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Threat actors are now taking advantage of GitHub's search functionality to trick unsuspecting users looking for popular repositories into downloading spurious counterparts that serve malware. The latest assault on the open-source software supply chain involves concealing malicious code within Microsoft Visual Code project files that's designed to download next-stage payloads from a remote URL, Checkmarx  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Attackers create malicious repositories with popular names and topics, using techniques like automated updates and fake stars to boost search rankings and deceive users," security researcher Yehuda Gelb said. The idea is to manipulate the search rankings in GitHub and bring threat actor-controlled repositories to the top when users filter and sort their results based on the most recent updates by consistently committing small changes to a file named "log," and increase the popularity via bogus stars added v

The maintainers of the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository briefly suspended new user sign-ups following an influx of malicious projects uploaded as part of a typosquatting campaign. PyPI said "new project creation and new user registration" was temporarily halted to mitigate what it said was a "malware upload campaign." The incident was resolved 10 hours later, on March 28, 2024, at 12:56 p.m. UTC. Software supply chain security firm Checkmarx said the unidentified threat actors behind flooding the repository targeted developers with typosquatted versions of popular packages. "This is a multi-stage attack and the malicious payload aimed to steal crypto wallets, sensitive data from browsers (cookies, extensions data, etc.), and various credentials," researchers Yehuda Gelb, Jossef Harush Kadouri, and Tzachi Zornstain  said . "In addition, the malicious payload employed a persistence mechanism to survive reboots." The findings were also c

Identities now transcend human boundaries. Within each line of code and every API call lies a non-human identity. These entities act as programmatic access keys, enabling authentication and facilitating interactions among systems and services, which are essential for every API call, database query, or storage account access. As we depend on multi-factor authentication and passwords to safeguard human identities, a pressing question arises: How do we guarantee the security and integrity of these non-human counterparts? How do we authenticate, authorize, and regulate access for entities devoid of life but crucial for the functioning of critical systems? Let's break it down. The challenge Imagine a cloud-native application as a bustling metropolis of tiny neighborhoods known as microservices, all neatly packed into containers. These microservices function akin to diligent worker bees, each diligently performing its designated task, be it processing data, verifying credentials, or

A new deceptive campaign has been observed hijacking GitHub accounts and committing malicious code disguised as Dependabot contributions with an aim to steal passwords from developers. "The malicious code exfiltrates the GitHub project's defined secrets to a malicious C2 server and modify any existing javascript files in the attacked project with a web-form password-stealer malware code effecting any end-user submitting its password in a web form," Checkmarx  said  in a technical report. The malware is also designed to capture GitHub secrets and variables to a remote server by means of a GitHub Action. The software supply chain security firm said it observed the atypical commits to hundreds of public and private GitHub repositories between July 8 and 11, 2023. It has emerged that the victims had their GitHub personal access tokens stolen and used by the threat actors to make falsified code commits to users' repositories by posing as Dependabot. Dependabot  is d

An unknown threat actor is leveraging malicious npm packages to target developers with an aim to steal source code and configuration files from victim machines, a sign of how threats lurk consistently in open-source repositories. "The threat actor behind this campaign has been linked to malicious activity dating back to 2021," software supply chain security firm Checkmarx  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Since then, they have continuously published malicious packages." The latest report is a continuation of the  same campaign  that Phylum disclosed at the start of the month in which a number of npm modules were engineered to exfiltrate valuable information to a remote server. The packages, by design, are configured to execute immediately post-installation by means of a postinstall hook defined in the package.json file. It triggers the launch of preinstall.js, which spawns index.js to capture the system metadata as well as harvest source code and

As part of  Checkmarx's mission  to help organizations develop and deploy secure software, the Security Research team started looking at the security posture of major car manufacturers. Porsche has a well-established Vulnerability Reporting Policy (Disclosure Policy) [1] , it was considered in scope for our research, so we decided to start there, and see what we could find. What we found is an attack scenario that results from chaining security issues found on different Porsche's assets, a website and a GraphQL API, that could lead to data exfiltration. Data exfiltration is an attack technique that can impact businesses and organizations, regardless of size. When malicious users breach a company's or organization's systems and exfiltrate data, it can be a jarring and business-critical moment. Porsche has a diverse online presence - deploying several microsites, websites, and web applications. The Porsche Experience [2] is one website that allows registered users to

Cybersecurity researchers said they have discovered what they say is the first open-source software supply chain attacks specifically targeting the banking sector. "These attacks showcased advanced techniques, including targeting specific components in web assets of the victim bank by attaching malicious functionalities to it," Checkmarx  said  in a report published last week. "The attackers employed deceptive tactics such as creating a fake LinkedIn profile to appear credible and customized command-and-control (C2) centers for each target, exploiting legitimate services for illicit activities." The npm packages have since been reported and taken down. The names of the packages were not disclosed. In the first attack, the malware author is said to have uploaded a couple of packages to the npm registry in early April 2023 by posing as an employee of the target bank. The modules came with a preinstall script to activate the infection sequence. To complete the rus

