Suspicious npm Credential Scan via whoami and npmrc Access

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1552.001Credentials In Files
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the npm whoami identity check combined with access to the .npmrc credential file, a credential-harvesting step in the Shai Hulud 2.0 worm. The malicious payload queries npm /-/whoami and reads .npmrc to steal publishing tokens for propagating to further packages. Automated npm authentication probing paired with npmrc token access is a strong indicator of supply-chain credential theft.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1552.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious npm Credential Scan via whoami and npmrc Access

Pivot detection · T1552.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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