A sophisticated cyberespionage campaign, linked to North Korean hackers, has been uncovered by Amazon, targeting some of the most widely used open-source software packages in the Node Package Manager (npm) ecosystem. The attackers, identified as part of the Sapphire Sleet threat actor, have compromised several critical libraries, including typo-crypto, debug, chalk, and axios, affecting an estimated 10% of cloud environments within a matter of hours.
The campaign began with the trojanization of the typo-crypto package in March 2025, which Amazon believes served as a testing ground for the attackers. The subsequent compromises of the debug and chalk packages in September 2025 were more widespread and targeted, affecting thousands of users. In March 2026, the hacker struck again, compromising axios, one of npm’s most popular packages with over 100 million weekly downloads.
The attacks are attributed to Sapphire Sleet based on shared tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed in the campaign, as well as similarities in command-and-control infrastructure. The attackers gained access by socially engineering package maintainers, who were tricked into publishing malicious updates that were automatically distributed to unsuspecting users.
The investigation has revealed several disturbing trends in the recent supply-chain attacks. Attackers are increasingly using AI-generated code and documentation to build trust with developers before introducing malicious functionality. They are also relying on external scripts, configuration files, or servers that can be weaponized later, making detection more difficult. Furthermore, malware is using stronger encryption and multi-stage payloads, with runtime or remotely fetched keys that hinder static analysis.
The attackers’ motives appear to be financial, targeting popular packages to gain indirect access to a large pool of potential downstream victims at once. Amazon’s research highlights the importance of addressing these threats, particularly in light of emerging trends such as “slopsquatting,” where attackers register package names hallucinated by AI coding assistants, hoping developers or autonomous coding agents will install them.
In response to these dangers, Amazon has reported its findings and intelligence to the community, collaborated with OpenSSF and other industry partners, and invested $12.5M in the Akrites initiative, which helps protect critical open-source software from AI-enabled attacks. As security teams struggle to detect and prevent supply-chain attacks, it’s essential for developers to be vigilant and test every layer of their environment before attackers do. This involves not only implementing robust security measures but also staying informed about emerging threats and best practices in the field.
Source: Bleeping Computer — 2026-07-30