Checkmarx blog post
170K+ Python Developers GitHub Accounts Hacked

The Checkmarx Research team found out that hackers attacked the software supply chain and managed to breach the Top.gg GitHub organization, which has over 170,000 users, and also targeted individual developers.

These hackers took over accounts by stealing browser cookies, added bad code with verified commits, created a fake Python mirror, and uploaded harmful packages to the PyPi registry. This blog will discuss the attack and how the hackers did it.

This malicious campaign is based on an attacker combining various techniques to quietly attack the software supply chain, especially targeting the Python ecosystem. The campaign cleverly spread a harmful dependency through a fake Python infrastructure, linking it to well-known GitHub projects and official Python packages.

Mohammed Dief, a Python developer and victim of the campaign, provided a disturbing account of the attack’s stealth and impact. Dief saw a strange error on his laptop, which was the first clue that his computer was hacked.

Among the notable victims of this campaign is the Top.gg GitHub organization, a community boasting over 170,000 members.

Attackers took over GitHub accounts with high reputations, including “editor-syntax,” who had write permissions to Top.gg’s repositories.

They carried out harmful actions and made their harmful repositories more visible and credible, affecting both individual developers and entire communities.

Software supply chains are at risk of advanced attacks, including social engineering, account hijacking, and harmful software being uploaded to the PyPi registry. The campaign appears to have successfully exploited multiple victims. To read out the full article click here.