Backdoored ARTEX Docker image (tomicdd/artex) gives anyone an unauthenticated root shell ยท updates https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd After the author of ARTEX, an open-source AI penetration-testing console abused in attacks on banks, took the GitHub repository down on Oct 8 2026, a copycat repository (trhhubsd/ARTEX, the most-starred copy) changed one line in docker-compose.yml to pull a Docker Hub image, tomicdd/artex, pushed the same day. BadByte found that the image's binary, unlike the clean GitHub source, adds a hidden verifyCaptcha() function to the login handler: if the CAPTCHA field starts with a secret marker, the rest runs through sh -c as root and the output is returned, before any credential check. The image had 7,946 pulls by Nov 3 (about 9,000 by Nov 5), 637 GitHub repositories still pointed their compose file at it, and 62 internet-facing consoles served the backdoored build between Nov 2 and 4. congdonglinux/artex is a byte-identical re-push. If you ran either image, treat the host and every key in the container (database password, LLM and search API keys, harvested target credentials, JWT signing key) as compromised, rebuild from reviewed source and keep the console off the open internet. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Backdoored ARTEX Docker image (tomicdd/artex) gives anyone an unauthenticated root shell: The Hacker News reports the backdoor alongside a CERT-In warning about AI-assisted attacks on Indian financial firms using tools including ARTEX; tomicdd/artex is at about 9,000 pulls. https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd#2026-11-05-0698c5f8 Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT high <p><a href="https://thehackernews.com/2026/11/backdoored-docker-image-for-artex-ai.html">Source</a></p> Backdoored ARTEX Docker image (tomicdd/artex) gives anyone an unauthenticated root shell: BadByte publishes its analysis: 7,946 pulls, 637 repos still pulling the image, 62 backdoored consoles seen (46 still live) and 1,645 ARTEX consoles online. https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd#2026-11-04-e9233dc9 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT high <p><a href="https://badbyte.io/artex-backdoor-docker-image/">Source</a></p> Backdoored ARTEX Docker image (tomicdd/artex) gives anyone an unauthenticated root shell: Dan Tentler (Viss) reports on Mastodon that the Docker image, not the GitHub code, is backdoored, via the captcha system. https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd#2026-11-02-d7882396 Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT high <p><a href="https://badbyte.io/artex-backdoor-docker-image/">Source</a></p> Backdoored ARTEX Docker image (tomicdd/artex) gives anyone an unauthenticated root shell: First backdoored ARTEX console visible on the internet; congdonglinux/artex registered with the identical image. https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd#2026-10-20-3cdeb378 Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT high <p><a href="https://badbyte.io/artex-backdoor-docker-image/">Source</a></p> Backdoored ARTEX Docker image (tomicdd/artex) gives anyone an unauthenticated root shell: ARTEX's author says the tool was abused, takes the GitHub repo down; that evening Docker Hub account tomicdd is created, pushes tomicdd/artex, and trhhubsd swaps the compose image to it. https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd https://pwn.watch/i/artex-ai-pentest-backdoored-docker-image-tomicdd#2026-10-08-ce5cff4d Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT high <p><a href="https://badbyte.io/artex-backdoor-docker-image/">Source</a></p>