Singapore's Cyber Security Agency (CSA) issued an advisory warning that the Carbonato botnet is compromising hosts through unprotected Docker remote management interfaces. According to the advisory and research by security firm ThreatDown, the campaign does not exploit a new Docker flaw but instead targets the Docker Remote API exposed over TCP port 2375 without authentication; attackers create privileged containers to take control of the underlying host and maintain remote access via mechanisms such as SSH reverse tunnels. ThreatDown says the intruders then deploy the open-source AI agent framework Hermes Agent, sending tasks remotely over Telegram so a large language model can interpret them, generate commands and run them on the victim host, with the agent specifically instructed to prioritize collecting API keys for AI services and to look for SSH keys, access tokens and database information. CSA recommends keeping Docker remote interfaces off the public internet, using SSH or client-authenticated TLS instead, and isolating affected hosts and rotating potentially exposed credentials before restoring service.

Carbonato·Hermes Agent·Docker·+4