Hacker Hijacks Axios Open-Source Project, Used By Millions, To Push Malware
North Korean hackers hijacked the Axios npm library in a dangerous supply chain attack. Here is what happened and how to protect yourself.
Matilda
Hacker Hijacks Axios Open-Source Project, Used By Millions, To Push Malware
North Korean Hackers Hijacked Axios — And Millions of Developers Were at Risk If you use JavaScript to build software, you need to read this. On the night of March 30 into March 31, 2026, a suspected North Korean hacker quietly slipped malicious code into Axios, one of the most downloaded JavaScript libraries on the internet. The attack was stopped in roughly three hours, but the damage window was real, and security experts are still assessing the full fallout. This was not a theoretical threat. This was a live, targeted supply chain attack on a tool downloaded tens of millions of times every single week. What Is Axios and Why Does This Attack Matter So Much For developers who may not be familiar, Axios is a JavaScript library that allows software applications to communicate over the internet. It is a foundational building block used in web apps, mobile backends, developer tools, and enterprise systems worldwide. Its popularity is precisely what made it such a valuable target. When a hacke…
