DIVD traces its breach to two chained zero-days in its own Zammad helpdesk
DIVD, the Dutch volunteer disclosure group, was breached through two chained zero-days in its own Zammad helpdesk that took an attacker to root in seconds. Zammad claims over 2,000 customers, and DIVD wants every older install upgraded to version 7 or taken offline.
The Watch · Security desk
What happened
- DIVD found the flaws with Merlon Security; they are tracked as CVE-2026-102489 and CVE-2026-102490 and enable session hijacking and remote code execution.
- From root, the attacker reached other DIVD services, read data and exfiltrated some of it.
- DIVD links the speed of the escalation to an AI agent that made decisions and carried out next steps without waiting for a human operator.
- DIVD is notifying owners of vulnerable instances, has published a log-check script, and says its next public statement will come on October 1.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint No patch existed when the attacker struck, so segmentation was what capped DIVD's loss; for other operators, where the helpdesk sits on the network counts alongside which version it runs.
- What doesn't add up contradiction Security Affairs places the start of the chain both at a regular account and at unauthenticated access; if no login is needed, any reachable pre-7 instance is exposed without stolen credentials.
- What's now possible capability An agent that chains flaws and escalates with no human at each step was caught here partly because it was noisy; Security Affairs says a quieter run of the same approach could be harder to detect.
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Whether the chain needs a login decides how exposed other Zammad operators are, and the coverage disagrees on it. Security Affairs describes the attacker moving "from a regular Zammad account to root access" [11]. Later in the same article it says the attack runs "from unauthenticated access to root privileges within seconds" [12]. DIVD's own wording leaves the question open. "Used together, they allowed the attackers to hijack sessions, run code remotely and escalate privileges from the Zammad user to root, in seconds, due to the agentic part of this hack," the organisation wrote on LinkedIn [6]. The published accounts begin at that foothold [6][8]. They do not say how the attacker first reached the instance or who the attacker is [2][6].
Patching would not have kept the attacker out. Neither flaw was known until DIVD and Merlon Security found them while working out how the attackers had got into DIVD's systems [3][15]. DIVD has since reported them to Zammad [18]. Zammad markets the software for customer inquiries and IT support requests as well as internal ticketing [20]. A helpdesk built to take customer inquiries accepts input from outside by design, even when an organisation runs it for its own use, as DIVD did [2]. Once the attacker held root, network segmentation and a fast response from DIVD's IT and incident response teams stopped it going further [9]. DIVD said some damage had already occurred by then [10].
The evidence for the AI agent comes from the victim's reconstruction. DIVD called the attack "loud and very, very messy" [5]. The agent left clear explanations of its decisions, and DIVD used them to rebuild the sequence of events [7]. On the public record this is one intrusion at one organisation [1]. The claim that an agent drove it rests on DIVD's account [5][7].
What to watch
- DIVD's next public statement, for how the attacker first reached the Zammad instance and whether the chain requires valid credentials.
- A Zammad advisory listing affected version ranges and stating whether hosted instances were exposed or already fixed.
- Reports of CVE-2026-102489 and CVE-2026-102490 being exploited at other Zammad installations DIVD is notifying.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption40
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives45
- Confidence65
Perspective Coverage
9 publishers- Builder
- Builder 31%
- Operator
- Operator 58%
- Investor
- Investor 11%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), a nonprofit of volunteer security researchers who find and responsibly disclose vulnerabilities in other people's software, disclosed that it was breached through two zero-days in its own ticketing system.
- [2]
The attackers got in through Zammad, an open-source helpdesk platform that DIVD used internally.
- [3]
Working with Merlon Security, DIVD identified two previously unknown vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-102489 and CVE-2026-102490.
- [4]
According to DIVD, the two flaws enabled session hijacking, remote code execution and escalation to root privileges.
- [5]
DIVD previously said the attack was "loud and very, very messy," driven by an AI agent that moved autonomously and decided its next steps without external intervention or direction.
- [6]
"Used together, they allowed the attackers to hijack sessions, run code remotely and escalate privileges from the Zammad user to root, in seconds, due to the agentic part of this hack."
- [7]
The AI agent left behind clear explanations of its decisions, allowing DIVD to reconstruct the incident.
- [8]
After gaining root access through Zammad, the attacker reached other services, accessed data and stole some of it.
- [9]
Network segmentation and a quick response from DIVD's IT and incident response teams prevented the attacker from moving further.
- [10]
DIVD said some damage had already occurred before the attack was stopped.
- [11]
Security Affairs wrote that the attackers could move from a regular Zammad account to root access within seconds.
- [12]
Security Affairs also wrote that the attack can move from unauthenticated access to root privileges within seconds, with the AI agent automatically carrying out each step.
- [13]
DIVD said the speed of the attack was linked to the use of an AI agent, which made decisions and carried out next steps without waiting for a human operator.
- [14]
DIVD detected the attack partly because it was relatively noisy; a more careful attacker using the same approach could be harder to detect.
- [15]
DIVD said it found the two zero-day vulnerabilities in Zammad while trying to figure out how the attackers got into its own systems.
- [16]
DIVD is actively notifying owners of vulnerable Zammad instances and has published a script to check logs for signs of abuse.
- [17]
DIVD said it is still in full investigation mode and its next public statement will be on October 1.
- [18]
DIVD notified Zammad about the vulnerabilities.
- [19]
Zammad claims on its website that it has over 2,000 customers and 55,000 users.
- [20]
Zammad is an open-source helpdesk and support ticketing platform used to manage customer inquiries, IT support requests and internal ticketing, available self-hosted or as a hosted service.
- [21]
"If you run any version of Zammad, update to version 7 or take it offline as soon as possible."
- [22]
DIVD recommends Zammad users upgrade to version 7, which is considered safe, or take the instance offline as soon as possible.
Sources
9 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- bleepingcomputer.comAutomated AI agent used to breach cybersecurity nonprofit DIVD
2 articles · September 30, 2026
- cisa.govCISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog
1 article · October 2, 2026
- dev.toThe Hackers Got Hacked. The Agent Was Loud and Messy. That Window Is Closing.
1 article · October 6, 2026
- helpnetsecurity.comAI agent used Zammad zero-days to breach Dutch vulnerability disclosure non-profit
1 article · October 1, 2026
- infosecurity-magazine.comTwo Zero-Days Exploited in Attack on Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure
1 article · October 2, 2026
- scworld.comAI agent exploits zero-day flaws in Zammad ticketing system
1 article · October 1, 2026
- securityaffairs.comAI Agent Chains Zammad Zero-Days To Take Over DIVD Systems in Seconds
2 articles · October 2, 2026
- securityweek.comZammad Zero-Days Exploited in AI-Powered DIVD Hack
1 article · October 1, 2026
- webflow.sysdig.comAI agent exploits Zammad zero-days in DIVD breach: What we know and how to detect it
1 article · October 1, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
- Agentic AI in Offensive Cyber Operations
- Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure