AI agent exploits Zammad zero-days in DIVD breach: What we know and how to detect it

This incident is currently under active investigation. The information in this blog is based on the information accessible as of the date of this blog, therefore the investigation information is likely to evolve. On September 21, 2026, an agentic threat actor (ATA) breached the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), a volunteer nonprofit that finds exposed systems on the internet and warns their owners. The ATA gained access by chaining two previously unknown vulnerabilities in the Zammad helpdesk platform, CVE-2026-102489 and CVE-2026-102490, and went from a hijacked session to root access in seconds. According to the DIVD, the organization noticed suspicious activity, opened an investigation, and realized it had been hacked. The organization described the ATA as "loud and very, very messy," likely because AI agents are non-deterministic, choosing each action in succession at machine speed. That noise creates ample detection opportunities for security teams. Additionally, just as the Sysdig Threat Research Team (TRT) has seen from ATAs like JADEPUFFER, the AI agent behind the DIVD breach left comments in the code explaining its actions and reasoning. This noise is what allowed the DIVD to identify the breach within a day; however, due to the speed of the attack, even…