HIGH: Velvet Ant Backdoored Linux PAM and OpenSSH to Live in One Network for Nearly a Decade
Sygnia disclosed Operation Highland this week, a China-nexus campaign by the Velvet Ant cluster that compromised core Linux authentication on a victim network from 2016 through 2026. Nine variants of backdoored PAM modules and patched OpenSSH binaries delivered hardcoded magic-password access plus continuous credential and command logging. A parallel commodity tool called PamDOORa now sells for $900 on a Russian forum, putting the same authentication-layer tradecraft within reach of any ransomware affiliate with root.