Description

In April 2025, cybersecurity researchers uncovered a malicious campaign where threat actors leveraged public GitHub repositories to distribute Amadey malware and various data stealers. Using fake GitHub accounts, these attackers hosted malware payloads, plug-ins, and secondary tools, exploiting the trusted nature of GitHub to bypass security filters. The campaign used the Emmenhtal loader (also known as PEAKLIGHT) to deploy Amadey, which further downloaded payloads like Lumma Stealer, RedLine Stealer, and Rhadamanthys Stealer from the compromised repositories. Some of these GitHub-hosted scripts were found to be reused from earlier phishing campaigns, indicating a persistent and evolving attack strategy. GitHub took down the identified malicious accounts after discovery. The attackers’ method stands out due to its use of legitimate platforms like GitHub and Microsoft infrastructure, making detection more difficult. By hosting malware on such trusted platforms, the actors bypass web filters and gain easy distribution channels. Amadey’s ability to collect system information and extend functionalities through DLL plugins makes it a versatile threat. Additionally, campaigns involving malware like SquidLoader and CHAINVERB show how cybercriminals use social engineering, phishing kits, and advanced evasion techniques, including QR code phishing, to spread malware globally. These multi-vector attacks target different sectors, notably financial services and business providers, indicating a financially motivated threat landscape. Organizations should strengthen their security posture by implementing advanced threat detection and monitoring tools that can analyze traffic from legitimate platforms. Regular employee training on phishing awareness and cautious handling of unsolicited links or attachments is vital. Additionally, restricting access to code-hosting platforms and enforcing strict download policies can reduce the risk of malware infiltration through abused legitimate services.