Datadog Security Labs said it observed threat actors associated with the recent React2Shell ( CVE-2025-55182, CVSS score: 10.0) exploitation using malicious NGINX configurations to pull off the attack. "The malicious configuration intercepts legitimate web traffic between users and websites and routes it through attacker-controlled backend servers," security researcher Ryan Simon said. "The campaign targets Asian TLDs (.in, .id, .pe, .bd, .th), Chinese hosting infrastructure (Baota Panel), and government and educational TLDs (.edu, .gov)."
A new malware implant called EtherRAT, deployed in a recent React2Shell attack, runs five separate Linux persistence mechanisms and leverages Ethereum smart contracts for communication with the attacker. Researchers at cloud security company Sysdig believe that the malware aligns with North Korea's tools used in Contagious Interview campaigns. They recovered EtherRAT from a compromised Next.js application just two days after the disclosure of the critical React2Shell vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-55182.