TP-Link Faces Five State Lawsuits Over Router Security
Five US states are suing TP-Link over allegations that it misled consumers about router security and its ties to China. Florida, Iowa, Montana, and Nebraska filed lawsuits on Oct. 6, joining Texas, which sued in February. TP-Link denies the allegations.
Meanwhile, FCC restrictions on new foreign-produced routers are complicating future product approvals, although previously authorized models can generally still be sold and used.
Researchers have also identified five vulnerabilities affecting certain TP-Link Aginet devices, including authentication bypass and command injection flaws.
For IT teams: Inventory TP-Link devices and verify FCC authorization before purchasing new models.
Meta Faces UK Probe Over Instagram’s Disappearing Photos
Disappearing content doesn’t make safety obligations disappear.
UK regulator Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into Meta over whether it completed mandatory safety assessments before introducing Instagram Instants in May.
The feature lets users send photos and videos that disappear after viewing, raising questions about how platforms assess risks to children and illegal content.
Meta insists it conducted a risk analysis and briefed Ofcom before launch. But if regulators find violations of the UK Online Safety Act, the company could face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying global revenue, whichever is higher.
For IG users: Review Instagram’s privacy and messaging settings, and remember that disappearing messages don’t guarantee privacy.
Meraki Devices Face Weeks Without Security Fixes
Cisco disclosed seven Meraki CVEs affecting six product families, including a 9.6-rated flaw requiring no authentication or user interaction.
Some fixes are due in October or November, with no workarounds or known malicious exploitation.
I’d check whether guest or unmanaged devices share a network segment with affected equipment because the 9.6-rated flaw requires adjacent-network access.
Assign an owner to track fixes by product family and firmware train and verify installed versions after upgrades.
Cisco Licensing Flaws Require Two Advisory Checks
Cisco patched License On-Prem, including a 10.0-rated cryptographic signature flaw requiring no authentication or user interaction.
The flaws affect the licensing system regardless of configuration, with no workarounds and no exploitation reported in the wild.
I’d check for credentials shared with production systems, since compromising this licensing server could give attackers a path into those systems.
Compare the running build against both security advisories and apply the latest fix.
Attackers Hit Ahsay Backup Servers Despite Patch
Attackers exploited AhsayCBS backup servers to gain SYSTEM privileges despite the 10.3.4.0 patch.
Huntress verified that hotfix 10.3.4.45 blocks initial access, but existing webshells and malicious services may remain.
I’d verify that we can recover from those backups without using the affected server before relying on them during an outage.
Apply the hotfix, reboot, and investigate unexpected processes.
Bitdefender Finds Malware Baked Into Android Firmware
Bitdefender found Midnight Mimosa preinstalled in the firmware of some low-cost Android phones before purchase.
The malware can silently install apps with system-level privileges, and users cannot remove it through normal uninstall options.
I’d review accounts used on an infected phone for suspicious activity rather than assume MFA prevented exposure.
Suspend corporate access for affected phones and revoke their active sessions from a trusted device.
Anthropic Launches Free AI Bug Hunts for Open Source
Anthropic launched OSS Scanner, offering eligible open-source projects free AI vulnerability reports without human review.
In its broader research, the company found over 29,000 potential flaws in six months but manually reviewed only about 6,000.
I wouldn’t let AI-assigned severity dictate patch priority without checking how the flaw could impact your business.
Assign a triage owner, verify reported flaws, and test patches before applying them.
How Secure Are Your Mobile Devices?
Mobile malware and unpatched vulnerabilities can give attackers access to sensitive data and authenticated sessions.
How to reduce mobile device risk:
- Approve supported devices from authorized sellers and verify their security patch dates.
- Require MFA for account access and use MDM compliance policies to restrict access from insecure devices.
- Test your ability to revoke sessions and remotely remove work data from lost devices.
Test whether marking a phone noncompliant actually cuts off existing access to company data.