Complex supply-chain attack delivers malicious packages to Alibaba Group developers posing as internal tools. The operation lasted more than three months, using fake package names, layered dependencies and cross-platform remote access trojans to steal credentials, cloud API keys and enterprise data. The campaign was uncovered by researchers looking into lib-mtop, an innocent-looking npm package that was later upgraded in March 2026.
Attackers exploited developers or build environments, solving expected internal dependencies, but sneakily adding malicious additions. Fake AI Infostealer Campaign The threat actors distributed the malware across a series of npm packages which would look harmless when viewed individually.
It used a known Node.js sandbox escape mechanism to escape the VM and run in the host process, which gave it access to Node.js module-loading functions, allowing it to download additional payloads from attacker-controlled infrastructure and execute them. It could run shell commands, upload and download files, discover hosts, deliver payloads, act as a reverse proxy and provide persistence. The below IOCs are related to these functionalities:
- Malicious npm package “lib-mtop”: A downloader package disguised as a private @ali package. ANY.RUN helps you close SOC investigation blind spots, contain threats early, and reduce response costs and business disruption.
