Hackers Target Open Source Projects in Supply Chain Attacks
Quick Look
- Cybersecurity firms StepSecurity and SafeDep warn of a new wave of "supply chain" attacks targeting open source projects.
- Hackers compromised developer accounts to push malicious updates, aiming to steal credentials and spread malware.
- The campaign, dubbed "Mini Shai-Hulud," has affected packages like Alibaba's Antv.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Hackers are increasingly targeting open source projects in "supply chain" attacks. These attacks aim to compromise developers of popular open source projects and use that access to plant malicious updates that are pushed to users downstream.
Hackers have compromised several popular open source projects relied on by software developers all over the world in an ongoing cyberattack.
On Tuesday, cybersecurity firms StepSecurity and SafeDep warned of the latest wave of so-called “supply chain” attacks, which aim to compromise developers of popular open source projects and use that access to plant malicious updates that are pushed to users downstream.
According to SafeDep, hackers took over the account of one developer and released over 630 malicious versions across 317 packages in about 20 minutes. The goal of the attack is to steal credentials for various services, including password managers, as a way to steal data and continue spreading the malware.
Among the packages that the hackers compromised there’s Antv, a library made by Alibaba. In some cases, the hackers published malicious updates on GitHub, according to JFrog Security.
This latest wave of attacks is part of a wider campaign targeting open source projects and the developers who use the code for their own projects. Researchers have dubbed the hacks “Mini Shai-Hulud,” after the attack followed a previous, more expansive hacking campaign.
Open Questions
- What is the total number of affected users?
- What specific services were targeted for credential theft?
- Are there any known nation-state actors behind this campaign?
- What measures are being taken to secure the affected open source projects?
