Cyber-criminals exploit the open redirect flaw to post spam messages that look like theyre coming from the reputable news organization. Because the request goes to the CNN website, the URL filtering doesn`t block access to the malicious websites. This is not the first time CNN is targeted by cyber criminals. A similar security vulnerability might also be exploited in Yahoo, according to eHackingNews. Recently, a popular hashtag on micro-blogging platform started to be abused for phishing and identity theft.”]
Source: https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/twitter-spam-campaign-exploits-cnn-vulnerability/