NPM flooded with malicious packages downloaded more than 86k times

Post by jsrozner » Thu, Oct 30, 2025, 11:57 PM UTC

zahlman wrote: post #49

crtasm wrote: post #4

>When you run npm install, npm doesn't just download packages. It executes code. Specifically, it runs lifecycle scripts defined in package.json - preinstall, install, and postinstall hooks. What's the legitimate use case for a package install being allowed to run arbitrary commands on your computer? Quote is from the researchers report https://www.koi.ai/blog/phantomraven-npm-malware-hidden-in-i... edit: I was think…

> doesn't just download packages. It executes code. Specifically, it It pains me to remember that the reason LLMs write like this is because many humans did in the training data.

Post by cxr » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 12:04 AM UTC

chrisweekly wrote: post #66

cxr wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I am literally describing bog standard use of an ordinary VCS/SCM where the code for e.g. Skia, sqlite, libpng, etc. is placed in a "third-party/" subdirectory. Except I'm deliberately using the words "admit" and "depository" here instead of "commit" and "repository" in keeping with the theme—of the widespread failure of people to use SCMs to manage the corresponding source code required to build their product/pr…

Huh? "Just use git" is kind of nonsensical in the context of this discussion.

Post by ashishb » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 12:22 AM UTC

phiresky wrote: post #68

ashishb wrote: post #58

Here's my `npm` command these days. It reduces the attack surface drastically. alias npm='docker run --rm -it -v ${PWD}:${PWD} --net=host --workdir=${PWD} node:25-bookworm-slim npm' - No access to my env vars - No access to anything outside my current directory (usually a JS project). - No access to my .bashrc or other files. Ref: https://ashishb.net/programming/run-tools-inside-docker/

That seems a bit excessive to sandbox a command that really just downloads arbitrary code you are going to execute immediately afterwards anyways? Also I can recommend pnpm, it has stopped executing lifecycle scripts by default so you can whitelist which ones to run.

Post by jhancock » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 12:27 AM UTC

650REDHAIR wrote: post #10

As a hobbyist how do I stay protected and in the loop for breaches like this? I often follow guides that are popular and written by well-respected authors and I might be too flippant with installing dependencies trying to solve a pain point that has derailed my original project. Somewhat related, I also have a small homelab running local services and every now and then I try a new technology. occasionally I’ll build…

Post by rickstanley » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 12:35 AM UTC

suck-my-spez wrote: post #37

numbsafari wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't do development on your local machine. Full stop. Just don't. Do development, all of it, inside VMs or containers, either local or remote. Use ephemeral credentials within said VMs, or use no credentials. For example, do all your git pulls on your laptop directly, or in a separate VM with a mounted volume that is then shared with the VM/containers where you are running dev tooling. This has the added benefit of…

Are people actually using UTM to do local development? Im genuinely curious because I casually looked into it so that i could work on some hobby stuff over lunch on my work machine. However I just assumed the performance wouldn't be too great. Would love to hear how people are setup…

    while not ssh -p 2222 arch@localhost; sleep 2; end;

    virsh start arch-linux_testing && virsh qemu-monitor-command --hmp arch-linux_testing 'hostfwd_add ::2222-:22' && while not ssh -p 2222 arch@localhost; sleep 2; end;

    arch@archlinux ~> sudo systemctl mask systemd-time-wait-sync.service 
    arch@archlinux ~> sudo systemctl disable systemd-time-wait-sync.service