
widespread compromise across multiple repos
There is a widespread attack currently affecting GitHub repositories, and the original source/vector is still unclear.
What this attack is doing:
It modifies your GitHub Actions workflows — replacing legitimate build/test/deploy steps with a malicious base64-encoded payload.
That payload gets decoded at runtime and immediately executed as shell code inside the CI runner.
The script is designed to harvest:
- GitHub tokens
- AWS credentials
- GCP credentials
- SSH keys
- npm tokens
- Docker credentials
- Kubernetes secrets
.envfiles- and other sensitive credentials/tokens
It then exfiltrates them to a remote attacker-controlled server.
What you should do immediately:
- Revoke ALL GitHub PATs (classic + fine-grained)
- Remove/revoke OAuth apps
- Remove all SSH keys and rotate them
- Rotate cloud/API credentials
- Rotate npm/Docker/CI secrets
- Audit all GitHub Actions workflows
Important:
Do NOT immediately re-add everything after revoking.
First:
- monitor activity,
- audit systems,
- then re-add access gradually with cooldown periods between integrations/apps.
Also assume local compromise is possible.
Check:
- globally installed npm packages
- local project dependencies
- VS Code/JetBrains extensions
- browser extensions
- shell startup scripts
- GitHub Actions dependencies
- any recently installed tooling
This attack appears heavily focused on supply-chain and CI/CD credential theft.