Sigma rule: Axios NPM Compromise Indicators - macOS

Rule

Title

Axios NPM Compromise Indicators - macOS

Status

experimental

Level

high

Author

Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)

Date

2026-04-01

File

rules-emerging-threats/2026/Malware/Axios-NPM-Compromise/proc_creation_macos_axios_npm_compromise_indicators.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the macOS-specific execution chain of the plain-crypto-js malicious npm dependency in Axios NPM Package, including AppleScript execution via osascript, payload download, permission modification, execution, and cleanup.

Log source

product

macos

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_osascript:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'nohup '
        - 'osascript '
        - '/tmp/6202033'
selection_curl_download:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'curl '
        - 'packages.npm.org/product'
        - '/Library/Caches/com.apple.act.mond'
selection_cleanup:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'rm '
        - '-rf '
        - '/tmp/6202033'
condition: 1 of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unlikely

Tags

• attack.initial-access
• attack.t1195.002
• attack.execution
• attack.command-and-control
• attack.t1059.002
• attack.t1059.004
• attack.t1105
• detection.emerging-threats

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1059.002
• T1059.004
• T1105
• T1195.002

References

• https://www.stepsecurity.io/blog/axios-compromised-on-npm-malicious-versions-drop-remote-access-trojan
• https://www.derp.ca/research/axios-npm-supply-chain-rat/
• https://www.trendmicro.com/zh_hk/research/26/c/axios-npm-package-compromised.html
• https://www.elastic.co/security-labs/axios-supply-chain-compromise-detections
• https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/e10b1fa84f1d6481625f741b69892780140d4e0e7769e7491e5f4d894c2e0e09

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2026/Malware/Axios-NPM-Compromise/proc_creation_macos_axios_npm_compromise_indicators.yml