Axios, a widely used HTTP request library, was caught in a supply chain attack involving the malicious releases 1.14.1 and 0.30.4. According to the source material, the attacker compromised the maintainer account jasonsaayman and added a hidden dependency, plain-crypto-js, to deliver malware. Because axios sits inside many web apps, backend services, and AI agent stacks, the blast radius is broad.
Hidden dependency triggered malware through postinstall
The report says the attacker did not alter the core axios source code. Instead, the malicious package added a dependency inside package.json. Once a user ran npm install, the module used a postinstall script to fetch a remote access trojan targeting macOS, Linux, and Windows. The malware was described as capable of gathering system information and enabling remote control, while also removing traces of the script after execution.
SlowMist founder Cos then posted an urgent response on X with commands aimed at both developers and AI agent users. The first step is to check whether the affected axios versions are present:
npm list axios 2>/dev/null | grep -E "1\.14\.1|0\.30\.4"grep -A1 '"axios"' package-lock.json | grep -E "1\.14\.1|0\.30\.4"
Filesystem artifacts may reveal whether the dropper ran
Even if a project file looks clean, the existence of the malicious dependency directory may still indicate exposure. Cos shared this command:
ls node_modules/plain-crypto-js 2>/dev/null && echo "POTENTIALLY AFFECTED"
He also listed operating-system-specific paths for residue checks. A result showing COMPROMISED indicates the machine has been infected. The paths mentioned were /Library/Caches/com.apple.act.mond on macOS, /tmp/ld.py on Linux, and %PROGRAMDATA%\wt.exe on Windows.
AI agents may have pulled the bad packages automatically
The source specifically warned that AI agents such as OpenClaw 3.28 often update dependencies automatically, which could have exposed them during the two-hour window when the poisoned versions were available. Cos advised users to feed the detection prompts directly to their agents so they can scan their own environments. npm has already removed the malicious releases, but systems that installed them do not become safe on their own.
If a system is found to be compromised, the response listed in the source includes rotating API keys, revoking existing credentials, and treating OpenAI keys and exchange API access as affected items as well. Reinstalling the operating system was also mentioned as an option to remove any hidden malware completely.