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Arista patches VeloCloud Orchestrator zero-day exploited in attacks

Arista has patched a maximum-severity command injection vulnerability in on-premises VeloCloud Orchestrator deployments that is being actively exploited in attacks.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026–16812, is an unauthenticated OS command injection flaw with severity scores of 10.0, the maximum score that can be given to flaws.

VeloCloud Orchestrator, also known as VCO, is a centralized management platform used to configure, monitor, and manage VeloCloud SD-WAN deployments and associated edge devices.

New Dysphoria DDoS botnet spreads to 200k devices worldwide

A botnet called Dysphoria has compromised around 200,000 devices across the world and is using them for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and traffic relay operations.

According to QiAnXin XLab cybersecurity researchers, Dysphoria evolved from the ‘jackskid’ and ‘fbot’ malware by adding a covert blockchain-based command-and-control (C2) resolution mechanism.

Specifically, the botnet uses Ethereum ENS and Solana SNS domains to retrieve infrastructure information, while C2 addresses are concealed inside fake IPv6 strings and recovered using a custom byte-transformation algorithm.

New Certighost PoC exploit lets attackers hijack Windows domains

A proof-of-concept exploit for “Certighost,” a Windows Active Directory Certificate Services vulnerability, has been released that can allow authenticated attackers to potentially compromise a Windows domain.

Tracked as CVE-2026–54121, the vulnerability was fixed by Microsoft as part of the July 2026 Patch Tuesday security updates.

“An authenticated attacker could manipulate attributes associated with a machine account and obtain a certificate from Active Directory Certificate Services that allows authentication as that machine via PKINIT,” Microsoft explained.

Apple sued over fake App Store crypto wallet app stealing $1.8M in Bitcoin

Apple is being sued by three people who claim approximately $1.8 million in Bitcoin was stolen after downloading and using a fraudulent Sparrow Wallet application from the App Store.

The complaint, filed on July 24 in California, alleges that Apple failed to adequately review and monitor applications distributed through the App Store while promoting the marketplace as a safe and trusted source for software.

Plaintiffs James Ramirez, Christopher Ellis, and Jalen Delgado say the malicious application impersonated the legitimate Sparrow Bitcoin wallet and instructed them to enter their seed phrases.

Risks of solar storms may be underestimated, warn researchers

The effects of extreme space weather may be larger than previously thought, research in the journal Nature reveals. The paper, titled “Regression to the mean can explain saturation of geomagnetic storms,” is led by Dr. Nithin Sivadas of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and co-authored by Dr. Maria Walach from Lancaster University.

Space weather—caused by fluctuating electric fields in Earth’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere—can affect technologies on and around Earth in several ways. Extreme geomagnetic storms are among the less frequent but more severe forms of space weather.

Extreme geomagnetic storms are temporary disturbances in the plasma and magnetic field around Earth that can disrupt global satellite communications, cause extensive power outages and affect how much radiation astronauts and pilots are exposed to.

AI finds tiny gene editor changes that reduce unintended DNA edits

Gene editing is a highly precise and powerful technology that allows scientists to insert, delete, modify or replace DNA bases in living organisms. It has a variety of uses, including correcting disease-causing mutations and improving crops. Tools like CRISPR act as molecular scissors that target specific places in a genome to make these changes. But the technology is not perfect and can accidentally edit the wrong pieces of DNA or RNA.

In research published in Nature, scientists describe a new framework that uses AI to make these tools more accurate. Hoi Yee Chu and Alan S.L. Wong of the University of Hong Kong published a News and Views piece in the same journal on the significance of this research.

Faster fracture tests offer path to more sustainable material choices

Recycled materials promise a cleaner future, but recycled content alone does not necessarily make a product sustainable. At Georgia Tech’s Daedalus Lab, assistant professor Christos Athanasiou and postdoctoral researcher Danqi Sun are working to provide greater certainty to designers and engineers by rethinking how materials are tested for their fracture characteristics.

Their article in Science Advances details a new testing protocol that reduces costs, increases speed and simulates real-world conditions.

Materials shape nearly every part of modern life, from packaging and consumer products to bridges and medical devices. Choosing the right material involves balancing durability, cost, manufacturability and environmental impact. Yet those decisions are not always guided by a clear understanding of how materials age and fail under real-world conditions, especially for recycled materials like plastics.

A common dietary nutrient feeds a gut pathway linked to atrial fibrillation

Researchers linked higher plasma TMAO to prevalent atrial fibrillation in 5,090 people and found that TMAO or choline supplementation accelerated AF onset, progression, atrial remodeling, and electrical dysfunction in mice. Inhibiting gut microbial TMA production lowered circulating TMAO and delayed AF in mice, identifying a potential therapeutic pathway that now requires human testing.

Chinese researchers map epigenetic control of congenital heart defects

The findings have direct implications for clinical practice and future research. For genetic screening, the study provides a clear priority: CHD7 for outflow‑tract defects, CHD4 for chamber‑patterning anomalies, and CHD8 for ventricular dysfunction. This prioritization can improve diagnostic efficiency. Therapeutically, while directly targeting remodelers is risky due to their broad expression, identifying their downstream pathways—such as those regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation or metabolism—may offer safer drug targets. Furthermore, future studies combining time‑resolved multi‑omics and combinatorial genetics could uncover how these proteins coordinate across development, potentially paving the way for precise, temporally controlled epigenetic therapies.

A team from China has published (DOI: 10.1007/s12519-026–01049-y) this definitive synthesis in World Journal of Pediatrics. The review systematically evaluates the current evidence from human genetics, animal models, and stem‑cell systems to assign specific cardiac functions to different CHD family members. The findings offer a new conceptual map for understanding the epigenetic control of heart development and disease.

The study’s key contribution is its systematic analysis of the evidence, which reveals a clear division of labor among CHD proteins. CHD7, the gene most frequently mutated in CHARGE syndrome (an acronym for Coloboma, Heart defects, Atresia choanae, Retarded growth, Genital abnormalities, and Ear abnormalities) syndrome, shows the strongest link to cardiac development, playing a dominant role in building the heart’s early structure. In contrast, CHD3 and CHD4 act as “identity guardians,” ensuring that heart cells commit to the correct fate during chamber formation. For CHD8, while evidence is still emerging, it appears to regulate later ventricular growth and functional maturation. Notably, although these proteins seem to act at different stages—CHD7 early, CHD4 mid, and CHD8 late—the review emphasizes that direct proof of their coordinated action is lacking.

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