Nearly 800 Malicious npm Packages Deliver Cross
Nearly 800 typo-squatted npm packages deliver WEL1DROPPER, a cross-platform downloader installing RAT and infostealer payloads on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Researchers found roughly 800 npm packages with AI-generated typo-squat names that trigger a WEL1DROPPER downloader when loaded via require() rather than install hooks. The downloader fetches payloads from Cloudflare Workers hosts, falling back to DNS TXT records from wel1.ru, then achieves persistence, sandbox checks, ETW/AMSI patching and Sliver C2 deployment on Linux. Domains like tcsbank.ru suggest targeting of Russian financial institutions; Sonatype tracks the campaign as Flooding Dropper, a possible evolution of the Moika dependency-confusion campaign. Unit 42 separately documented npm/PyPI crypto stealers and malicious Chrome extensions that turn browsers into residential proxy crawlers.
- Packages instruct developers to load them with require(); malicious code hides in lib/telemetry.js.
- Windows variant patches ETW and AMSI, checks sandboxes, persists via Registry Run key and scheduled task.
- Linux payload is UPX-packed ELF that deploys the open-source Sliver C2 framework.
- Unit 42 also tracked npm/PyPI crypto stealers and Chrome extensions turning browsers into proxy crawlers.
- ATT&CK
- T1195.002 Compromise Software Supply ChainT1105 Ingress Tool TransferT1053.005 Scheduled TaskT1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderT1562.001 Disable or Modify Tools
- Products
- Cloudflare WorkersETWAMSI
- Malware
- WEL1DROPPERSliver
- Countries
- Russia
From the original article
5 min read at thehackernews.com
A cluster of nearly 800 malicious packages has been published to the npm registry as part of a new campaign designed to deliver cross-platform malware targeting Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. "These packages appear to use AI slop squatted, or randomly generated typo-squatting package names, but all of them deliver a powerful RAT and infostealer payload," OpenSourceMalware researcher Paul McCarty said .
By @TheHackersNews · thehackernews.com
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