A little-known npm package was North Korea\u2019s warm-up act for the axios hack | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amazon security researchers reveal North Korean hackers spent a year testing minor packages as a rehearsal for major open-source software attacks.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/amazon-north-korea-open-source-software-attacks\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A little-known npm package was North Korea\u2019s warm-up act for the axios hack\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amazon security researchers reveal North Korean hackers spent a year testing minor packages as a rehearsal for major open-source software attacks.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/amazon-north-korea-open-source-software-attacks\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta 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id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"26.011441647597\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"35.597156398104\">\n<p> Amazon’s threat intelligence team traced domain records from the open-source software hack to a smaller, earlier compromise by the same North Korean group. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/90027\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a-little-known-npm-package-was-north-koreas-warm-up-act-for-the-axios-hack.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" 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class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"51.103719870943\"><body readability=\"103.45316509837\"><\/p>\n<p>Amazon\u2019s security researchers say a hacking group tied to <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/north-korea\/\">North Korea<\/a> targeted small, little-noticed software packages more than a year before it struck one of the internet\u2019s most widely used programming tools.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s threat intelligence team said Wednesday at a media roundtable at its Arlington, Va., offices that the same group linked to the recent compromise of the <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/axios-software-developer-tool-attack-compromise\/\">open-source axios software library<\/a> also planted malicious code in a package called <a href=\"https:\/\/store.boilerplate.com\/product\/npm\/dHlwby1jcnlwdG8=\">typo-crypto<\/a> in March 2025, a full year before the axios breach. Researchers found the connection while tracing domain records tied to the axios attack back to earlier activity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe the March 2025 typo-crypto campaign was a rehearsal,\u201d said CJ Moses, Amazon\u2019s chief information security officer, adding that the target\u2019s small scale let the group test its methods \u201cwithout putting that on the big stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/blogs\/security\/amazon-identifies-north-korean-hacker-group-behind-open-source-supply-chain-attacks\/\">Amazon said<\/a> the group also compromised two other packages, <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/debug-js\/debug\">debug<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/chalk\">chalk<\/a>, in September 2025. Until now, those three incidents had not been publicly linked to the same actor. Security researchers track the group under several names, including UNC1069, Sapphire Sleet and Stardust Chollima. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Axios, debug and chalk are code libraries used by software developers around the world to build applications. Axios alone is downloaded more than 100 million times a week. \u201cThat number represents real organizations putting real code into production systems every single week,\u201d Moses said.<\/p>\n<p>In the typo-crypto case, the malicious file was named \u201ccore.js\u201d and was made to look like a legitimate, unrelated package called core-js. <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/amazon\/\">Amazon<\/a> said the file activated only when it received a specific numeric input, then reached out to a server controlled by the attackers to download a second piece of code. That second stage was written differently depending on whether the infected computer ran Windows, macOS or Linux. The code combined encoded text with a cipher, a method Moses said was meant to slow down analysis, including by <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/tag\/artificial-intelligence-ai\/\">AI<\/a>-based review tools, without relying on heavy encryption.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon said the typo-crypto package had few downloads compared with axios, debug or chalk. Researchers believe that initial target served as practice, letting the group refine its approach before turning to more widely used software. \u201cThey did what a lot of people do: crawl, walk, run,\u201d Moses said. <\/p>\n<p>In each of the four cases, Amazon said, the attackers built a relationship with a maintainer who already had access to a package, then used that access to publish an update containing hidden code. \u201cThey didn\u2019t break through a window,\u201d Moses said. \u201cThey basically earned the trust of an employee to hand them the keys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cybersecurity firm Wiz separately found that about 1 in 10 cloud computing environments were affected by the debug and chalk incident within a two-hour span, a finding Moses cited to illustrate how fast the impact spread. \u201cGoing from there not being a vulnerability, to there being a vulnerability, to there being an exploited vulnerability \u2026 used to be days to weeks. Now it\u2019s hours to minutes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rick Anthony, senior engineering manager at Amazon Web Services, said the research further shows how attackers face two basic problems in these types of incidents: getting malicious code into a package that will eventually run inside an organization, and keeping that code hidden from developers or security tools. He said groups are increasingly building reputations as legitimate contributors over time. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me get my package deployed in as many places as possible so that I can spring the trap later,\u201d said Anthony, describing the mindset behind the approach.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers said generative AI has made it easier for attackers to produce code, documentation and contribution histories that look authentic. Anthony also described a technique in which attackers register package names that AI coding tools sometimes generate by mistake, so a developer following an AI suggestion could install malicious software without making any typing error of their own.<\/p>\n<p>The findings come two years after a separate incident involving a program called xz-utils, in which an attacker spent time gaining the trust of the software\u2019s maintainers <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/open-source-security-trust-xz-utils\/\">before inserting a backdoor<\/a>. Moses pointed to that case as an early example of a pattern now appearing \u201cat scale\u201d and tied to a nation-state.<\/p>\n<p>Since that incident, separate groups have been running roughshod over open-source software. Another group known as TeamPCP <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/teampcp-breaks-open-source-software-trust-model\/\">has compromised and injected malicious code<\/a> into more than 1,000 software packages over a four-month span this year. <\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.8842905405405\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"14\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a-little-known-npm-package-was-north-koreas-warm-up-act-for-the-axios-hack-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Greg Otto\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Greg Otto<\/h4>\n<p> Greg Otto is Editor-in-Chief of CyberScoop, overseeing all editorial content for the website. Greg has led cybersecurity coverage that has won various awards, including accolades from the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Prior to joining Scoop News Group, Greg worked for the Washington Business Journal, U.S. News & World Report and WTOP Radio. He has a degree in broadcast journalism from Temple University. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 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{"id":8879,"date":"2026-07-29T16:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T21:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=90027"},"modified":"2026-07-29T16:09:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T21:09:57","slug":"a-little-known-npm-package-was-north-koreas-warm-up-act-for-the-axios-hack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/a-little-known-npm-package-was-north-koreas-warm-up-act-for-the-axios-hack\/","title":{"rendered":"A little-known npm package was North Korea\u2019s warm-up act for the axios hack"},"content":{"rendered":"