PolinRider Loader Reappears in Hijacked npm Packages
Sonatype found concealed loaders in 12 releases of 10 hijacked npm packages that decode C2 server addresses from Ethereum transactions — a blockchain-based evasion tactic that complicates traditional domain blocking.
Summary written by editorial AI · Source link below
TL;DR Sonatype Research Labs identified concealed runtime loaders in 12 npm releases across 10 hijacked packages. All 12 releases contain loaders designed to decode payload-server IP addresses from Ethereum transactions sent by the same hard-coded wallet previously reported in PolinRider activity, then retrieve, XOR-decode, and execute JavaScript. Six conceal the loader in eval(atob(...)) ; six use a character-permutation bootstrap and the JavaScript Function constructor. The manifests show no c
Editorial Analysis
Blockchain-encoded C2 infrastructure in npm packages signals a maturation of supply-chain attacks that sidesteps DNS and domain-reputation defences.
Cross-reference the 10 named packages against your dependency manifests and deploy registry-level malware scanning for all npm pulls.
Attackers are hiding command infrastructure inside blockchain transactions within popular developer packages, requiring new detection approaches beyond domain filtering.
Forward-looking interpretation drafted by editorial AI under human review — not a reproduction of the source. See methodology.
External link — opens at Sonatype Blog in a new tab.
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