Case poellm-botnet-exposed-ai-serversLLMjackingWorldwide
PoeLLM botnet infects 3,400 servers running exposed LiteLLM and Ollama for cryptomining
Lumen Black Lotus Labs tracked an ELF implant named libgcrypt that derives its C2 address from words in a GitHub-hosted poem, scans ports 3000 and 4000, exploits LiteLLM CVE-2026-42271 and runs XMRig and Iron miners on more than 3,400 hosts.
CriticalAttack on AIStatus: OngoingVerified case file
Open in the interactive mapCite this case
- Reported
- Oct 7, 2026
- Location
- Worldwide
- Target
- Exposed LiteLLM, Ollama, Gotenberg and Gitea servers
- Severity
- Critical
- Triggered by
- Unknown; assessed with moderate confidence as Italy-based
- Actor type
- Criminal
- Reported loss
- None reported
- CVE
- CVE-2026-42271
What happened
Lumen Black Lotus Labs tracked an ELF implant named libgcrypt that derives its C2 address from words in a GitHub-hosted poem, scans ports 3000 and 4000, exploits LiteLLM CVE-2026-42271 and runs XMRig and Iron miners on more than 3,400 hosts.
Impact: More than 3,400 servers compromised with up to 800 active in a single day; remote shell, scanning and exploit delivery capabilities beyond mining
Who triggered it
Actor: Unknown; assessed with moderate confidence as Italy-based
Attribution: Black Lotus Labs assessed an Italian operator from code comments and an Italy-hosted admin panel; several C2s were compromised routers
Motive: Cryptomining revenue via the Russian Kryptex service
How it happened
Attack vector: Exploitation of LiteLLM MCP test endpoints (CVE-2026-42271, chainable with CVE-2026-48710) and other exposed services, then remote shell and miner deployment
Root cause: AI gateways and model servers left internet-facing and unpatched against known exploited flaws
Timeline
- CISA adds LiteLLM CVE-2026-42271 to KEV
- Black Lotus Labs publishes PoeLLM findings; victims in the US and Western Europe
Response
Lumen null-routed C2 traffic on its backbone and published IOCs; operators urged to patch LiteLLM and isolate Ollama
Current status: Ongoing
Sources (open in a new tab)
- BleepingComputer bleepingcomputer.com
- BleepingComputer AI tag bleepingcomputer.com
Cite this case
PoeLLM botnet infects 3,400 servers running exposed LiteLLM and Ollama for cryptomining. AI Threat Watch, case poellm-botnet-exposed-ai-servers, Oct 7, 2026. https://aithreat.io/cases/poellm-botnet-exposed-ai-servers/
Permanent link: https://aithreat.io/cases/poellm-botnet-exposed-ai-servers/