The syft-acp-core package was published to npm by an attacker impersonating an internal package name to exploit dependency confusion. It declares a preinstall hook that executes automatically during installation, running a script that initializes the @sentry/node client with a hardcoded attacker-controlled DSN and sendDefaultPii enabled. The script collects the installer's public IP by querying Cloudflare's trace endpoint and triggers a synthetic exception to send telemetry including IP, hostname, OS username, and runtime metadata to the attacker's Sentry project. Each package namespace in the campaign uses distinct Sentry project IDs to attribute installs to specific organizations. This package's payload is byte-for-byte identical to a previous campaign named 'click2ai', sharing the same Sentry organization and maintainer identity. The attack is reconnaissance-focused, collecting environment data rather than delivering a direct exploit or malware payload.

The malicious package leaks sensitive telemetry and personally identifiable information (PII) from the host environment during installation, including public IP address, hostname, OS username, and runtime environment metadata. This data is sent to an attacker-controlled Sentry project, enabling the attacker to identify and attribute installations to specific victim organizations. This can facilitate further targeted attacks or reconnaissance. There is no indication of direct code execution beyond the preinstall hook or further exploitation payloads in this package.

Users should avoid installing the syft-acp-core package from the public npm registry, especially if they rely on private internal packages with similar names. Organizations should audit their dependency resolution configurations to prevent dependency confusion attacks by ensuring private packages are resolved correctly and not overridden by public packages. Since no official patch or fix is indicated, mitigation focuses on configuration hygiene and package source verification. Monitor for unexpected preinstall hooks in dependencies and consider using tools that detect malicious or suspicious packages. Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory or npm security advisories for updates.