The Node Package Manager (npm) security team has nearly extracted 17 JavaScript libraries with the malicious code, and these were caught hijacking the Discord servers.
All these malicious codes are specifically designed to steal Discord access tokens and environment variables from the victim’s computers. But, the experts affirmed that they have luckily removed the malicious code before causing a lot of damages.
After investigating the codes, among the 17 JavaScript, 4 of the libraries contained the capability to accumulate Discord access tokens. However, these tokens will later act as authentication cookies, enabling the threat actors to hijack the developer Discord accounts easily.
Stealing Discord Tokens
Now the question arises that why the threat actors are stealing Discord tokens? Discord is a universal digital communication medium that has nearly 350 million registered users that allows communication through:-
- Voice calls
- Video calls
- Text messaging
- Media files
And all these were done by the threat actors either privately or within a constant virtual room named “servers.”
Enticing Reasons
Some reasons will clarify why threat actors target Discord tokens, and that’s why here we have mentioned them below:-
- Using the medium as part of an attack
- Spreading malware to Discord users
- Selling stolen premium accounts
Payloads
Here are the payloads used by the threat actors:-
- Discord token grabber
- PirateStealer
- Environment variable stealer
- Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
The fifth npm package included PirateStealer; this malware is specifically used for removing all the data like payment card details, credentials, and personal information from applications and Discord accounts.
However, after stealing the credentials, the app code then “spies” on the user, and later it transmits all the stolen data to a hardcoded address. Among all the 17 Javascript libraries, the experts found a total of 11 Environment variable stealers.
While the Discord token grabber is very stealthy since they are less caught or detected by the AV tools, as it does not do the following things:-
- Do not register itself anywhere.
- Do not modify any files.
- Do not perform suspicious operations.
Package Repositories in The Crosshairs
Malicious packages are quite common for cyberattacks, and that’s why the threat actor has detected such packages in different attacks that we have mentioned below:-
- In December, two of the software packages were taken offline of RubyGems, an open-source package repository and manager, as they have been attacked with Bitcoin-stealing malware.
- The experts found other Discord-stealing malware in January.
- The experts again detected a malicious package attacking Amazon, Slack, Lyft, and Zillow in March.
- In June, the security experts detected the crypto miners group that penetrated the Python Package Index (PyPI).
- A credentials-stealing package has been also detected in July that utilizes the legitimate password-recovery tools in Google’s Chrome.
These kinds of attacks are getting quite common, as the threat actors are using these methods in different cyberattacks. As they operate public hack tools with small modifications which are confused using public obfuscators.
A huge number of malicious npm and PyPI packages has been detected that are stealing Discord access tokens. These attacks are increasing rapidly due to which the experts are trying their best to overcome this kind of attack.
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