KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A significant supply chain attack targeted the NPM ecosystem, affecting numerous widely-used packages through malicious versions.
- The Stellar Development Foundation confirmed its projects were unaffected and is actively monitoring the situation.
- The attack involved sophisticated techniques like passive address swapping and transaction hijacking, impacting several cryptocurrency ecosystems.
- Developers are urged to audit their systems to ensure no malicious packages have been installed.
On September 8, 2025, a significant supply chain attack was identified within the NPM ecosystem, affecting numerous widely-used packages. The attack involved the publication of malicious versions of dozens of NPM packages, which are downloaded billions of times weekly. This breach was executed through a phishing attack targeting a prominent NPM developer.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has confirmed that all projects under its GitHub organization remain unaffected. The SDF’s security and engineering teams responded promptly to the incident. While the malicious package versions have been removed from the NPM registry, the situation is evolving, and more affected packages may be discovered. The SDF has committed to ongoing monitoring and will provide updates as necessary.
The attack methodology included passive address swapping and active transaction hijacking via a “monkey-patched” fetch and XMLHTTPRequest call. These actions targeted wallets within the Bitcoin Classic (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Solana (SOL), and Ethereum (ETH) ecosystems. Notably, the Stellar network was not a target in this malware attack.
Developers using NPM are advised to audit their build and deployment pipelines to ensure that no malicious versions of affected packages have been downloaded or installed. Additionally, developers who have recently run “npm” commands should audit their workstations to confirm the absence of these malicious packages.
Further details and updates on the situation can be found on the Stellar Development Foundation’s blog here.
Why This Matters: Impact, Industry Trends & Expert Insights
On September 8, 2025, the NPM ecosystem faced a major supply chain attack, affecting numerous packages with billions of downloads. The Stellar Development Foundation confirmed that its projects were unaffected, highlighting the ongoing risks associated with open-source dependencies.
According to a Vercel report, the current trend in NPM supply chain attacks involves sophisticated, large-scale compromises targeting popular packages to distribute cryptocurrency-draining malware. This aligns with the recent attack’s method of targeting widely-used packages to intercept and redirect cryptocurrency transactions.
As per insights from Sonatype, the attack was not due to a technical vulnerability but rather a successful social engineering exploit via phishing. This reinforces the need for increased vigilance and security measures to protect against similar future threats.
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