Using AI Gemma 3 Locally with a Single CPU

https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Using%20AI%20Gemma%203%20Locally%20with%20a%20Single%20CPU%20/32556

https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2025/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_10.html

https://labs.watchtowr.com/soapwn-pwning-net-framework-applications-through-http-client-proxies-and-wsdl/

SANS Stormcast – Friday, December 12 2025

Handler on Duty: Guy Bruneau – Threat Level: green

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Topics Covered

• Using AI Gemma 3 Locally with a Single CPU – Installing AI models on modest hardware can be useful for on‑premise experimentation.

  https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Using%20AI%20Gemma%203%20Locally%20with%20a%20Single%20CPU%20/32556

• “Mystery” Google Chrome 0‑Day Vulnerability – Google released a Chrome update fixing an actively‑exploited vulnerability that has not yet been assigned a CVE.

  https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2025/12/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_10.html

• SOAPwn: Pwning .NET Framework Applications Through HTTP Client Proxies and WSDL – WatchTowr identified a common weakness in SOAP implementations on .NET that can lead to arbitrary file writes or remote code execution.

  https://labs.watchtowr.com/soapwn-pwning-net-framework-applications-through-http-client-proxies-and-wsdl/

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Podcast Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Friday December 12th, 2025 edition of the

SANS Internet Storm Center's Stormcast. My name is Johannes Ulrich,

recording today from Jacksonville, Florida. And this episode is

brought to you by the SANS.edu Graduate Certificate Program in

Cybersecurity Engineering.



AI, of course, is the big issue that everybody is worried about and

playing with these days. And well, as a first touch point, you

usually just use one of the public models like ChatGPT and such to

get a little bit experience with what these tools can do. But it

can be quite intimidating to go a step further and try to run some

of these models locally and play sort of in a more intimate

atmosphere with these particular models.



Well, Guy now wrote up a quick diary showing how to install Gemma 3

on a reasonably small home computer. In this particular case, he

used one of the new Horizon chips and one of those mini computers

that have become quite popular these days for home labs and shows

a couple of the pitfalls here, some of the problems that he ran

into trying to make this all run in the Proxmox virtualization

environment and how to configure it. And then in the end, also how

to use these tools. Certainly an interesting experiment and something

that gives you a little bit more insight in how these tools sort of

work on the backend.



And then we do have an update for Chrome with yet another already

exploited vulnerability being addressed here. This vulnerability

was, well, described a little bit as a “mystery” vulnerability and

it’s certainly odd in that there is no CVE number for it. There’s

absolutely no detail about what it is. Google usually provides a

one‑liner describing the issue, but here it just says it’s “under

coordination.” What I believe is happening is that this

vulnerability likely affects not just Chrome but possibly other

browsers or underlying libraries. They probably need to coordinate

with other vendors before releasing more details and assigning a

CVE. No reporter is identified, so we’ll have to wait for more

information – keep Chrome updated.



We also had a couple of SOAP‑related stories this week. WatchTowr

Labs published a new article – SOAP Pwn (or SOAP Pwn, however you

pronounce it) – a must‑read for anyone developing in .NET and for

penetration testers. The problem is a fundamental weakness in how

.NET handles HTTP/URL requests. If an attacker can control the URL

a user connects to and that URL starts with **file://**, .NET’s

different request‑handling classes can be confused, leading to

arbitrary file writes or even remote code execution. WatchTowr

demonstrates a proof‑of‑concept exploit against a Barracuda system.

It’s exploitable, but the impact depends on how developers have

implemented their APIs. Microsoft says it’s more a user‑error than a

framework bug, but the issue remains.



Finally, we received a CISA report summarizing recent activity by

pro‑Russian hacktivists. While hacktivists aren’t necessarily state‑

sponsored, they target both global critical infrastructure (e.g.,

power systems) and smaller manufacturers that may lack mature IT

and security programs. If you run a manufacturing environment with

remotely accessible sensors or production‑line controls, this

report is worth reviewing.



That’s it for today. Thanks for listening, for liking, subscribing,

and for the comments left in Apple’s podcast app. Talk to you again

on Monday. Bye.

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