02-echo

Problem

Threat researchers have manually inspected the software package and determined that it contains one or more malicious files. The detection was made by a hash-based file reputation lookup. This malware detection method is considered highly accurate, and can typically identify the malware family by name.

Problem

Software components contain executable code that performs actions implemented during its development. These actions are called behaviors. In the analysis report, behaviors are presented as human-readable descriptions that best match the underlying code intent. Node Package Manager (NPM) repository is often abused by threat actors to publish software packages that exhibit malicious behaviors. Malware authors use numerous tactics to lure developers into including malicious NPM packages in their software projects. Most malicious packages published on NPM target developers and their workstations. However, some are designed to activate only when deployed in the end-user environment. Both types of NodeJS malicious packages are detected by proprietary ReversingLabs threat hunting algorithms. This detection method is considered proactive, and it is based on Machine Learning (ML) algorithms that can detect novel malware. The detection is strongly influenced by behaviors that software components exhibit. Behaviors similar to previously discovered malware and software supply chain attacks may cause some otherwise benign software packages to be detected by this policy.

Problem

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are structured addresses that point to locations and assets on the internet. URLs allow software developers to build complex applications that exchange data with servers that can be hosted in multiple geographical regions. URLs can commonly be found embedded in documentation, configuration files, source code and compiled binaries. One or more embedded URLs were discovered to link to raw files hosted on GitHub. Attackers often abuse popular web services to host malicious payloads. Since code-sharing services URLs are typically allowed by security solutions, using them for payload delivery increases the odds that the malicious code will reach the user. While the presence of code-sharing service locations does not imply malicious intent, all of their uses in a software package should be documented and approved. An increasing number of software supply chain attacks in the open source space leverages the GitHub service to deliver malicious payloads.

Problem

Software components contain executable code that performs actions implemented during its development. These actions are called behaviors. In the analysis report, behaviors are presented as human-readable descriptions that best match the underlying code intent. While most behaviors are benign, some are commonly abused by malicious software with the intent to cause harm. When a software package shares behavior traits with malicious software, it may become flagged by security solutions. Any detection from security solutions can cause friction for the end-users during software deployment. While the behavior is likely intended by the developer, there is a small chance this detection is true positive, and an early indication of a software supply chain attack.

Problem

Obfuscation is a process of mangling the software code legibility. Obfuscation can be applied to both the application source and its compiled code counterpart. In both cases, obfuscation can interfere with the accuracy of security and software quality assessment solutions. For this reason, obfuscation is a technique commonly used by malicious actors as a means of bypassing security solutions and avoiding detection. While presence of obfuscation does not imply malicious intent, all of its uses in a software package should be documented and approved. One example of acceptable use for code obfuscation is minimizing the size of script files that are not intended to be read by humans. In such a case, the trade-off between file size and code legibility is considered acceptable.