The Rising Threat of ToolShell: Unpacking the July 2025 SharePoint Zero-Day Exploits

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Anatomy of the ToolShell Exploit Chain Beginning around July 7, 2025, adversaries exploited a deserialization flaw in SharePoint’s on-premises service (CVE-2025-53770) to upload a malicious spinstall0.aspx payload, triggering code execution within the w3wp.exe process. A secondary path-traversal flaw (CVE-2025-53771) then enabled privilege escalation and lateral movement across corporate networks . Security researchers at Eye Security and Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 observed attackers bypassing identity controls – MFA and SSO – to exfiltrate machine keys, deploy persistent backdoors, and chain ransomware operations within hours of initial compromise . State-Backed Actor Involvement Microsoft attributes the campaign primarily to Storm-2603, assessed with moderate confidence to be China-based, alongside historically linked groups Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon . These actors have a track record of blending cyber-espionage with financially motivated ransomware like Warlock and Lo...
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Texas Health Department Data Breach Exposes Sensitive Information



In early 2025, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) uncovered a significant data breach involving the unauthorized access of federally protected information belonging to up to 61,000 Texans. The breach, initially tied to internal agency misuse, raised concerns about fraud, particularly related to SNAP and food stamp programs. As the investigation progressed, another breach was discovered involving a contractor, Maximus US Services, which has been working with Texas since 2007 on IT support. An individual Maximus employee was found to have improperly accessed personal health information, violating HIPAA rules. The employee was promptly removed, and Maximus began its own investigation. While this incident appears isolated and less widespread, Maximus, like Texas HHS, is offering two years of free credit monitoring and identity protection. Both entities are actively cooperating with ongoing investigations to determine the full extent and impact of the breaches. StateScoop+7MySA+7The Texas Tribune+7

So far, nine Texas Health and Human Services Commission employees have been fired for improperly accessing Texans’ data. The latest announcement comes as the state agency continues to investigate a series of breaches by its own employees of its database for Medicaid, food stamp and other assistance programs. Three months ago, the state notified 61,104 Texans that their personal information may have been improperly accessed by state employees. At that time, seven state employees tied to the breach had been fired including two who stole from recipients food stamp cards. In February, the agency notified lawmakers that another two state employees had been fired, bringing to a total of nine state employees who had accessed individuals’ accounts without a stated business reason. HHSC officials said Wednesday that these fired employees are now responsible for breaching the personal information of another 33,529 account holders who had either applied or received assistance between June 2021 and January 2025. It is not known how many of those account holders had their benefits compromised. MySA+10Chron+10The Texas Tribune+10Chron+2The Texas Tribune+2Chron+2

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced on Friday that agency employees may have improperly accessed the data of 61,000 people. HHSC said it terminated those involved with the breach. The incident was also referred to the agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) for investigation to pursue criminal charges. Information inappropriately obtained or disclosed includes Social Security numbers, full names, home addresses, and Medicaid and Medicare Identification Numbers. HHSC recommends recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to monitor their Lone Star Card transactions for any fraudulent activity. Affected individuals should carefully review their accounts and report any questionable charges to a provider or company. The agency is still determining the impact of the breach on other programs. Anyone else impacted by the breach will be notified as HHSC conducts its review. 

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