Philipp Burckhardt

Spearphishing Campaign Abuses npm Registry to Target U.S. an... A five-month operation turned 27 npm packages into durable hosting for browser-run lures that mimic document-sharing portals and Microsoft sign-in, ta...

🚨 New research: A spearphishing campaign published 27 malicious npm packages that host browser-run lures mimicking document portals and Microsoft sign-in to steal credentials. This operation targets manufacturing and healthcare orgs in the U.S. and allied countries.

socket.dev/blog/spearph...

Malicious fezbox npm Package Steals Browser Passwords from C... A malicious package uses a QR code as steganography in an innovative technique.

Read more on our blog: socket.dev/blog/malicio... and socket.dev/blog/two-mal...

Given an ongoing PyPI phishing campaign that continues to target users with new domains through legitimate-looking emails requesting "email verification" that actually steal credentials, we are on the lookout for any compromised packages in the PyPI ecosystem specifically.

Two malicious Rust crates (faster_log and async_println) impersonated the popular fast_log library to steal Solana and Ethereum wallet keys from source code. Downloaded 8,424 times before removal, these packages scanned developer files for private keys and exfiltrated them to a C2 server.

QR Code Steganography in npm: We discovered fezbox, a malicious npm package using an innovative steganographic technique for obfuscation - hiding malware inside a QR code! The package fetches a QR code from a remote URL and executes code hidden within it to steal browser credentials.

While we haven't seen major supply chain attacks hitting any of the major open-source ecosystems, the Socket Threat Research Team uncovered some fascinating and creative attack techniques worth sharing:

Using AI in the development of stdlib A reflection on stdlib's participation in the 2025 METR study on AI's impact on open-source developer productivity.

Read the full blog post here: blog.stdlib.io/reflection-o...

Published my take on METR's surprising study that I participated in: AI tools made experienced developers 19% slower (expectation was that they would become 40% faster with AI!)🤯
I dive into the why, where AI coding tools actually help, and how I've shifted from handholding AI to async delegation.

Tracking Protestware Spread: 28 npm Packages Affected by Pay... Undocumented protestware found in 28 npm packages disrupts UI for Russian-language users visiting Russian and Belarusian domains.

We found hidden functionality in 28+ npm packages that disables UI for Russian-language users visiting .ru or .by domains. No CVEs. No advisories. No documentation. Just behavior-based disruption quietly copied into packages and shipped to production.
Read more: socket.dev/blog/protest...

The latest North Korean "Contagious Interview" wave includes 67 new malicious packages with a previously unknown malware loader, accumulating over 17,000 downloads.
Read more on out blog: socket.dev/blog/contagi...

Two major npm supply chain discoveries this week from the Socket Research Team highlight a critical gap in traditional security approaches. Both threats would slip past security tools that rely on vulnerability databases or metadata alone.

Backdooring the IDE: Malicious npm Packages Hijack Cursor Ed... Malicious npm packages posing as developer tools target macOS Cursor IDE users, stealing credentials and modifying files to gain persistent backdoor a...

These packages, disguised as "the cheapest Cursor API," install backdoors that steal credentials and modify crucial files. sw-cur, sw-cur1, and aiide-cur have been downloaded 3,200+ times before discovery.
Read about them on the Socket blog:
socket.dev/blog/malicio...

🚨 With vibe coding being on everyone's minds and AI code generations seemingly becoming ubiquitous, it is not surprising that this attracts also malicious actors. Kirill Boychenko uncovered three malicious npm packages targeting Cursor users on macOS.

Over the last few months, I have been picking up Cursor again after finding it not substantially improving my productivity when I tried it last year. It, and the LLMs powering AI code completions, have gotten so much better that I now really enjoy its agent workflow.

wget to Wipeout: Malicious Go Modules Fetch Destructive Payl... Socket's research uncovers three dangerous Go modules that contain obfuscated disk-wiping malware, threatening complete data loss.

The attack was comprised of three malicious modules with hidden destructive code, using array-based string obfuscation and dynamic payload execution, targeting Linux servers and dev environments.

Check our full technical analysis and protection tips:

socket.dev/blog/wget-to...

#CyberSecurity

wget to Wipeout: Malicious Go Modules Fetch Destructive Payl... Socket's research uncovers three dangerous Go modules that contain obfuscated disk-wiping malware, threatening complete data loss.

Our team at Socket has uncovered a Go module supply chain attack that deploys destructive disk-erasing payloads.

A single code line triggers a shell script that overwrites disks, making data irretrievable. The attack leverages Go's open ecosystem, exploiting namespace confusion.

