All news with #supply chain compromise tag

🔐 Three separate April reports describe unrelated threat actors independently targeting developer machines as the preferred initial-access vector. The incidents include a North Korean campaign that trojanized packages across five ecosystems, a Zig-compiled native binary that infects IDEs, and a cascading compromise chaining developer tools into credential theft. Together they illustrate how developer workstations function as credential stores, pipeline controllers and trust anchors, and why traditional endpoint controls are insufficient. Organizations must improve visibility, isolate build environments, enforce stricter controls on IDE extensions and package installs, and assign clear ownership for this distinct attack surface.

🔒 HiddenLayer discovered the Open-OSS/privacy-filter repository on Hugging Face was malicious on May 7. The repo, which copied OpenAI's Privacy Filter model card almost verbatim and showed inflated engagement, delivered a Rust-based infostealer via a base64-encoded loader. The malware steals browser passwords, session cookies, tokens, crypto wallet data and other credentials. HiddenLayer warns anyone who ran files from the repo to treat hosts as fully compromised and to wipe, isolate and rotate all affected credentials.

🔒 Checkmarx warned that a rogue version of its Jenkins AST plugin was published to the Jenkins Marketplace and contained credential-stealing malware attributed to the TeamPCP threat group. The attackers used credentials obtained in a prior Trivy supply-chain breach to backdoor multiple developer tools and maintain access. Checkmarx is publishing a clean plugin release, advising users to revert to version 2.0.13-829.vc72453fa_1c16, rotate secrets, and investigate for compromise.

🔒 Checkmarx confirmed a modified Jenkins AST plugin was published to the Jenkins Marketplace after attackers used stolen credentials to push malicious code. The company released v2.0.13-848.v76e89de8a_053 on GitHub and the Marketplace and says this release addresses the incident. It advised users to ensure they run 2.0.13-829.vc72453fa_1c16 (published Dec 17, 2025) or later. Researchers attribute the activity to TeamPCP.

⚡ This weekly recap highlights a string of active campaigns and exploited flaws affecting enterprise and cloud environments. Attackers weaponized vulnerabilities in Ivanti EPMM and Palo Alto PAN-OS, while a new modular Linux implant dubbed Quasar Linux (QLNX) pairs a kernel rootkit with a P2P mesh to resist takedowns. Several supply-chain compromises and credential-stealing campaigns are targeting cloud and developer tooling, and threat actors increasingly abuse legitimate RMM platforms for persistence.

⚠️ A malicious Hugging Face repository posing as an OpenAI release delivered an infostealer to Windows hosts and accumulated about 244,000 downloads before removal. Researchers at HiddenLayer found the repo copied OpenAI’s model card and included a loader.py that fetched and executed credential-stealing payloads. The loader disabled SSL verification, used jsonkeeper.com as a C2, and employed scheduled tasks and a Rust-based infostealer to exfiltrate browser data, wallets, Discord storage, and FileZilla credentials.

⚠ The official JDownloader website was compromised between May 6 and May 7, 2026, and attackers replaced alternative Windows and Linux installers with malicious payloads. The Windows binaries deploy a heavily obfuscated Python-based remote access trojan, while the Linux shell installer installs SUID-root components and persistence. Developers say the CMS was abused to alter download links without host-level access and have taken the site offline to investigate. Users who ran affected installers should treat systems as compromised, verify installers' digital signatures (AppWork GmbH) and consider reinstalling and rotating credentials.

🔒 RansomHouse has claimed responsibility for last week's intrusion into Trellix's source code repository, publishing a small set of images as proof of access to the vendor's appliance management system. Trellix confirmed unauthorized access on May 1 and said it immediately engaged leading forensic experts and notified law enforcement. The company reported no evidence so far that its source code release or distribution process was affected and continues to investigate.

⚠️ A fake Claude website pushed a 505MB archive named 'Claude-Pro-windows-x64.zip' that installs a trojanized MSI and drops three Startup files: NOVupdate.exe, NOVupdate.exe.dat, and avk.dll. Sophos and Malwarebytes analysis shows the signed G Data updater is abused to sideload avk.dll and an encrypted payload, which decrypts an in-memory DonutLoader that deploys the new Beagle backdoor. Beagle runs in memory, communicates with C2 at license.claude-pro[.]com (8.217.190[.]58) over TCP/443 or UDP/8080 using a hardcoded AES key, and supports basic file and command operations.

🛡️ Disc Soft has confirmed that certain Daemon Tools Lite installers were Trojanized and released in a compromised build (version 12.5.1) after unauthorized interference in its build environment. The company released a malware-free update, Version 12.6, within 12 hours of notification and says the incident is contained. Users who installed the impacted release are advised to uninstall the application, run a full system scan with trusted security software, and reinstall only the verified package from the official site.

🔒 Disc Soft confirmed a supply-chain compromise that trojanized installers for DAEMON Tools Lite and has released a clean build. The company says it secured its infrastructure and published version 12.6 (May 5) which no longer exhibits malicious behavior. Users who installed the free 12.5.1 build since April 8 should uninstall, run a full antivirus scan, and reinstall the latest release. Kaspersky found backdoors and a two-stage payload deployed to thousands of systems across 100+ countries.