Secrets are meant to be hidden or, at the very least, only known to a specific and limited set of individuals (or systems). Otherwise, they aren't really secrets. In personal life, a secret revealed can damage relationships, lead to social stigma, or, at the very least, be embarrassing. In a developer's or application security engineer's professional life, the consequences of exposing secrets can lead to breaches of security, data leaks, and, well, also be embarrassing. And while there are tools available for detecting source code and code repositories, there are few options for identifying secrets in plain text, documents, emails, chat logs, content management systems, and more. What Are Secrets? In the context of applications, secrets are sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, cryptographic keys, and other confidential data that an application needs to function but should not be exposed to unauthorized users. Secrets are typically stored securely and access

While the use of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has gained significant popularity as organizations embrace cloud computing and DevOps practices, the speed and flexibility that IaC provides can also introduce the potential for misconfigurations and security vulnerabilities.  IaC allows organizations to define and manage their infrastructure using machine-readable configuration files, which are typically version-controlled and treated as code. IaC misconfigurations are mistakes, or oversights, in the configuration of infrastructure resources and environments that happen when using IaC tools and frameworks. Discover the power of a comprehensive AppSec platform. Download this new whitepaper to discover how to effortlessly integrate application security into every stage of the software development life cycle. Learn about the role of integration and automation, the 7 requirements for choosing an AppSec platform, and how Checkmarx One™ simplifies security. Misconfigurations in IaC ca

If you're involved in securing the applications your organization develops, there is no question that Static Application Security Testing (SAST) solutions are an important part of a comprehensive application security strategy. SAST secures software, supports business more securely, cuts down on costs, reduces risk, and speeds time to development, delivery, and deployment of mission-critical applications.  SAST scans code early during development, so your AppSec team won't be scrambling to fix unexpected vulnerabilities right before that big launch is planned. You'll avoid surprises and launch delays without inadvertently releasing risky software to customers — or into production.  But if you consider SAST as a part of a larger AppSec platform, crucial for those who wish to  shift security everywhere  possible in the software development life cycle (SDLC), some SAST solutions outshine others.  Knowing what to focus on With a plethora of players in the market, sometimes

Threat actors flooded the npm open source package repository for Node.js with bogus packages that briefly even resulted in a denial-of-service (DoS) attack. "The threat actors create malicious websites and publish empty packages with links to those malicious websites, taking advantage of open-source ecosystems' good reputation on search engines," Checkmarx's Jossef Harush Kadouri  said  in a report published last week. "The attacks caused a denial-of-service (DoS) that made NPM unstable with sporadic 'Service Unavailable' errors." While  similar campaigns  were recently observed propagating phishing links, the latest wave pushed the number of package versions to 1.42 million, a dramatic uptick from the approximate 800,000 packages released on npm. The attack technique leverages the fact that open source repositories are ranked higher on search engine results to create rogue websites and upload empty npm modules with links to those sites in the

Threat actors are capitalizing on a popular TikTok challenge to trick users into downloading information-stealing malware, according to new research from Checkmarx. The trend, called  Invisible Challenge , involves applying a filter known as  Invisible Body  that just leaves behind a silhouette of the person's body. But the fact that individuals filming such videos could be undressed has led to a nefarious scheme wherein the attackers post TikTok videos with links to rogue software dubbed "unfilter" that purport to remove the applied filters. "Instructions to get the 'unfilter' software deploy  WASP stealer malware  hiding inside malicious Python packages," Checkmarx researcher Guy Nachshon  said  in a Monday analysis. The WASP stealer (aka W4SP Stealer) is a malware that's designed to steal users' passwords, Discord accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, and other sensitive information. The TikTok videos posted by the attackers, @learncyber an

An ongoing supply chain attack has been leveraging malicious Python packages to distribute malware called W4SP Stealer, with over hundreds of victims ensnared to date. "The threat actor is still active and is releasing more malicious packages," Checkmarx researcher Jossef Harush  said  in a technical write-up, calling the adversary  WASP . "The attack seems related to cybercrime as the attacker claims that these tools are undetectable to increase sales." The findings from Checkmarx build on recent reports from  Phylum  and  Check Point , which flagged 30 different modules published on the Python Package Index (PyPI) that were designed to propagate malicious code under the guise of benign-looking packages. The attack is just the latest threat to target the software supply chain. What makes it notable is the use of steganography to extract a  polymorphic malware  payload hidden within an image file hosted on Imgur. The installation of the package ultimately mak

Cloud-based repository hosting service GitHub has addressed a high-severity security flaw that could have been exploited to create malicious repositories and mount supply chain attacks. The RepoJacking technique,  disclosed  by Checkmarx, entails a bypass of a protection mechanism called  popular repository namespace retirement , which aims to prevent developers from pulling unsafe repositories with the same name. The issue was addressed by the Microsoft-owned subsidiary on September 19, 2022 following responsible disclosure. RepoJacking  occurs  when a creator of a repository opts to change the username, potentially enabling a threat actor to claim the old username and publish a rogue repository with the same name in an attempt to trick users into downloading them. While Microsoft's countermeasure "retire[s] the namespace of any open source project that had more than 100 clones in the week leading up to the owner's account being renamed or deleted," Checkmarx