Axios NPM Package Compromised: Supply Chain Attack Hits JavaScript HTTP Client with 100M+ Weekly Downloads
Axios npm package (100M+ weekly downloads) was compromised on March 30, 2026 when attackers hijacked the lead maintainer's npm account and published malicious versions 1.14.1 and 0.30.4 containing a phantom dependency (plain-crypto-js@4.2.1) that deployed a cross-platform RAT with postinstall hooks. The malware executed platform-specific payloads (AppleScript on macOS, VBScript+PowerShell on Windows, Python on Linux), established C&C callbacks to sfrclak[.]com, and performed anti-forensics by self-destructing and replacing evidence with clean decoys. The attack bypassed GitHub Actions OIDC Trusted Publisher safeguards by using a stolen npm token for manual publication, and npm removed the packages within ~3.5 hours of detection.