All news with #supply chain backdoor tag

Google Details BadAudio Malware Used by China APT24

🔐 Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) disclosed a previously undocumented loader, BadAudio, used by China-linked APT24 in a multi-year espionage campaign that employed spearphishing, watering-hole infections, and supply-chain compromises. The loader is heavily obfuscated, leverages DLL search-order hijacking and control-flow flattening, and exfiltrates encrypted system data to hard-coded C2 servers. In at least one observed case it delivered an Cobalt Strike Beacon, and many samples remained undetected by most antivirus engines.

PlushDaemon uses EdgeStepper to hijack DNS and updates

🔒 PlushDaemon, a China-linked APT, has deployed a network implant called EdgeStepper to hijack DNS on compromised routers and redirect update traffic to attacker-controlled servers, according to ESET. The MIPS32 Go-built implant modifies iptables to forward UDP port 53 to a local proxy that substitutes legitimate update IPs with malicious ones. Using the hijacked channel, a downloader chain (LittleDaemon, DaemonicLogistics) delivers the espionage backdoor SlowStepper, enabling credential theft, document exfiltration and audio/video capture.

Hidden Risks in DevOps Stacks and Data Protection Strategies

🔒 DevOps platforms like GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps accelerate development but also introduce data risks from misconfigurations, exposed credentials, and service outages. Under the SaaS shared responsibility model, customers retain liability for protecting repository data and must enforce MFA, RBAC, and tested backups. Third-party immutable backups and left-shifted security practices are recommended to mitigate ransomware, insider threats, and accidental deletions.

EdgeStepper Backdoor Reroutes DNS to Hijack Updates

🔒 ESET researchers disclosed a Go-based network backdoor dubbed EdgeStepper, used by the China-aligned actor PlushDaemon to reroute DNS queries and enable adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks. EdgeStepper forces update-related DNS lookups to attacker-controlled nodes, delivering a malicious DLL that stages additional components. The chain targets update mechanisms for Chinese applications including Sogou Pinyin and ultimately fetches the SlowStepper backdoor to exfiltrate data.

PlushDaemon Hijacks Software Updates in Supply-Chain Attacks

🔒 PlushDaemon operators are hijacking software-update traffic using a new network implant named EdgeStepper, ESET researchers report. Attackers compromise routers via known vulnerabilities or weak credentials, intercept DNS queries, and redirect update requests to malicious infrastructure. Trojanized updates deliver a DLL downloader (LittleDaemon), which stages DaemonicLogistics and ultimately loads the SlowStepper backdoor on Windows systems, targeting manufacturers, universities, and industrial sites across multiple countries.

Malicious npm Packages Use Adspect to Cloak Crypto Scams

⚠️Seven npm packages published under the developer name 'dino_reborn' were found leveraging the cloud-based Adspect service to distinguish researchers from potential victims and redirect targeted users to cryptocurrency scam pages. Socket's analysis shows six packages include a ~39 KB cloaking script that fingerprints visitors, employs anti-analysis controls, and forwards data to an actor-controlled proxy and the Adspect API. Targets are redirected to deceptive Ethereum and Solana-branded CAPTCHA pages, while likely researchers are shown a benign Offlido-style decoy.

Weekly Recap: Fortinet Exploited, Global Threats Rise

🔒 This week's recap highlights a surge in quiet, high-impact attacks that abused trusted software and platform features to evade detection. Researchers observed active exploitation of Fortinet FortiWeb (CVE-2025-64446) to create administrative accounts, prompting CISA to add it to the KEV list. Law enforcement disrupted major malware infrastructure while supply-chain and AI-assisted campaigns targeted package registries and cloud services. The guidance is clear: scan aggressively, patch rapidly, and assume features can be repurposed as attack vectors.

