A Vulnerability In an NPM Package Could Allow for Remote Code Execution

A vulnerability has been discovered in the NPM package ua-parser-js that could allow for remote code execution upon installation of the affected versions. NPM is the default package manager for the Javascript runtime environment Node.js and ua-parser-js is a popular package within NPM that is used for detecting browser, engine, OS, CPU and device type and model information from User-Agent data.

There are reports of this vulnerability being actively exploited for malicious purpose.

A vulnerability has been discovered in the NPM package ua-parser-js that could allow for remote code execution upon installation of the affected versions. Malicious actors uploaded a version of ua-parser-js that contains several malicious scripts. The scripts are executed during installation and download additional malicious files that have been reported to run a cryptocurrency miner, steal saved passwords, export OS credentials, and copy the cookies database file from Chrome.

We recommend the following actions be taken:

• Apply appropriate patches provided by NPM to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing.
• All secrets and keys stored on infected machines should be rotated immediately from a different machine.
• Remind users not to download, accept or execute files from untrusted and unknown sources.
• Remind users not to visit untrusted websites or follow links provided by untrusted or unknown sources.