Threats Tagged 'npm'

A sophisticated supply chain attack leverages typosquatting of the legitimate postcss-selector-parser npm package, which receives over 150 million weekly downloads. Three malicious packages published by user 'abdrizak' masquerade as PostCSS utilities while delivering a multi-stage Windows RAT. The infection chain begins with encoded JavaScript that drops PowerShell scripts, which then download a bundled Python runtime containing Nuitka-compiled modules. The final payload implements comprehensive RAT capabilities including HTTP C2 communication with RC4 encryption, registry persistence, VM detection, remote shell execution, file transfer, and Chrome credential theft using DPAPI and app-bound decryption. The attack demonstrates how build tooling dependencies can serve as delivery mechanisms for sophisticated Windows malware targeting developer environments.

A malicious npm package named 'node-fetch-utils' was discovered masquerading as a legitimate fetch helper utility. The package declares a remote tarball dependency from GitHub that executes upon installation. It runs an obfuscated postinstall script targeting Windows systems, which downloads a bundled Python runtime and drops it as Microsoft\EdgeBroker\pythonw.exe for persistence. The dropper then uses this disguised runtime to execute a fileless Python implant decrypted in memory and launched hidden via wscript. The dropper scripts self-delete while the disguised runtime remains active on the compromised system, establishing command and control communications.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence discovered a large-scale npm supply chain attack compromising over 140 packages in the mastra and @mastra scopes. The attack originated from takeover of the ehindero npm maintainer account, which published poisoned package versions introducing easy-day-js, a malicious typosquat of the popular dayjs library. The malicious package executed a postinstall hook that deployed an obfuscated dropper script, disabled TLS certificate verification, contacted command-and-control infrastructure at 23.254.164.92 and 23.254.164.123, and downloaded a second-stage payload. This 41KB cross-platform Node.js implant installed persistence mechanisms, performed cryptocurrency wallet inventory, exfiltrated browser history and host reconnaissance data, and on Windows performed reflective .NET assembly injection for fileless in-memory code execution. Any developer workstation or CI/CD pipeline executing npm install after compromise was potentially exposed regardless of code usage.

A supply chain attack targeting the npm ecosystem was identified involving 14 malicious packages published under the alias vpmdhaj. These packages typosquat well-known OpenSearch, ElasticSearch, and DevOps libraries, executing malicious payloads through npm lifecycle hooks during installation. The attack deploys a two-stage credential harvesting operation that targets AWS credentials, HashiCorp Vault tokens, GitHub Actions secrets, and npm publish tokens. The malware queries AWS Instance Metadata Service, ECS task metadata, and enumerates AWS Secrets Manager across multiple regions. Two stager variants were observed: an HTTP-based C2 beacon and a stealthier version abusing the legitimate Bun runtime. The stolen credentials enable cloud lateral movement and downstream supply chain attacks through compromised npm maintainer identities, specifically targeting developers working with cloud and CI/CD infrastructure.