Campaign Steals Credentials via GitHub Actions Across Thousands of Repositories
Security firms revealed an ongoing campaign active since October 7 in which disguised workflows masquerading as security audits are planted in GitHub repositories across more than 500 accounts, targeting cloud keys and AI interfaces.
StepSecurity revealed details of an ongoing campaign where attackers hijack administrator accounts of open-source projects and inject a disguised workflow into the repository's main branch, according to reporting by The Hacker News. The workflow presents itself as a security audit named "Security Audit" or "GitHub Actions Security," while exfiltrating data to a static IP address over an unencrypted connection.
A report by Socket estimated that more than 500 GitHub accounts pushed this workflow to tens of thousands of repositories since October 7, and that account compromises likely occurred via personal access tokens stolen from info-stealer malware logs. The platform noted that two accounts were heavily exploited, with one pushing the workflow to 27 repositories, while the other was used to deploy it to 318 repositories within 16 minutes.
The compromised data includes cloud service keys and API keys for AI companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and OpenRouter, as well as access tokens for GitHub and GitLab. Estimates by GitGuardian indicate that 772 public repositories belonging to 373 users and organizations were affected, with SSH keys, cloud credentials, container registries, and databases among what may have been exposed.
The campaign poses a threat to the software supply chain, as the attacker gains permissions inside repositories relied upon by others to build their software and updates. This infiltration makes reviewing account permissions and keys used in automation systems an urgent necessity for organizations, especially with activity continuing since early October, as confirmed by the monitoring security firms.
What do these terms mean?
Workflow: A file defining automated steps executed automatically by a system like GitHub Actions upon a specific event, such as building, testing, or deploying code.
Personal Access Token: An alternative key to a password granting access to an account or service; if leaked, it opens the door for an attacker to perform operations on behalf of its owner.
Data Exfiltration: Covertly moving data out of a system to an external party, which is the ultimate goal in most attacks seeking to steal sensitive information.
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