Dragon Breath Deploys RONINGLOADER to Deliver Gh0st RAT

🔒 Elastic Security Labs and Unit 42 describe a China‑focused campaign in which the actor Dragon Breath uses a multi‑stage loader named RONINGLOADER to deliver a modified Gh0st RAT. The attack leverages trojanized NSIS installers that drop two embedded packages—one benign and one stealthy—to load a DLL and an encrypted tp.png file containing shellcode. The loader employs signed drivers, WDAC tampering, and Protected Process Light abuse to neutralise endpoint protections popular in the Chinese market before injecting a persistent high‑privilege backdoor.

Android photo frames download malware at boot, supply risk

⚠️ Quokka's assessment of the Uhale Android platform used in many consumer digital picture frames found devices that download and execute malware on boot. The tested units update to Uhale app 4.2.0, install a JAR/DEX payload from China-based servers, and persistently load it at every reboot. Devices were rooted, shipped with SELinux disabled and signed with AOSP test-keys, increasing exposure. Quokka disclosed 17 vulnerabilities (11 with CVEs) including remote code execution, command injection, an unauthenticated file server and insecure WebViews; researchers linked artifacts to Vo1d and Mezmess while the vendor did not respond to notifications.

Typosquatted npm Package Targets GitHub Actions Builds

⚠️ A malicious npm package, @acitons/artifact, impersonated the legitimate @actions/artifact module and was uploaded on November 7 to specifically target GitHub Actions CI/CD workflows. It included a post-install hook that executed an obfuscated shell-script named "harness," which fetched a JavaScript payload (verify.js) to detect GitHub runners and exfiltrate build tokens. Using those tokens the attacker could publish artifacts and impersonate GitHub; the package accrued over 260,000 downloads across six versions before detection.

CISO Guide: Defending Against AI Supply-Chain Attacks

⚠️ AI-enabled supply chain attacks have surged in scale and sophistication, with malicious package uploads to open-source repositories rising 156% year-over-year and real incidents — from PyPI trojans to compromises of Hugging Face, GitHub and npm — already impacting production environments. These threats are polymorphic, context-aware, semantically camouflaged and temporally evasive, rendering signature-based tools increasingly ineffective. CISOs should prioritize AI-aware detection, behavioral provenance, runtime containment and strict contributor verification immediately to reduce exposure and satisfy emerging regulatory obligations such as the EU AI Act.

Malicious npm Package Typosquats GitHub Actions Artifact

🔍 Cybersecurity researchers uncovered a malicious npm package, @acitons/artifact, that typosquats the legitimate @actions/artifact package to target GitHub-owned repositories. Veracode says versions 4.0.12–4.0.17 included a post-install hook that downloaded and executed a payload intended to exfiltrate build tokens and then publish artifacts as GitHub. The actor (npm user blakesdev) removed the offending versions and the last public npm release remains 4.0.10. Recommended actions include removing the malicious versions, auditing dependencies for typosquats, rotating exposed tokens, and hardening CI/CD supply-chain protections.

GlassWorm Resurfaces in VS Code Extensions and GitHub

🐛 Researchers have found a renewed wave of the GlassWorm supply-chain worm targeting Visual Studio Code extensions and GitHub repositories after it was previously declared contained. The malware hides JavaScript payloads in undisplayable Unicode characters, making malicious code invisible in editors, and uses blockchain memos on Solana to publish remote C2 endpoints. Koi researchers identified three newly compromised OpenVSX extensions and observed credential theft and AI-styled commits used to propagate the worm.

Vibe-coded Ransomware Found in Microsoft VS Code Marketplace

🔒 Security researcher Secure Annex discovered a malicious extension in the Microsoft Marketplace that embeds "Ransomvibe" ransomware for Visual Studio Code. Once the extension activates, a zipUploadAndEcnrypt routine runs, applying typical ransomware techniques and using hard-coded C2 URLs, encryption keys and bundled decryption tools. The package appears to be a test build, limiting immediate impact, but researchers warn it can be updated or triggered remotely. Microsoft has removed the extension and says it will blacklist and uninstall malicious extensions.

