New ‘Sandworm_Mode’ Supply Chain Attack Hits NPM

Security researchers have uncovered a new supply chain attack targeting the NPM registry with malicious code that exhibits worm-like propagation capabilities.

Dubbed Sandworm_Mode, the attack was deployed through 19 packages published under two aliases, which relied on typosquatting to trick developers into executing the malicious code.

According to cybersecurity firm Socket, the attack bears the hallmarks of the Shai-Hulud campaign that hit roughly 800 NPM packages in September and November 2025.

Sandworm_Mode abuses stolen NPM and GitHub credentials for propagation and relies on a weaponized GitHub Action to harvest and exfiltrate CI secrets and to inject dependencies and workflows into repositories.

The malicious packages, all of which have been removed from the registry, rely on typosquatting to pose as popular developer utilities, crypto tools, and AI coding utilities, such as Claude Code and OpenClaw.

To weaponize AI coding assistants, the malicious code installs a rogue MCP server (targeting Claude Code ...