NPM Hack Lets Crypto Apps Swap Wallet Addresses

NPM Hack Exposes Crypto Apps to Silent Wallet Address Swaps

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: September 10, 2025

Key Takeaways

A phishing scam led to 18 NPM packages being altered to hijack wallet addresses in crypto apps using automatic updates;
Ledger’s CTO warned that one line of bad code in a software wallet or exchange can lead to total loss of user funds;
TON’s CTO advised devs to check for compromised versions and rebuild apps if affected, as several blockchains were targeted.

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Charles Guillemet, Chief Technology Officer at Ledger, pointed to a recent Node Package Manager (NPM) library attack as a reminder of the risks tied to software wallets and crypto exchanges.

He warned that funds stored on these platforms could be lost through a single line of compromised code. According to Guillemet, software-based systems remain vulnerable to supply chain attacks, where malicious updates enter through trusted tools.

The breach began when attackers sent a phishing email disguised as a message from NPM support. This led to stolen developer credentials, which were used to publish altered versions of used packages such as chalk, debug, and strip-ansi.

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This code worked by switching out wallet addresses in network traffic. When an app communicated with a blockchain, the malicious code would replace the destination address with one controlled by the attacker.

Bitcoin BTC $113,581.97 , Ethereum ETH $4,337.36 , Solana SOL $222.78 , Tron TRX $0.3378 , and Litecoin LTC $115.54 networks were all targeted in this way.

Anatoly Makosov, CTO of The Open Network (TON), explained that the attackers tampered with specific releases, 18 versions in total. He noted that apps were at the highest risk if they integrated the affected packages within hours of their release or if they used systems that automatically update dependencies.

Makosov encouraged developers to check whether these versions were present. He also shared a checklist for developers to help identify whether their applications were impacted.

If any of the 18 compromised library versions were in use, the project should be treated as affected.

Lucija Valentić at ReversingLabs recently reported that hackers discovered a new method for spreading malicious software. How? Read the full story.