Axios npm Supply Chain Attack: Malicious Versions Drop Remote Access Trojan

Two malicious versions of axios — a library downloaded over 300 million times every week, deeply embedded in the Node.js ecosystem — were published to npm on March 31, 2026, and caught within hours. axios@1.14.1 and axios@0.30.4 shipped with a hidden dependency that did nothing except execute a postinstall dropper. The dropper fetched OS-specific second-stage payloads from a live command-and-control server, then erased itself and replaced its own manifest to hide the evidence.

If you installed either of those versions, assume your system is compromised.

The Attack in Numbers

• 2 malicious versions published (1.14.1 and 0.30.4)
• ~3 hours these versions were live on npm before removal
• ~300M weekly downloads of axios (enormous blast radius)
• 3 OS targets (macOS, Windows, Linux) — all pre-built payloads
• 18 hours the attacker staged the infrastructure before pulling the trigger

How the Attack Worked

Step 1 — Maintainer Account Hijack

The attacker compromised the npm account of jasonsaayman, the lead axios maintainer. They changed the registered email to an attacker-controlled ProtonMail address, then published malicious builds manually via npm CLI — bypassing the project's normal GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline. This kind of account-level compromise is a reminder of why the JavaScript ecosystem's shift toward OIDC Trusted Publishers matters: cryptographic publish provenance makes it harder for an attacker to pass off a malicious package as legitimate.

A critical forensic signal: every legitimate axios 1.x release is published via npm's OIDC Trusted Publisher mechanism, cryptographically bound to a verified GitHub Actions workflow. The malicious 1.14.1 breaks that pattern entirely — no trustedPublisher, no gitHead, no corresponding Git commit or tag.

// axios@1.14.0 — LEGITIMATE
"_npmUser": {
  "name": "GitHub Actions",
  "email": "npm-oidc-no-reply@github.com",
  "trustedPublisher": { "id": "github", ... }
}

// axios@1.14.1 — MALICIOUS
"_npmUser": {
  "name": "jasonsaayman",
  "email": "ifstap@proton.me"
  // no trustedPublisher, no gitHead
}

There is no commit or tag in the axios GitHub repository corresponding to 1.14.1. The release exists only on npm.

Step 2 — Staging a Phantom Dependency

Before publishing the backdoored axios versions, the attacker seeded a malicious package on npm: plain-crypto-js@4.2.1, published from a separate throwaway account. This package masqueraded as the legitimate crypto-js library — same description, same author attribution, same repository URL — but contained a postinstall hook whose only job was to run a dropper.

A grep across all 86 files in axios@1.14.1 confirms: plain-crypto-js is never imported or require()'d anywhere in the axios source code. It appears in package.json solely to trigger the postinstall hook. Zero lines of malicious code exist inside axios itself.

Step 3 — Cross-Platform RAT Dropper

The postinstall script is a heavily obfuscated JavaScript file. All sensitive strings — C2 URL, shell commands, file paths — are XOR-encoded in an array and decoded at runtime using a key derived from the string "OrDeR_7077". The dropper branches into three OS-specific attack paths:

• macOS: Downloads a RAT binary to /Library/Caches/com.apple.act.mond (designed to mimic an Apple system cache), makes it executable, and launches it silently via osascript
• Windows: Copies PowerShell to %PROGRAMDATA%\wt.exe (disguised as Windows Terminal), drops a VBScript to fetch and execute a second-stage RAT
• Linux: Targets CI/CD environments, fetches a Python-based RAT

Step 4 — Self-Destruct

After deploying the second-stage payload, the dropper deletes itself and swaps in a clean package manifest:

// The attacker's own cleanup code embedded in the dropper
// Replaces malicious package.json with a clean decoy
rename("package.md", "package.json")  // clean stub overwrites evidence
unlink("setup.js")                    // dropper erases itself

A developer inspecting their node_modules after the fact sees no indication anything went wrong.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Malicious packages:

• plain-crypto-js@4.2.1 — malicious dependency, postinstall RAT dropper
• axios@1.14.1 — backdoored 1.x release
• axios@0.30.4 — backdoored 0.x legacy release

C2 infrastructure:

• sfrclak.com:8000 — command and control server (stage-2 delivery)
• Path segments: /6202033, packages.npm.org/product0, packages.npm.org/product1, packages.npm.org/product2

macOS persistence:

• /Library/Caches/com.apple.act.mond — RAT binary dropped on macOS

Windows persistence:

• %PROGRAMDATA%\wt.exe — RAT disguised as Windows Terminal

What You Need to Do Right Now

1. Check your node_modules for axios versions 1.14.1 and 0.30.4. If present, assume compromise.
2. Downgrade immediately to axios@1.14.0 or axios@0.30.3 — the last known clean versions.
3. Audit your systems for IOCs — check for unexpected outbound connections to sfrclak.com:8000, unusual cron/scheduled tasks, or unknown binaries in /Library/Caches (macOS) or %PROGRAMDATA% (Windows).
4. Rotate all secrets and credentials accessed from development machines that ran npm install during the window the malicious versions were live (~March 31, 00:21–03:15 UTC).
5. Review your npm publish workflow — ensure your project uses OIDC Trusted Publishers so that manual token-based publishes break the signature chain.

Why This Attack Wasn'T Opportunistic

The operational sophistication here is notable:

• The attacker seeded a clean decoy package (plain-crypto-js@4.2.0) 18 hours before the malicious release, establishing npm publishing history to avoid "zero-history package" alerts
• Both the 1.x and 0.x release branches were hit 39 minutes apart to maximize coverage
• Separate payloads were pre-built for three operating systems
• The C2 URL uses path segments tied to the npm registry path structure — packages.npm.org/product0/1/2 — making the exfiltration look like ordinary npm traffic
• The dropper uses Apple's legitimate osascript binary on macOS — no malicious binary written to disk until after validation, making EDR detection harder

This is supply chain attack tradecraft at a level previously reserved for state-sponsored operations, now deployed against a top-10 npm package.

Sources: StepSecurity, npm registry metadata, axios GitHub repository. The axios security advisory is available on the npm security advisory database.