--- title: CitrixBleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) 7Steps to Dragonforce... description: Huntress researchers detail a highly repeatable attack cluster observed across the first half of 2026, where threat actors exploit CVE-2025-5777 (CitrixBleed... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-2-cve-2025-5777-7steps-to-dragonforce-ransomware-jqvut8z1p twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: CitrixBleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) 7Steps to Dragonforce Ransomware | daily.dev og:description: Huntress researchers detail a highly repeatable attack cluster observed across the first half of 2026, where threat actors exploit CVE-2025-5777 (CitrixBleed... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-2-cve-2025-5777-7steps-to-dragonforce-ransomware-jqvut8z1p og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/JQVUT8Z1p.png og:image:alt: CitrixBleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) 7Steps to Dragonforce Ransomware og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # CitrixBleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) 7Steps to Dragonforce Ransomware **[Huntress Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/huntress-blog)** · 17 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Huntress researchers detail a highly repeatable attack cluster observed across the first half of 2026, where threat actors exploit CVE-2025-5777 (CitrixBleed 2) — a pre-authentication memory-overread in Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway — to steal live session tokens and bypass MFA. After gaining access, attackers use a novel Windows registry symbolic link (REG_LINK) local privilege escalation technique abusing the AppMgmt service and Group Policy to achieve SYSTEM-level execution. They then create backdoor admin accounts, install ScreenConnect or Zoho Assist for persistence, conduct lateral movement using Impacket and Mimikatz, and ultimately deploy DragonForce ransomware. The post includes a full 7-step kill chain, forensic evidence of session hijacking, detailed LPE mechanism analysis, indicators of compromise, and remediation guidance including patching, log forwarding, session termination, and environment auditing. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [CitrixBleed-ing Again? NetScaler Vulnerability Under Attack](https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-ing-again-netscaler-vulnerability-under-attack-eta7e1qfc) · Dark Reading · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [New CitrixBleed-like NetScaler flaw sees exploit attempts in the wild](https://daily.dev/posts/new-citrixbleed-like-netscaler-flaw-sees-exploit-attempts-in-the-wild-njyxcmvnn) · CSO Online · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CitrixBleed To Infinity And Beyond \(Citrix NetScaler Pre-Auth Memory Overread CVE-2026-8451\)](https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-to-infinity-and-beyond-citrix-netscaler-pre-auth-memory-overread-cve-2026-8451--puoeut5ij) · watchTowr Labs · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ransomware](https://daily.dev/tags/ransomware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-2-cve-2025-5777-7steps-to-dragonforce-ransomware-jqvut8z1p) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"CitrixBleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) 7Steps to Dragonforce Ransomware","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-2-cve-2025-5777-7steps-to-dragonforce-ransomware-jqvut8z1p","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-2-cve-2025-5777-7steps-to-dragonforce-ransomware-jqvut8z1p"},"datePublished":"2026-07-09T20:27:13.410Z","dateModified":"2026-07-09T20:27:42.266Z","description":"Huntress researchers detail a highly repeatable attack cluster observed across the first half of 2026, where threat actors exploit CVE-2025-5777 (CitrixBleed...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d28582c6eefa6e811325135e1df53bf7?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d28582c6eefa6e811325135e1df53bf7?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Huntress Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Huntress Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kDC1MDsj--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780213277/logos/huntress-blog?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/huntress-blog"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/citrixbleed-2-cve-2025-5777-7steps-to-dragonforce-ransomware-jqvut8z1p","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ransomware","timeRequired":"PT17M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Huntress Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/huntress-blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"CitrixBleed 2 (CVE-2025-5777) 7Steps to Dragonforce Ransomware"}]} ```