North Korea-Nexus Threat Actor Compromises Widely Used Axios NPM Package in Supply Chain Attack

2026-04-01 Google

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/north-korea-threat-actor-targets-axios-npm-package

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Google Threat Intelligence Group reports that malicious axios releases 1.14.1 and 0.30.4 introduced plain-crypto-js as a dependency, triggering a postinstall dropper that deployed WAVESHAPER.V2 backdoors across Windows, macOS, and Linux. GTIG attributes the activity to UNC1069, a financially motivated North Korea-nexus actor, based on WAVESHAPER.V2 lineage and infrastructure overlaps with earlier UNC1069 activity. The dropper used obfuscated strings, platform checks, and OS-specific execution paths, including a renamed PowerShell binary on Windows, an AppleScript-launched Mach-O payload on macOS, and a Python backdoor on Linux. The implants beaconed over HTTP to sfrclak[.]com:8000 with base64-encoded JSON and a distinctive fake IE8 User-Agent, supporting host reconnaissance, filesystem enumeration, command execution, and follow-on payload delivery. The compromise is significant because a brief malicious publish window in a widely used npm package could expose developer and enterprise environments to credential theft and downstream supply-chain attacks.

Indicators of Compromise

Type Value First Seen Last Seen
DOMAIN sfrclak.com 2026-03-30 2026-04-20
HASH e10b1fa84f1d6481625f741b6989278… 2026-03-31 2026-04-17
EMAIL [email protected] 2026-03-30 2026-04-17
URL http://sfrclak.com:8000/6202033 2026-03-30 2026-04-17
IPv4 142.11.206.73 2026-03-30 2026-04-17
YARA G_Hunting_Downloader_SILKBELL_1 2026-04-01 2026-04-01
YARA G_Hunting_Downloader_suspected_… 2026-04-01 2026-04-01
HASH 7658962ae060a222c0058cd4e979bfa1 2026-03-31 2026-04-01
HASH 04e3073b3cd5c5bfcde6f575ecf6e8c1 2026-03-31 2026-04-01
HASH 089e2872016f75a5223b5e02c184dfec 2026-03-31 2026-04-01

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