos’s tools. For users, the advice is simple: stop clicking on random links, verify support requests, and enable multi-factor authentication everywhere. The AI tokenizer attacks mean companies building or using AI models need to rethink how they handle user input—safety filters aren’t enough anymore.\n\nThe scams and supply chain attacks won’t stop either. Expect more fake packages, more spoofed help desks, and more attempts to turn breaches into viral content. The lesson? This week’s chaos is a wake-up call—not just for tech teams, but for everyone. Security isn’t someone else’s problem anymore.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: The Hacker News
  • Published: May 14, 2026 at 16:07 UTC
  • Category: Security
  • Topics: #hackernews · #security · #vulnerabilities · #threats · #day-bulletin · #mythos

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Curated by GlobalBR News · May 14, 2026


🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

Um novo alerta global de segurança digital coloca em xeque sistemas corporativos e governamentais no Brasil: vulnerabilidades críticas recém-descobertas em softwares amplamente usados por empresas e órgãos públicos expõem milhões de dispositivos a ataques remotos. Entre os destaques, uma falha grave no PAN-OS da Palo Alto Networks permite execução de código malicioso sem autenticação, enquanto um bug no Mythos, uma biblioteca popular do cURL, facilita vazamentos de dados sensíveis. Além disso, pesquisadores alertam para um novo vetor de ataque contra tokenizadores de IA, que pode ser explorado para manipular modelos de linguagem e roubar informações confidenciais.

No Brasil, a repercussão é especialmente preocupante devido à dependência de tecnologias estrangeiras em setores estratégicos como energia, finanças e governo. A Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel) e o Comitê Gestor da Internet (CGI.br) já monitoram os riscos, mas especialistas alertam que muitas organizações brasileiras ainda não aplicaram os patches necessários. A falta de atualização em sistemas críticos, como firewalls e servidores, aumenta o risco de sequestro de dados, espionagem industrial e até interrupção de serviços essenciais. A situação reforça a necessidade urgente de investimentos em cibersegurança e treinamento de equipes, já que o país segue como alvo frequente de grupos criminosos e ciberativistas.

O cenário exige ação imediata: empresas e órgãos públicos devem priorizar a aplicação de correções e revisar suas políticas de segurança, enquanto os usuários finais devem desconfiar de comunicações suspeitas que explorem esses novos vetores.