Threat Spotlight: Group 72, Opening the ZxShell
ZxShell has been observed to be distributed through phishing attacks, dropped by exploits that leverage vulnerabilities such as CVE-2011-2462, CVE-2013-3163, and CVE-2014-0322.
CVE-2011-2462 KEVPublic exploitEnd of life Critical · 9.8 EPSS 88.6%
Adobe Reader and Acrobat Universal 3D Memory Corruption Vulnerability
Adobe · Reader and Acrobat
End of lifeAdobe Reader/Acrobat X reached End of lifeThe vendor no longer ships security fixes. Remove or isolate the product instead of waiting for a patch. on 15 Nov 2015. No patch is coming: remove or isolate it.
Summary
An unspecified flaw in the U3D component of Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.1.1 and earlier (Windows and Mac OS X) and Adobe Reader 9.x through 9.4.6 (UNIX) causes memory corruption, categorised as an out-of-bounds write. An remote attacker who supplies crafted input through unknown vectors, with no authentication or user interaction required, can execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.
Official description · NVD
Unspecified vulnerability in the U3D component in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.1.1 and earlier on Windows and Mac OS X, and Adobe Reader 9.x through 9.4.6 on UNIX, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unknown vectors, as exploited in the wild in December 2011.
Priority scorePatchfirst’s 0 to 100 ranking. It adds points for CISA KEV listing, ransomware use, EPSS, threat reports, public exploit code and CVSS. Every CVE page shows the breakdown. Breakdown
58.7 / 100
- Exploited
- Yes, in CISA KEV
- Reports
- 1
- Tactics
- 2/15
How an attack unfolds
Based on MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.Exploitation timelineDated milestones for a CVE: when it was disclosed, when exploit code became public, when exploitation was confirmed, and when threat reports named it.
First seen exploited the day it was disclosed. Public exploit code (Metasploit) was available 1 day before disclosure.
- Public exploit codeMetasploit1 day before
- Named in a threat reportblogs.cisco.com+3 yrs
- Added to CISA KEVEU database agrees+11 yrs
CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.
MITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. techniques
2 TechniqueOne specific attacker behaviour in MITRE ATT&CK, such as T1190 “Exploit Public-Facing Application”. IDs with a dot, like T1059.004, are sub-techniques., grouped by TacticThe attacker’s goal at a stage of an attack in MITRE ATT&CK, such as Initial Access or Persistence. Each technique belongs to one or more tactics. in kill-chain order, 3 cited passages 2ExecutionTA0002
Command and Scripting Interpreter T1059 Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
AI mapping from the description · primary impact
arbitrary code execution from memory corruption
allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code
ImpactTA0040
Endpoint Denial of Service T1499 Medium Confidence (technique links)How sure Patchfirst is that an ATT&CK technique applies to this CVE. High and medium links are shown by default; low ones come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict the CVE’s details.
AI mapping from the description · primary impact
denial of service via memory corruption
cause a denial of service (memory corruption)
Lower-confidence links (1)
These come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict this CVE’s details (for example a public-facing technique on a bug that needs a user to open a file). Shown for completeness.
- Malicious FileT1204.002 server-side bug exploitable without user interaction; client-execution technique does not fit
Detection
0 rules for this CVE · 98 general rules for its techniquesRules for this CVE
0Sigma ruleAn open, vendor-neutral detection rule for log data. Security teams convert Sigma rules into searches for their own SIEM. that reference CVE-2011-2462 directly.CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗
General rules for this CVE’s techniques
These detect the technique in general, not this specific vulnerability.
Command and Scripting InterpreterT105995 general rules
- HackTool - Sliver C2 Implant Activity Patterncriticaltest
- Lazarus Group Activitycriticaltest
- REvil Kaseya Incident Malware Patternscriticaltest
- Turla Group Lateral Movementcriticaltest
- Windows Defender AMSI Trigger Detectedhighstable
- Windows Defender Threat Detectedhighstable
- Abusable DLL Potential Sideloading From Suspicious Locationhightest
- Add Insecure Download Source To Wingethightest
Endpoint Denial of ServiceT14993 general rules
- CVE-2024-49113 Exploitation Attempt - LDAP Nightmarehighexperimental
- LSASS Crash Via Netlogon Stack Buffer Overflow - CVE-2026-41089highexperimental
- Potential Abuse of Linux Magic System Request Keymediumexperimental
Sigma rules © SigmaHQ, Detection Rule License 1.1; linked, not reproduced.
What security researchers reported
Named in 1 threat report1 reportCiscoOct 2014
Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2011-2462 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.
Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)
Weaker evidencePulses are indicator collections that anyone can publish. A mention is not confirmation of exploitation.
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 202628 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 202627 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 202626 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 202623 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 202622 Oct 2026
- Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 202621 Oct 2026
- 44 more on OTX