Since April 2024, the threat actor that Microsoft Threat Intelligence tracks as Marbled Dust has been observed exploiting user accounts that have not applied fixes to a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-27920) in the messaging app Output Messenger, a multiplatform chat software.
These exploits have resulted in collection of related user data from targets in Iraq. Microsoft Threat Intelligence assesses with high confidence that the targets of the attack are associated with the Kurdish military operating in Iraq, consistent with previously observed Marbled Dust targeting priorities. Microsoft Threat Intelligence assesses with moderate confidence that Marbled Dust conducts reconnaissance to determine whether their targets are Output Messenger users and chooses this attack vector based on that knowledge. Successful exploitation allows the threat actor to deliver multiple malicious files and exfiltrate data from targets.
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Source: Microsoft
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