# US Federal Election Commission shuts down its e-filing system after attempted intrusion a week before the midterms · pwn.watch > The US Federal Election Commission took its electronic filing system and other web-facing services offline on the night of Oct 26 2026 (around 10 p.m. ET) after what an FEC filings officer called "a bad actor attempting to breach FEC systems", according to an email seen by Reuters. Campaigns and PACs can't file the 24- and 48-hour spending reports due in the final weeks before the Nov 3 midterms, while searching past reports still works. A person familiar with the investigation told POLITICO the attempted intrusions were noticed and the targeted parts were shut down, calling it narrow and compartmentalized. The FEC hasn't said whether any data was accessed. It doesn't run elections, so voting isn't affected. Page: https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026 · generated 2026-10-28T04:43:34.210Z ## Status - Severity: high · status: live · patch: partial - Product: US Federal Election Commission electronic filing system - Started: 2026-10-26 ## Follow this incident - RSS (one item per update): https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026/feed.xml - JSON Feed: https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026/feed.json - Full data (timeline, sources, posts, agentBrief): https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026.json - This file: https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026/llms.txt ## Updates (newest first) - 2026-10-27: The FEC says the e-filing system is still offline and its IT staff are working to restore service; searching past reports still works. CISA refers questions to the FEC. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/hackers-target-fec-system-disrupting-campaign-finance-disclosures-rcna606029) - 2026-10-27: A person familiar with the investigation tells POLITICO FEC security staff noticed attempted intrusions and shut down the parts of the filing system being attacked. (https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/27/national-campaign-finance-systems-attempted-hack-01137820) - 2026-10-26: The FEC's electronic filing system goes offline around 10 p.m. ET. An FEC filings officer tells compliance firms a bad actor is attempting to breach FEC systems and web-facing services have been shut down. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/hackers-target-fec-system-disrupting-campaign-finance-disclosures-rcna606029) ## Fix brief # Security brief: US Federal Election Commission shuts down its e-filing system after attempted intrusion a week before the midterms Source: https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026 · status: live · severity: high · updated Oct 28, 2026, 04:11 UTC ## Patch status **PARTIALLY PATCHED: some fixes exist, but not every affected branch/product is covered. Check carefully and apply mitigations where no fix exists.** ## What it is The US Federal Election Commission took its electronic filing system and other web-facing services offline on the night of Oct 26 2026 (around 10 p.m. ET) after what an FEC filings officer called "a bad actor attempting to breach FEC systems", according to an email seen by Reuters. Campaigns and PACs can't file the 24- and 48-hour spending reports due in the final weeks before the Nov 3 midterms, while searching past reports still works. A person familiar with the investigation told POLITICO the attempted intrusions were noticed and the targeted parts were shut down, calling it narrow and compartmentalized. The FEC hasn't said whether any data was accessed. It doesn't run elections, so voting isn't affected. Severity detail: Attempted intrusion on a US federal agency; no confirmed data access so far, but campaign finance disclosures are blocked days before an election - Product: US Federal Election Commission electronic filing system ## Affected versions - Not specified in the data. Check the advisories below. ## Check whether you're affected No generic command applies (the product is a hosted service, appliance or desktop app). Check the installed version in its admin UI / About screen and compare with the versions above. ## Fix No fixed version is listed. Follow the vendor advisory below. ## Mitigations The data marks this as partial. Until every affected component is fixed, apply the vendor mitigations from the advisories below (restrict network exposure of the affected service, disable the vulnerable feature if the advisory allows). ## Specific notes Nothing to patch. Campaign committees and PACs that can't file 24- or 48-hour reports should follow the FEC's status page for restoration and filing guidance and keep records of attempted filing times. Be wary of phishing that uses the outage as a lure (fake FEC filing links or 'resubmit your report' emails). ## Latest updates - Oct 27, 2026: The FEC says the e-filing system is still offline and its IT staff are working to restore service; searching past reports still works. CISA refers questions to the FEC. - Oct 27, 2026: A person familiar with the investigation tells POLITICO FEC security staff noticed attempted intrusions and shut down the parts of the filing system being attacked. - Oct 26, 2026: The FEC's electronic filing system goes offline around 10 p.m. ET. An FEC filings officer tells compliance firms a bad actor is attempting to breach FEC systems and web-facing services have been shut down. ## Write-ups & news - [Hackers target FEC system, disrupting campaign finance disclosures (Reuters)](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/hackers-target-fec-system-disrupting-campaign-finance-disclosures-rcna606029) - [Hackers attempted to access national campaign finance systems 1 week before midterms](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/27/national-campaign-finance-systems-attempted-hack-01137820) - [FEC electronic filing system faces outage before midterm elections](https://thehill.com/policy/technology/6175878-fec-filing-system-down/) --- Machine-readable: https://pwn.watch/i/fec-electronic-filing-attack-oct-2026.json · all incidents: https://pwn.watch/incidents.json. Verify against the vendor advisory before changing production systems.