Introduction: When Trust Becomes the VulnerabilityThe discovery of Shai-Hulud, a worm-like supply-chain attack targeting the npm ecosystem, marks a turning point in how we...

Introduction: When Trust Becomes the VulnerabilityThe discovery of Shai-Hulud, a worm-like supply-chain attack targeting the npm ecosystem, marks a turning point in how we should think about software security. Unlike traditional malware campaigns that rely on exploiting system vulnerabilities, Shai-Hulud abuses something far more fundamental: developer trust in open-source dependenciesIn this campaign, attackers compromised over 180 npm packages by stealing maintainer credentials and publishing trojanized versions of legitimate libraries. The malware did not require privilege escalation, kernel exploits, or zero-days. Instead, it executed automatically during routine npm install operations — the same workflow developers rely on every day.What makes Shai-Hulud especially dangerous is its self-propagating behavior. Once a single maintainer token is compromised, the...

Introduction: When Trust Becomes the VulnerabilityThe discovery of Shai-Hulud, a worm-like supply-chain attack targeting the npm ecosystem, marks a turning point in how we should think about software security. Unlike traditional malware campaigns that rely on exploiting system vulnerabilities, Shai-Hulud abuses something far more fundamental: developer trust in open-source dependenciesIn this campaign, attackers compromised over 180 npm packages by stealing maintainer credentials and publishing trojanized versions of legitimate libraries. The malware did not require privilege escalation, kernel exploits, or zero-days. Instead, it executed automatically during routine npm install operations — the same workflow developers rely on every day.What makes Shai-Hulud especially dangerous is its self-propagating behavior. Once a single maintainer token is compromised, the...