🐧 Trend Micro researchers revealed a previously undocumented Linux implant named Quasar Linux (QLNX) that targets software developers by compromising development and DevOps environments such as npm, PyPI, GitHub, AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes. QLNX dynamically compiles rootkit and PAM backdoor modules on the host, runs fileless in memory, and employs multiple persistence methods while wiping logs and spoofing process names to remain stealthy. The toolkit includes a 58-command RAT, credential harvesting (SSH keys, cloud configs, and /etc/shadow), kernel eBPF hiding, surveillance, lateral movement, and in-memory injection; Trend Micro provided IoCs but attribution and prevalence remain unclear.

⚠️ ReversingLabs researchers describe an ongoing supply‑chain campaign called PromptMink that manipulates AI coding agents into installing malicious dependencies. Attackers publish bait packages with persuasive READMEs and LLM‑optimized documentation on registries like NPM and PyPI to increase discovery by autonomous agents and developers. The operation, attributed to North Korea’s Famous Chollima, paired legitimate‑looking SDKs with second‑layer packages carrying infostealers, later evolving to compiled Rust add‑ons, SEAs, SSH backdoors, and project exfiltration.

⚠️ DAEMON Tools installers hosted on the official site were trojanized beginning April 8, delivering a backdoor to thousands of systems worldwide. Compromised, digitally signed installers (versions 12.5.0.2421–12.5.0.2434) contained malicious code in binaries such as DTHelper.exe, DiscSoftBusServiceLite.exe, and DTShellHlp.exe. The initial payload is an information stealer used to profile victims; select hosts received a lightweight second-stage backdoor capable of executing commands and loading code in memory. In at least one targeted case researchers observed deployment of a more advanced QUIC RAT, and Kaspersky warns the campaign evaded detection for nearly a month.

🛡️ Kaspersky has identified a supply-chain compromise that trojanized installers for DAEMON Tools, distributed from the vendor’s official site and signed with developer certificates. The affected builds (12.5.0.2421–12.5.0.2434) have been backdoored since April 8, 2026, with three core binaries modified to deploy an implant. The implant contacts an observed C2 domain (env-check.daemontools.cc) to receive shell commands that download and execute follow-on payloads, including a .NET collector and a loader/backdoor pair. Kaspersky observed thousands of initial infection attempts worldwide while more advanced payloads were selectively delivered to a small number of targets in Russia, Belarus, and Thailand; AVB Disc Soft has been notified.

⚠️ Kaspersky researchers discovered a large-scale supply chain attack that trojanized DAEMON Tools installers; the malicious executables are signed with a valid AVB Disc Soft digital signature and have been distributed since April 8, 2026. Once installed the malware runs at startup, collects system and network information, and contacts a command-and-control server that can deliver additional payloads. In some cases attackers deployed a backdoor and a more advanced implant, QUIC RAT, capable of in-memory execution and process injection; users should audit systems and use reliable security solutions.

⚠️ ESET reports that the North Korea‑aligned threat group ScarCruft compromised the sqgame[.]net gaming platform in a targeted supply‑chain operation to deploy the BirdCall backdoor to Android and Windows users. The compromise, active since late 2024, trojanized Android APKs for two games and delivered a malicious Windows update DLL that used RokRAT as a loader. BirdCall — an evolution of RokRAT — harvests contacts, SMS, call logs, media, screenshots, keystrokes and ambient audio, and leverages legitimate cloud services for command‑and‑control.

📱 ESET researchers report that North Korean-linked APT37 (ScarCruft) developed an Android variant of the BirdCall backdoor and distributed it through trojanized APKs on the sqgame.net game platform. The Android implant, first seen around October 2024 and produced in at least seven variants, collects contacts, call logs, SMS, device identifiers, location and system metrics, takes periodic screenshots, records audio during evening hours, and exfiltrates targeted files to a C2. The campaign focused on users in the Yanbian region and underscores ScarCruft’s continued use of supply-chain tactics; users are advised to download apps only from official marketplaces and trusted publishers.

🕵️ ESET researchers uncovered a supply‑chain attack by North Korea‑aligned APT ScarCruft that trojanized a Yanbian‑focused gaming platform. The operation used a malicious Windows update to deploy RokRAT and ultimately the sophisticated BirdCall backdoor, while repackaged Android APKs contained a newly identified Android port of BirdCall. The backdoor harvests files, contacts, screenshots and ambient audio for targeted espionage.

⚠️A malicious PyTorch Lightning package (lightning==2.6.3) published to PyPI contained a hidden execution chain that triggers on import and silently spawns a background process. That process downloads the Bun JavaScript runtime (v1.3.13) and runs an 11.4 MB heavily obfuscated payload detected by Microsoft Defender as ShaiWorm. The payload steals .env files, API keys, GitHub tokens, and credentials from Chrome, Firefox, and Brave, and can query cloud APIs; Lightning AI reverted PyPI to 2.6.1 and urges immediate rotation of secrets.