A big provide chain assault hit NPM after 16 widespread Gluestack ‘react-native-aria’ packages with over 950,000 weekly downloads have been compromised to incorporate malicious code that acts as a distant entry trojan (RAT).
BleepingComputer decided that the compromise started on June 6 at 4:33 PM EST, when a brand new model of the react-native-aria/focus bundle was printed to NPM. Since then, 16 of the 20 Gluestack react-native-aria packages have been compromised on NPM, with the risk actors publishing a brand new model as just lately as two hours in the past.
Supply: BleepingComputer
The provision chain assault was found by cybersecurity agency Aikido Safety, who found obfuscated code injected into the lib/index.js file for the next packages:
| Bundle Identify | Model | Weekly Downloads |
| react-native-aria/button | 0.2.11 | 51,000 |
| react-native-aria/checkbox | 0.2.11 | 81,000 |
| react-native-aria/combobox | 0.2.10 | 51,000 |
| react-native-aria/disclosure | 0.2.9 | 3 |
| react-native-aria/focus | 0.2.10 | 100,000 |
| react-native-aria/interactions | 0.2.17 | 125,000 |
| react-native-aria/listbox | 0.2.10 | 51,000 |
| react-native-aria/menu | 0.2.16 | 22,000 |
| react-native-aria/overlays | 0.3.16 | 96,000 |
| react-native-aria/radio | 0.2.14 | 78,000 |
| react-native-aria/change | 0.2.5 | 477 |
| react-native-aria/toggle | 0.2.12 | 81,000 |
| react-native-aria/utils | 0.2.13 | 120,000 |
| gluestack-ui/utils | 0.1.17 | 55,000 |
| react-native-aria/separator | 0.2.7 | 65 |
| react-native-aria/slider | 0.2.13 | 51,000 |
These packages are highly regarded, with roughly 960,000 weekly downloads, making this a provide chain assault that might have widespread penalties.
The malicious code is closely obfuscated and is appended to the final line of supply code within the file, padded with many areas, so it is not simply noticed when utilizing the code viewer on the NPM website.
Supply: BleepingComputer
Aikido informed BleepingComputer that the malicious code is almost similar to a distant entry trojan in one other NPM compromise they found final month.
The researcher’s evaluation of the earlier marketing campaign explains that the distant entry trojan will connect with the attackers’ command and management server and obtain instructions to execute.
These instructions embody:
- cd – Change present working listing
- ss_dir – Reset listing to script’s path
- ss_fcd:
- ss_upf:f,d – Add single file f to vacation spot d
- ss_upd:d,dest – Add all recordsdata beneath listing d to vacation spot dest
- ss_stop – Units a cease flag to interrupt present add course of
- Every other enter – Handled as a shell command, executed through child_process.exec()
The trojan additionally performs Home windows PATH hijacking by prepending a pretend Python path (%LOCALAPPDATApercentProgramsPythonPython3127) to the PATH atmosphere variable, permitting the malware to silently override authentic python or pip instructions to execute malicious binaries.
Aikido sercurity researcher Charlie Eriksen has tried to contact Gluestack concerning the compromise by creating GitHub points on every of the challenge’s repositories, however there has not been any response at the moment.
“No response from bundle maintainers (it is morning on a saturday within the US which is prob precisely why its taking place now),” Arkido informed BleepingComputer.
“NPM we’ve contacted and reported every bundle, this can be a course of that normally takes a number of days for NPM to handle although.”
Aikido additionally attributes this assault to the identical risk actors who compromised 4 different NPM packages earlier this week named biatec-avm-gas-station, cputil-node, lfwfinance/sdk, and lfwfinance/sdk-dev.
BleepingComputer reached out to Gluestack concerning the compromised packages however has not obtained a reply at the moment.
Patching used to imply complicated scripts, lengthy hours, and infinite fireplace drills. Not anymore.
On this new information, Tines breaks down how trendy IT orgs are leveling up with automation. Patch sooner, scale back overhead, and deal with strategic work — no complicated scripts required.
