Slow Fog flags malicious axios releases pulling in plain-crypto-js malware, exposing crypto developers to cross-platform RATs and stolen credentials via npm.

Blockchain security firm Slow Fog has issued an urgent security reminder after newly published [email protected] and [email protected] releases pulled in a malicious dependency, [email protected], turning one of JavaScript’s most widely used HTTP clients into a supply chain weapon against crypto developers. Axios sees more than 80 million weekly downloads on npm, meaning even a short-lived compromise can ripple across wallet backends, trading bots, exchanges and DeFi infrastructure built on Node.js. In its advisory, Slow Fog warned that “users who installed [email protected] via npm install -g are potentially exposed,” recommending immediate credential rotation and thorough host-side investigation for signs of compromise.

The attack hinges on a fake cryptography package, [email protected], which is silently added as a new dependency and used solely to execute an obfuscated postinstall script that drops a cross-platform remote access trojan targeting Windows, macOS and Linux systems.

Security firm StepSecurity explained that “neither malicious version contains a single line of malicious code inside Axios itself,” and that instead “both inject a fake dependency, [email protected], whose only purpose is to run a postinstall script that deploys a cross-platform remote access trojan (RAT).” Socket’s research team noted that the malicious plain-crypto-js package was published just minutes before the compromised axios release, calling it a “coordinated supply chain attack” against the JavaScript ecosystem.

Axios maintainer account hijacked

According to StepSecurity, the malicious axios releases were pushed using stolen npm credentials belonging to primary maintainer “jasonsaayman,” allowing attackers to bypass the project’s usual GitHub-based release flow. “It’s a live supply chain compromise in [email protected], which newly depends on [email protected]—a package published hours earlier and identified as obfuscated malware that executes shell commands and erases traces,” security engineer Julian Harris wrote on LinkedIn. npm has now removed the malicious versions and reverted the axios resolution back to 1.14.0, but any environment that pulled 1.14.1 or 0.3.4 during the attack window remains at risk until secrets are rotated and systems are rebuilt.

The compromise echoes earlier npm incidents that directly targeted crypto users, including a 2025 campaign in which 18 popular packages like chalk and debug silently swapped wallet addresses to steal funds, prompting Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet to warn that “the affected packages have already been downloaded over 1 billion times.” Researchers have also documented npm malware stealing keys from Ethereum, XRP and Solana wallets, and SlowMist has estimated that crypto hacks and frauds — including backdoored packages and AI-assisted supply chain attacks — caused more than $2.3 billion in losses in the first half of 2025 alone. For now, Slow Fog’s advice is blunt: downgrade axios to 1.14.0, audit dependencies for any trace of [email protected] or openclaw, and assume that any credentials touched by those environments are compromised.

Previous software supply chain warnings

In a previous crypto.news story on JavaScript supply chain attacks, Ledger’s Guillemet warned that compromised npm packages with more than 2 billion weekly downloads posed a systemic risk to dApps and wallets built on Node.js. Another story detailed how North Korea’s Lazarus Group planted malicious npm packages to backdoor developer environments and target Solana and Exodus wallet users. A third crypto.news story on next-generation malware showed how backdoor supply chain attacks via npm and low-cost AI tools helped criminals remotely control over 4,200 developer machines and contributed to billions of dollars in crypto losses.