Malware & Threats New ‘Sandworm_Mode’ Supply Chain Attack Hits NPM The malicious code propagates like a worm, poisons AI assistants, exfiltrates secrets, and contains a destructive dead switch. By Ionut Arghire | February 24, 2026 (8:40 AM ET) Flipboard Reddit Whatsapp Whatsapp Email Security researchers have uncovered a new supply chain attack targeting the NPM registry with malicious code that exhibits worm-like propagation capabilities. Dubbed Sandworm_Mode , the attack was deployed through 19 packages published under two aliases, which relied on typosquatting to trick developers into executing the malicious code. According to cybersecurity firm Socket, the attack bears the hallmarks of the Shai-Hulud campaign that hit roughly 800 NPM packages in September and November 2025. Sandworm_Mode abuses stolen NPM and GitHub credentials for propagation and relies on a weaponized GitHub Action to harvest and exfiltrate CI secrets and to inject dependencies and workflows into repositories. The malicious packages, all of which have been removed from the registry, rely on typosquatting to pose as popular developer utilities, crypto tools, and AI coding utilities, such as Claude Code and OpenClaw. To weaponize AI coding assistants, the malicious code installs a rogue MCP server (targeting Claude Code, Cursor, Continue, and Windsurf) and relies on prompt injection for the exfiltration of SSH keys, AWS credentials, NPM tokens, and other secrets. Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. The code also harvests API keys for LLM providers, environment variables, and .env files, and validates them. Additionally, it calls a local Ollama instance to modify variable names, rewrite control flows, insert decoy code, and encode strings. Sandworm_Mode executes a multi-stage attack, where the initial credential and crypto key exfiltration is followed by deep harvesting of secrets from password managers, MCP server injection, persistence via Git hooks, worm propagation, and multi-channel exfiltration. “This two-phase design is deliberate: the most financially damaging operation, crypto key theft, runs instantly and unconditionally, while the noisier operations are deferred to evade short-lived sandbox analysis,” Socket explains. The code also contains a configurable but inactive dead switch capability to trigger home-directory wiping when losing access to GitHub and NPM. The same as Shai-Hulud, Sandworm_Mode propagates by infecting existing packages but can also use carrier packages for propagation, adding a dependency reference to trigger a pull request workflow in GitHub Action and harvest and exfiltrate all repository secrets, EndorLabs explains. Developers are advised to remove any of the malicious packages they might have installed, to check their packages for recent changes to JSON files, rotate all GitHub and NPM credentials, tokens, and CI secrets, and check for unexpected workflows. Related: Shai-Hulud Supply Chain Attack Led to $8.5 Million Trust Wallet Heist Related: GitHub Issues Abused in Copilot Attack Leading to Repository Takeover Related: Hundreds of FortiGate Firewalls Hacked in AI-Powered Attacks: AWS Related: Microsoft Warns of ClickFix Attack Abusing DNS Lookups Written By Ionut Arghire Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek. More from Ionut Arghire Recent RoundCube Webmail Vulnerability Exploited in Attacks Over 300 Malicious Chrome Extensions Caught Leaking or Stealing User Data Dutch Carrier Odido Discloses Data Breach Impacting 6 Million CISA Warns of Exploited SolarWinds, Notepad++, Microsoft Vulnerabilities Chrome 145 Patches 11 Vulnerabilities ApolloMD Data Breach Impacts 626,000 Individuals Microsoft to Enable ‘Windows Baseline Security’ With New Runtime Integrity Safeguards Nucleus Raises $20 Million for Exposure Management Latest News GitHub Issues Abused in Copilot Attack Leading to Repository Takeover Taiwan Security Firm Confirms Flaw Flagged by CISA Likely Exploited by Chinese APTs Anonymous Fénix Members Arrested in Spain US Healthcare Diagnostic Firm Says 140,000 Affected by Data Breach Ukrainian Gets 5 Years in US Prison for Aiding North Korean IT Fraud Autonomous AI Agents Provide New Class of Supply Chain Attack Romanian Hacker Pleads Guilty to Selling Access to US State Network Hundreds of FortiGate Firewalls Hacked in AI-Powered Attacks: AWS Trending Daily Briefing Newsletter Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts. Webinar: Identity Under Attack: Why Every Business Must Respond Now February 11, 2026 Attendees will walk away with guidance for how to build robust identity defenses, unify them under a consistent security model, and ensure business operations move quickly without compromise. Register Virtual Event: Ransomware Resilience & Recovery 2026 Summit February 25, 2026 SecurityWeek’s 2026 Ransomware Summit will discuss a roadmap for defending the enterprise, from mitigating root causes to mastering recovery, giving security teams the critical insights needed to navigate and neutralize today’s ransomware extortion threats. Submit People on the Move Wealth management platform Envestnet announced the appointment of Rich Friedberg as CISO. Yuneeb Khan has been named Chief Financial Officer of KnowBe4, succeeding Bob Reich, who is retiring. Cyera has appointed Brandon Sweeney as President, Shira Azran as Chief Legal Officer and Joseph Iantosca as Chief Financial Officer. More People On The Move Expert Insights How to Eliminate the Technical Debt of Insecure AI-Assisted Software Development Developers must view AI as a collaborator to be closely monitored, rather than an autonomous entity to be unleashed. Without such a mindset, crippling tech debt is inevitable. (Matias Madou) Security in the Dark: Recognizing the Signs of Hidden Information Security failures don’t always start with attackers, sometimes they start with missing truth. (Joshua Goldfarb) Living off the AI: The Next Evolution of Attacker Tradecraft Living off the AI isn’t a hypothetical but a natural continuation of the tradecraft we’ve all been defending against, now mapped onto assistants, agents, and MCP. (Etay Maor) Why We Can’t Let AI Take the Wheel of Cyber Defense The fastest way to squander the promise of AI is to mistake automation for assurance, and novelty for resilience. (Steve Durbin) The Upside Down is Real: What Stranger Things Teaches Us About Modern Cybersecurity To all those who are fighting the good fight in the world of cyber, keep collaborating to ensure our world never succumbs to the chaos of the Upside Down. (Nadir Izrael) Flipboard Reddit Whatsapp Whatsapp Email