UNC5174
aka Houken, Uteus
An 'access broker' that quickly exploits internet-facing devices and is believed to hand that access to Chinese intelligence. In France it hit government, telecom and media organizations.
- Alert level
- 3/ 5
- Reports & advisories (90 days)
- 0
- Known exploited CVEs
- 7
- Personal data leaked (disclosed)
- None confirmed
Attribution
- Assessed as operating from China and likely an MSS contractor — Mandiant (Google)
- Assessed the Houken campaign against France as run by the same actor as UNC5174 — France's ANSSI
Exploited vulnerabilities and targeted products
CVE-2024-8190 CVE-2024-8963 CVE-2024-9380 CVE-2023-46747 CVE-2024-1709 CVE-2023-22518 CVE-2022-30525
If you run any of these products, first make sure they are updated to a fixed version.
How they attack
Entry
Racing to exploit newly disclosed flaws
Like touring every house with a certain lock right after it's announced that the lock is faulty.
Inside
Creating look-alike admin accounts
Like making a name badge that looks like the vendor's repairman and walking into the machine room.
Goal
Selling the way in
Like a scout who opens the door and then sells the copied key to the real burglar.
Sources
Attributions are quoted as assessed by governments and security vendors. VulnPulse does not make attributions itself.
Leak counts only add up figures disclosed by the affected companies or authorities, never the attackers' own claims. We do not list victim names or link to leak sites.
The alert level is calculated automatically from reports and advisories in the last 90 days, known exploited vulnerabilities, and whether the group has targeted Japan.
Updated 2026-10-23 · daily