Add content from: The npm Threat Landscape: Attack Surface and Mitigations

Author: HackTricks News Bot

src/pentesting-ci-cd/pentesting-ci-cd-methodology.md

@@ -87,6 +87,25 @@ Knowing the 3 flavours to poison a pipeline, lets check what an attacker could o
   - **Select it:** Sometimes the **pipelines platform will have configured several machines** and if you can **modify the CI configuration file** you can **indicate where you want to run the malicious code**. In this situation, an attacker will probably run a reverse shell on each possible machine to try to exploit it further.
 - **Compromise production**: If you ware inside the pipeline and the final version is built and deployed from it, you could **compromise the code that is going to end running in production**.
 
+### Dependency & Registry Supply-Chain Abuse
+
+Compromising a CI/CD pipeline or stealing credentials from it can let an attacker move from **pipeline execution** to **ecosystem-wide code execution** by backdooring dependencies or release tooling:
+
+- **Install-time code execution via package hooks**: publish a package version that adds `preinstall`, `postinstall`, `prepare`, or similar hooks so the payload runs automatically on developer workstations and CI runners during dependency installation.
+- **Secondary execution paths**: even if targets install with `--ignore-scripts`, a malicious package can still register a **common CLI name** in the `bin` field so the attacker-controlled wrapper is symlinked into `PATH` and executes later when the command is used.
+- **Runtime bootstrapping**: a small installer can download a second runtime or toolchain during installation (for example Bun or a packed interpreter) and then launch the main payload with it, avoiding local dependency requirements.
+- **Credential harvesting from build environments**: once code runs inside CI, check environment variables, `~/.npmrc`, `~/.git-credentials`, SSH keys, cloud CLI configs, and local tooling such as `gh auth token`. On GitHub Actions, also look for runner-specific secrets and artifacts.
+- **Workflow injection with stolen GitHub tokens**: a token with **`repo` + `workflow`** permissions is enough to create a branch, commit a malicious file inside `.github/workflows/`, trigger it, collect the produced artifacts/logs, and then delete the temporary branch/workflow run to reduce traces.
+- **Wormable registry propagation**: stolen npm tokens should be validated for **publish** permissions and whether they bypass 2FA. If they do, enumerate writable packages, download their tarballs, inject a loader such as `setup.mjs`, set `preinstall` to execute it, bump the patch version, and republish. This turns one CI compromise into downstream auto-execution in other environments.
+
+#### Practical checks during an assessment
+
+- Review release automation for package-manager hooks added to `package.json`, unexpected `bin` entries, or version bumps that only modify the release artifact.
+- Check whether CI stores long-lived registry credentials in plaintext files such as `~/.npmrc` instead of using short-lived OIDC or trusted publishing.
+- Verify whether GitHub tokens available in CI can write workflow files or create branches/tags.
+- If a compromised package is suspected, inspect the published tarball and not only the Git repository, because the malicious loader/runtime may exist only in the published artifact.
+- Hunt for unexpected package-manager execution inside CI such as `npm install` instead of `npm ci`, unexpected Bun downloads/execution, or new workflow artifacts generated from transient branches.
+
 ## More relevant info
 
 ### Tools & CIS Benchmark
@@ -109,6 +128,8 @@ Check this interesting article about the top 10 CI/CD risks according to Cider:
 ## References
 
 - [https://www.cidersecurity.io/blog/research/ppe-poisoned-pipeline-execution/?utm_source=github\&utm_medium=github_page\&utm_campaign=ci%2fcd%20goat_060422](https://www.cidersecurity.io/blog/research/ppe-poisoned-pipeline-execution/?utm_source=github&utm_medium=github_page&utm_campaign=ci%2fcd%20goat_060422)
+- [The npm Threat Landscape: Attack Surface and Mitigations](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/monitoring-npm-supply-chain-attacks/)
+- [Checkmarx Security Update: April 22, 2026](https://checkmarx.com/blog/checkmarx-security-update-april-22/?p=108469)
 
 
 {{#include ../banners/hacktricks-training.md}}