Block Compromised NPM Packages Before CVEs Are Published
Malicious code in trusted packages spreads before vulnerability databases flag threats, requiring detection at the moment of publication.
Key points
- Supply chain attacks now account for one in four significant security incidents.
- Wiz detects compromised packages using AI analysis before CVE publication.
- The Axios compromise showed rapid exposure due to high package popularity.
Compromised open-source packages allow attackers to insert malicious code into development environments and build pipelines before traditional vulnerability databases flag the threat. This speed advantage lets adversaries spread infections across organizations while security teams are still unaware of the compromise.
According to Wiz research, notable supply chain attacks accounted for 25% of significant incidents in the first half of 2026, up from 10% in the second half of 2025. This trend highlights the growing risk of trusting automated package updates without immediate verification of their safety.
The Axios Case Study
During the Axios compromise, an unknown threat actor took over the npm account of a package maintainer. The attacker published two malicious versions, v1.14.1 and v0.30.4, which introduced a dependency on a newly created malicious package called plain-crypto-js.
Although the malicious versions were removed within hours, the damage potential remained high. At the time, Axios was present in approximately 80% of cloud and code environments and downloaded around 100 million times per week. This popularity enabled rapid exposure, with observed execution in 3% of affected environments.
Detection Before CVE Publication
Traditional security teams rely on threat advisories or vulnerability database updates to identify compromised packages. However, zero-day supply chain compromises do not appear in these databases immediately, leaving a dangerous gap between the attack and the detection.
Wiz built a dedicated supply chain detection pipeline to analyze new packages and versions as soon as they are published to npm. This system flags malicious packages and adds detection rules in Wiz Defend before a formal CVE is published, allowing teams to defend proactively.
What to watch
Organizations should monitor for rapid changes in package dependencies and unexpected runtime behavior in their build pipelines. Security teams need to verify that their tools can detect malicious activity at the moment of package installation, rather than waiting for external advisories.
What made it possible
Attackers exploit the inherent trust organizations place in popular open-source libraries and automated update workflows. By compromising maintainer accounts, they can inject malicious code that bypasses standard perimeter defenses. This technique relies on the delay between package publication and vulnerability database updates, allowing malicious versions to be installed and executed before security teams can manually review or block them.
What to do and how to stay safe: Wiz
- Verify that your security tools can detect malicious packages at the time of publication, not just after CVE assignment.
- Review your build pipeline configurations to ensure they do not automatically pull and execute the latest versions of foundational packages without verification.
- Monitor runtime behavior in sandboxed environments to identify suspicious activity from newly installed dependencies.
- Check whether your organization has alerts for compromised packages entering your environment via threat intelligence notifications.
Step-by-step guide: Multi-Factor Authentication Setup for Small Teams
General security guidance from the Shell Bulletin newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
How does Wiz detect supply chain zero days?
Wiz uses a dedicated pipeline that downloads and analyzes new package versions immediately upon publication, using static and dynamic analysis with an AI classifier to flag malicious code before a CVE is published.
What happened in the Axios compromise?
An unknown threat actor compromised an Axios maintainer's npm account and published two malicious versions that introduced a dependency on a malicious package, leading to rapid exposure across many environments.
How common are supply chain attacks?
According to Wiz research, notable supply chain attacks accounted for 25% of significant security incidents in the first half of 2026, up from 10% in the second half of 2025.
