Malicious npm package "Codex" stole developer credentials for a month before detection
A reheated bagel, served cold.
Summary
A popular npm package called "Codex" (providing a remote web UI for OpenAI Codex) was found to be stealing developer credentials for about a month. With approximately 29,000 weekly downloads and an active GitHub repository, the package silently exfiltrated access tokens, refresh tokens, ID tokens, and account IDs from ~/.codex/auth.json to an attacker-controlled server. The same credential-theft mechanism was also found in two Android apps with over 60,000 combined downloads. The exfiltration domain was registered on April 12, 2026, just two days after the malicious npm version 0.1.72 was uploaded. Because refresh tokens don't expire, attackers could silently impersonate victims indefinitely.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledFor about a month, each invocation silently read ~/.codex/auth.json and sent access tokens, refresh tokens, ID tokens, and account IDs to an attacker-controlled server.
The same credential-theft chain also appeared in two Android apps with over 60,000 combined downloads.
The exfiltration domain was registered on 12 April 2026, two days after npm version 0.1.72 was uploaded.
The refresh token's non-expiration allows silent, indefinite impersonation.
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