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Supply Chain Attack on npm Packages with Billions of Weekly Downloads

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📰 2 unique sources, 3 articles

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A supply chain attack compromised multiple npm packages with over 2.6 billion weekly downloads. Attackers injected malicious code into these packages after hijacking a maintainer's account via phishing. The malware targets web-based cryptocurrency transactions, redirecting them to attacker-controlled wallets. The attack was detected and mitigated by the NPM team, who removed the malicious versions within two hours. The phishing campaign targeted multiple maintainers, using a fake domain to trick them into updating their 2FA credentials. The malicious code operates by hooking into JavaScript functions and wallet APIs, intercepting and altering cryptocurrency transactions. The attack impacts users who installed the compromised packages during a specific time window and have vulnerable dependencies. The attack targeted Josh Junon, also known as Qix, who received a phishing email mimicking npm. The phishing email prompted the maintainer to enter their username, password, and 2FA token, which were stolen via an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack. The attack affected 20 packages, including ansi-regex, chalk, debug, and others, with over 2 billion weekly downloads. The malware intercepts cryptocurrency transaction requests by computing the Levenshtein distance to swap the destination wallet address. The payload hooks into window.fetch, XMLHttpRequest, and window.ethereum.request, along with other wallet provider APIs. The attack also compromised another maintainer, duckdb_admin, to distribute the same wallet-drainer malware. The affected packages from the second maintainer include @coveops/abi, @duckdb/duckdb-wasm, and prebid, among others. The attack impacted roughly 10% of all cloud environments. The attackers diverted five cents worth of ETH and $20 worth of a virtually unknown memecoin. The attacker’s wallet addresses holding significant amounts have been flagged, limiting their ability to convert or use the funds.

Timeline

  1. 09.09.2025 09:13 📰 2 articles · ⏱ 7d ago

    Second maintainer compromised in npm supply chain attack

    The attack also compromised another maintainer, duckdb_admin, to distribute the same wallet-drainer malware. The affected packages from the second maintainer include @coveops/abi, @duckdb/duckdb-wasm, and prebid, among others.

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  2. 08.09.2025 19:47 📰 3 articles · ⏱ 8d ago

    Supply Chain Attack on npm Packages with Billions of Weekly Downloads

    The attack impacted roughly 10% of all cloud environments. The compromised packages were removed within two hours of the attack. The malicious code targeted browser environments, hooking Ethereum and Solana signing requests. The attackers diverted five cents worth of ETH and $20 worth of a virtually unknown memecoin. The attacker’s wallet addresses holding significant amounts have been flagged, limiting their ability to convert or use the funds.

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