A series of cyberattacks targeting Microsoft collaboration software, specifically SharePoint, have been linked to Chinese hackers and threat actors.

One of the hacked organizations reportedly includes the U.S. agency responsible for maintaining the country's stockpile of nuclear weapons. China-backed hackers have been observed carrying out the hacks targeting SharePoint servers.

The Department of Energy, which oversees the agency that manages the US nuclear weapons stockpile, confirms it was affected by the SharePoint bug, but says it was 'minimally impacted.'

The name was coined by Dinh Ho Anh, a researcher from Khoa of Viettel Cyber Security, who developed the exploit. The researcher said he picked the name because it exploited ToolPane.aspx, a component for assembling the side panel view in the SharePoint user interface.

Victims of the recent global hacking campaign include the National Institutes of Health and the National Nuclear Security Administration, officials said.

Hours after Microsoft revealed hacking groups affiliated with the Chinese government have been exploiting a flaw in its SharePoint software, Bloomberg News reports that the National Nuclear Security Administration has also been breached in the attacks.

Microsoft has observed two named Chinese nation-state actors, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, exploiting vulnerabilities targeting internet-facing SharePoint servers. In addition, we have observed another China-based threat actor,