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MalwareApr 22, 2026

New Mirai campaign exploits RCE flaw in EoL D-Link routers

New Mirai campaign actively exploits CVE-2025-29635 RCE flaw in end-of-life D-Link routers.

A Mirai-based malware campaign discovered by Akamai in March 2026 is actively exploiting CVE-2025-29635, a command-injection vulnerability in D-Link DIR-823X routers, to recruit devices into the botnet. The vulnerability was first disclosed 13 months prior but this represents the first observed in-the-wild exploitation. The threat actor deploys a Mirai variant called "tuxnokill" supporting multiple architectures and standard DDoS capabilities, and has also been observed exploiting similar flaws in TP-Link and ZTE routers.

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The lesson from this incident

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Cybercriminals are actively exploiting a 13-month-old command injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-29635) in end-of-life D-Link routers to build Mirai botnets for DDoS attacks. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed over a year ago, but many organizations failed to patch or replace these devices, leaving them exposed to attack. This incident demonstrates how unpatched network infrastructure becomes a critical attack vector, especially when devices reach end-of-life status and no longer receive security updates. The widespread exploitation across multiple router brands shows that attackers systematically target known vulnerabilities in consumer and small business network equipment.

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Indicators of Compromise

Extracted by AI from the linked source. Not reviewed by an editor. How this works

  • malware — tuxnokill
  • malware — Mirai
  • cve — CVE-2025-29635
  • cve — CVE-2023-1389

Entities

D-Link (vendor)D-Link DIR-823X (product)TP-Link (vendor)ZTE (vendor)ZTE ZXV10 H108L (product)Akamai (vendor)