Weekly Recap: Hidden VMs, AI Leaks, and Mobile Spyware

🛡️ This week's recap highlights sophisticated, real-world threats that bypass conventional defenses. Actors like Curly COMrades abused Hyper-V to run a hidden Alpine Linux VM and execute payloads outside the host OS, evading EDR/XDR. Microsoft disclosed the Whisper Leak AI side-channel that infers chat topics from encrypted traffic, and a patched Samsung zero-day was weaponized to deploy LANDFALL spyware to select Galaxy devices. Time-delayed NuGet logic bombs, a new criminal alliance (SLH), and ongoing RMM and supply-chain abuses underscore rising coordination and stealth—prioritize detection and mitigations now.

GlassWorm Malware Found in Three VS Code Extensions

🔒 Researchers identified three malicious VS Code extensions tied to the GlassWorm campaign that together had thousands of installs. The packages — ai-driven-dev.ai-driven-dev, adhamu.history-in-sublime-merge, and yasuyuky.transient-emacs — were still available at reporting. Koi Security warns GlassWorm harvests Open VSX, GitHub, and Git credentials, abuses invisible Unicode for obfuscation, and uses blockchain-updated C2 endpoints. Defenders should audit extensions, rotate exposed tokens and credentials, and monitor repositories and wallet activity for signs of compromise.

Proposed U.S. Ban on TP-Link Routers Raises Concerns

🔍 The U.S. government is weighing a ban on sales of TP‑Link networking gear amid concerns that the company may be subject to Chinese government influence and that its products handle sensitive U.S. data. TP‑Link Systems disputes the claims, says it split from its China-based namesake, and notes many competitors source components from China. The piece highlights industry-wide risks — insecure defaults, outdated firmware, and ISP-deployed devices — and suggests OpenWrt and similar open-source firmware as mitigations for technically capable users.

China-linked Hackers Reuse Legacy Flaws to Backdoor Targets

🔍 Symantec and Carbon Black attributed a mid‑April 2025 intrusion to a China-linked threat cluster that targeted a U.S. nonprofit engaged in influencing policy, using mass scanning and multiple legacy exploits (including CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2017-9805, and Atlassian flaws) to gain initial access. The intruders established stealthy persistence via scheduled tasks that invoked legitimate binaries (msbuild.exe, csc.exe), injected code to reach a C2 at 38.180.83[.]166, and sideloaded a DLL through a Vipre component to run an in-memory RAT. Researchers linked the loader to China-aligned clusters such as Salt Typhoon and warned of broader reuse of legacy vulnerabilities and IIS/ASP.NET misconfigurations for long-term backdoors.

Malicious NuGet Packages Contain Delayed Logic Bombs

⚠️ Socket has identified nine malicious NuGet packages published in 2023–2024 by the account "shanhai666" that contain time‑delayed logic bombs intended to sabotage database operations and industrial control systems. The most dangerous, Sharp7Extend, bundles the legitimate Sharp7 PLC library and uses C# extension methods plus an encrypted configuration to trigger probabilistic process terminations (≈20%) and silent PLC write failures (≈80% after 30–90 minutes). Several SQL-related packages are set to activate on staged dates in August 2027 and November 2028, and the packages were collectively downloaded 9,488 times. All nine malicious packages have been removed from NuGet; attribution remains uncertain.

Malicious Ransomvibe Extension Found in VSCode Marketplace

⚠️ A proof-of-concept ransomware strain dubbed Ransomvibe was published as a Visual Studio Code extension and remained available in the VSCode Marketplace after being reported. Secure Annex analysts found the package included blatant indicators of malicious functionality — hardcoded C2 URLs, encryption keys, compression and exfiltration routines — alongside included decryptors and source files. The extension used a private GitHub repository as a command-and-control channel, and researchers say its presence highlights failures in Microsoft’s marketplace review process.