Using Trusted Protocols Against You: Gmail as a C2 Mechanism... Socket uncovers malicious packages on PyPI using Gmail's SMTP protocol for command and control (C2) to exfiltrate data and execute commands.

The threat actor started publishing these packages in 2021, consistently employing comparable strategies while remaining undetected.

Full technical analysis here:
socket.dev/blog/using-t...

Using Trusted Protocols Against You: Gmail as a C2 Mechanism... Socket uncovers malicious packages on PyPI using Gmail's SMTP protocol for command and control (C2) to exfiltrate data and execute commands.

These packages use embedded credentials to connect to Gmail's SMTP server, relay signals to emails under the control of attackers, and initiate WebSocket connections that can bypass firewalls since the connection starts from within the network.

Using Trusted Protocols Against You: Gmail as a C2 Mechanism... Socket uncovers malicious packages on PyPI using Gmail's SMTP protocol for command and control (C2) to exfiltrate data and execute commands.

The Socket research team discovered seven "Coffin-Codes" packages that leveraged Gmail's SMTP protocol to create covert channels for extracting data and executing commands.

The Bad Seeds: Malicious npm and PyPI Packages Pose as Devel... Socket researchers uncovered malicious npm and PyPI packages that steal crypto wallet credentials using Google Analytics and Telegram for exfiltration...

Remember: If any code asks for your seed phrase, there's no salvation - it's not a feature, it's a scam.
Here's the complete write-up: socket.dev/blog/malicio...

With over 8,000 combined downloads, these digital highwaymen use Google Analytics and Telegram for exfiltration - truly where the wild roses grow.
While Socket is celebrating our launch week and Coana acquisition, the bad actors never take a break.

🚨SECURITY ALERT: Uncovering "The Bad Seeds" in Package Registries 🚨

Socket researchers have identified three malicious npm and PyPI packages that, like their namesake, are doing the devil's work - harvesting crypto wallet credentials while posing as innocent developer tools.

What makes these attacks concerning is that they

target business-critical workflows
use sophisticated disguises that implement legitimate functionality
execute at specific runtime events, not installation

The malicious packages have been reported and are meanwhile removed from the npm registry.

Malicious npm Package Disguised as Advcash Integration Trigg... The Socket Research Team investigates a malicious npm package that appears to be an Advcash integration but triggers a reverse shell during payment su...

The second attack involves an npm package disguised as an Advcash payment integration that triggers a reverse shell during payment success callbacks, allowing attackers to gain control of servers processing transactions.

Read more about it here: socket.dev/blog/npm-pac...

npm Malware Targets Telegram Bot Developers with Persistent ... Malicious npm packages posing as Telegram bot libraries install SSH backdoors and exfiltrate data from Linux developer machines.

Read the full analysis on the Socket blog: socket.dev/blog/npm-mal...

The first attack targets Telegram bot developers with typosquatted packages (node-telegram-utils, node-telegram-bots-api, node-telegram-util) that install persistent SSH backdoors on Linux machines, masquerading as the legitimate node-telegram-bot-api library (4.17M+ downloads).

Malicious npm Package Disguised as Advcash Integration Trigg... The Socket Research Team investigates a malicious npm package that appears to be an Advcash integration but triggers a reverse shell during payment su...

Last week, Socket researchers have discovered malicious npm packages deploying backdoors through fake Telegram bot libraries and payment integrations - details in thread below.

This is tremendous for TypeScript and JavaScript developers everywhere. We're building a new TypeScript that runs lighter, goes faster, and scales well on enormous codebases.

This was a big decision and a lot of work, but we are seeing promising results for this new foundation!

Massive Automated Spam Campaign Abuses GitHub to Flood npm R... In a reprisal of their previous Tea[.]xyz spam campaign, a new wave of thousands of garbage packages are hitting npm, to artificially inflate the numb...

If you go to the GitHub repository for any of these packages, you will see a `tea.yml` file, a file associated with the decentralized tea.xyz protocol to reward open-source contributions with crypto tokens.

We previously reported on similar spam campaigns:
socket.dev/blog/massive...

Exploring stdlib: JavaScript's Answer to Technical Computing - Inspiring Computing This episode of Inspiring Computing features a discussion with Athan, the maintainer of stdlib, a JavaScript library designed for numerical and scientific computing. Athan shares his experience and…

If you’re interested in open source, numerical computing, or just love hearing about non-traditional paths into software, this episode is a must-listen.

🎧 Check it out here: https://buff.ly/4bk7ojd

Huge thanks to our incredible contributor community!

Would love to hear your thoughts! 🚀💡