Ransomware Intelligence / Groups / chaos
Ransomware group
chaos
Chaos is a rapidly evolving Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) group first observed in early 2025. It is considered distinct and unaffiliated with the Chaos Ransomware Builder that originated around 2021. Known for highly aggressive double-extortion operations, Chaos targets organizations across multiple platforms—Windows, ESXi, Linux, and NAS—with fast, configurable encryption mechanisms and optional partial-file targeting for stealth. Attackers gain access through vulnerabilities, phishing, or brokered credentials, then encrypt files while threatening to leak or destroy stolen data. Notable incidents include the breach of Optima Tax Relief, in which the group exfiltrated 69 GB of sensitive data before encrypting systems.
- 1claims, 7 days
- 3claims, 30 days
- 19claims, 90 days
- 2026-04-14first seen
- 2026-11-03last seen
These are claims posted by the group on its leak site, counted when we first see them. They are not confirmed incidents, and we never name a victim.
Activity, last 26 weeks
New leak-site claims per week.
Sectors claimed, last 90 days
- Manufacturing 6
- Healthcare 5
- Retail 3
- Professional services 2
- Unclassified 1
- Critical infrastructure 1
- Technology 1
Countries claimed, last 90 days
- United States 12
- United Kingdom 3
- Australia 1
- China 1
- Netherlands 1
- Taiwan 1
Vulnerabilities chaos exploits
Our sources do not attribute specific vulnerabilities to chaos yet.
70% of successful ransomware attacks use remote encryption (Microsoft, 2024): files on protected servers are encrypted over the network from a device the attacker controls. Read our remote encryption briefing →
Newest vulnerabilities used by any ransomware group (CISA KEV)
| Added | CVE | Vendor / product | Vulnerability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-18 | CVE-2026-59310 | Broadcom VMware vCenter | Broadcom VMware vCenter Path Traversal Vulnerability |
| 2026-08-05 | CVE-2026-63077 | JetBrains TeamCity | JetBrains TeamCity Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability |
| 2026-07-29 | CVE-2026-20316 | Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) | Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Use of Hard-coded Password Vulnerability |
| 2026-07-14 | CVE-2026-15410 | SonicWall SMA1000 Appliances | SonicWall SMA1000 Appliances Code Injection Vulnerability |
| 2026-07-14 | CVE-2026-15409 | SonicWall SMA1000 Appliances | SonicWall SMA1000 Appliances Server-Side Request Forgery Vulnerability |
| 2026-07-01 | CVE-2026-45659 | Microsoft SharePoint Server | Microsoft SharePoint Server Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability |
| 2026-06-25 | CVE-2026-12569 | PTC Windchill and FlexPLM | PTC Windchill and FlexPLM Improper Input Validation Vulnerability |
| 2026-06-12 | CVE-2026-35273 | Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools | Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability |
Track chaos in the weekly brief
One email a week: which groups are active in your sector, what they are exploiting, and what to patch. Drafted from the data on this site and read by a human before it goes out. No sales follow-up.
Data sources: CISA KEV, Ransomchats, RansomLook, Ransomware.live, security news outlets · updated 14 hours ago
Sector, country and ransom-demand figures are SecuritySnares estimates made with a language model. Leak-site listings are claims by threat actors and are not independently verified; leak-site victims are never named unless they have disclosed the incident themselves. News headlines are the publishers' own reporting, shown as written and linked to the original. Methodology