I was likely targeted by DPRK in a sophisticated developer malware campaign
2026-05-25 • Denv •
A fake Pulsynk recruiting email targeted a smart-contract security developer with instructions to clone a GitLab repository and open it in VS Code or Cursor. The repository abused a `.vscode/tasks.json` folder-open task to install a malicious VS Code extension masquerading as Google Update Support, which then dropped native Go implants for macOS and Linux. The malware sought cryptocurrency wallets, browser credentials and sessions, SSH keys, `.env` files, package-manager tokens, and credential-store data, with a macOS fake System Security Update prompt used to harvest login credentials. Its encrypted WebSocket C2 used `23.137.105.75:5173` and upload paths disguised as company-wallet endpoints, while strings and environment variables overlapped with the public Overlord RAT project. The author notes overlap with DPRK-linked Contagious Interview developer targeting but treats attribution as tradecraft similarity rather than proof of operator identity.
Indicators of Compromise
| Type | Value | First Seen | Last Seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| DOMAIN | hr.pulsynk.org | 2026-05-25 | 2026-06-08 |
| [email protected] | 2026-05-25 | 2026-05-25 | |
| [email protected] | 2026-05-25 | 2026-05-25 | |
| URL | https://gitlab.com/pulsynk-org/… | 2026-05-25 | 2026-05-25 |
| DOMAIN | pulsynk.org | 2026-05-25 | 2026-05-25 |
| HASH | 04350366c28dea9b224d62ce18bd6bb7 | 2026-05-25 | 2026-05-25 |
| IPv4 | 23.137.105.75 | 2026-05-25 | 2026-05-25 |