One Code to Lock Them All: LockBit 5.0 Unifies Attacks on Windows, Linux, and ESXi

LockBit 5.0 is a significant update to the LockBit ransomware family that unifies execution logic and identical XChaCha20/Curve25519 encryption across Windows, Linux, and ESXi variants; the Windows build includes advanced anti-analysis and evasion techniques, and the family shows expanded targeting of virtualization platforms (ESXi, Proxmox) with possible infrastructure links to SmokeLoader.