A startling discovery within the npm ecosystem has revealed a extremely subtle malware marketing campaign embedded inside the seemingly innocuous package deal os-info-checker-es6.
First revealed on March 19, 2025, with preliminary variations showing benign, the package deal quickly advanced into a posh risk.
Early iterations targeted on gathering primary OS data, however subsequent updates between March 22-23 launched platform-specific compiled Node.js modules and complicated obfuscation methods.
Multi-Stage Malware Unveiled
By model 1.0.6, the preinstall script started using Unicode-based steganography, hiding malicious payloads in invisible variation selector characters from the Supplementary Particular Function Aircraft.
These characters, missing seen glyphs, have been decoded utilizing binary modules into Base64 strings, which have been then executed through eval(), showcasing a intelligent evasion tactic to bypass conventional detection mechanisms.
In keeping with VeraCode Report, this development from innocent utility to covert loader underscores the stealth and flexibility of the attacker’s strategy.
The risk escalated additional with model 1.0.8, launched on Might 7, 2025, the place os-info-checker-es6 built-in a novel command-and-control (C2) mechanism using Google Calendar brief hyperlinks.
The malware’s script fetched a specific_calendar occasion URL, scraped a Base64-encoded hyperlink from the data-base-title attribute, and adopted it to retrieve the next-stage payload.
This payload, additionally Base64-encoded, was executed immediately, with headers probably carrying encryption parameters like IV and secret keys, although not absolutely carried out within the noticed pattern.
Google Calendar as a Resilient C2 Dropper
Using Google Calendar as an middleman dropper is a crafty transfer, leveraging a trusted platform to evade blacklisting and complicate early-stage blocking efforts.
Paying homage to the Google Calendar RAT proof-of-concept, this tactic repurposes reliable infrastructure for malicious intent, fetching dynamic payloads from a secondary C2 server (noticed at http://140.82.54.223/...), which appeared dormant or guarded by anti-analysis checks throughout investigation.
The script additionally featured retry logic, error dealing with, and a persistence lock file within the temp listing, guaranteeing resilience in opposition to disruptions.
This assault’s affect is amplified by its attain inside the npm ecosystem, with os-info-checker-es6 garnering 655 weekly downloads and serving as a dependency for 4 different packages-skip-tot, vue-dev-serverr, vue-dummyy, and vue-bit.
Printed by customers with suspiciously aligned naming patterns, together with kim9123 who authored each the malware and skip-tot, these dependents trace at a broader malicious community, probably mendacity dormant since earlier than the malware’s activation.
This provide chain risk exemplifies the rising sophistication of attackers concentrating on open-source repositories, combining superior steganography, compiled binaries, and trusted service abuse.
Previous to public disclosure, the problem was reported to npm’s safety staff for mitigation.
Builders are urged to scrutinize dependencies, particularly these with set up hooks or native modules, as this marketing campaign highlights the pressing want for vigilance in an more and more advanced risk panorama.
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