Suspicious npm Credential Scan via whoami and npmrc Access

PremiumReviewedSigma · Low · v1
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-06-08
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. 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.

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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.