Four hacking groups exploit shared Chrome, Windows vulnerabilities

The BlueMoon kit chains together three vulnerabilities: two affecting Chromium browsers and one impacting the kernel of Windows 10, Windows 22, and the initial release of Windows 11. All three vulnerabilities have since been patched by Microsoft and Google.

Proofpoint researchers noted that the attacks using BlueMoon were not stealthy, suggesting a rapid and widespread deployment. This approach may have been intended to capitalize on a "patch gap" within the Chromium supply chain, where a patch is available but not yet incorporated into downstream products like Chrome and Edge. The firm also hypothesized that the use of AI could be lowering the barrier to entry for exploit development, enabling threat actors to reverse-engineer patches and create exploits more quickly than before.

The four identified groups targeted a diverse range of organizations and companies.