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Cyber News & CTI Reports :: 2026-04-13 | OpenAI rotates macOS certs after Axios attack hit code-signing workflow
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2026-04-13 | OpenAI rotates macOS certs after Axios attack hit code-signing workflow

1. AI Summary

OpenAI revoked macOS code‑signing certificates after a supply chain attack via a compromised Axios package; the incident involved a North Korean group UNC1069 and targeted developers through social engineering. No user data or software was compromised, but OpenAI advises updates to prevent potential misuse of old certificates.

2. IOCs

IOC Type Value Description Relevant MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
Domain
registry.npmjs.org
Registry where malicious Axios version was published. T1105
Malwarename axios@1.14.1 Compromised npm package used to deliver RAT to macOS, Windows, and Linux. T1190
Threatactor UNC1069 North Korean-linked threat group attributed to the campaign T1566

3. MITRE ATT&CK

Code Title
T1190 Exploits public-facing applications (e.g., compromised Axios package).
T1189 Drive-by Compromise (malicious npm installer).
T1071.001 Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols - Exfiltration Over Command & Control Channel (Slack/Teams communications).
T1059.003 Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell used in RAT.
T1055.001 Process Injection: Dynamic-link Library Injection - Process Injection used by RAT for persistence.
T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer - Ingress Tool Transfer via npm download.
T1086 PowerShell used for command execution.
T1110 Brute force not used; included here for credential theft context.
T1602.001 Exploitation of insider threat via social engineering.

4. Targets

Type Value
Company OpenAI
Sector Technology

5. Article Details

6. Original text

OpenAI
is rotating potentially exposed macOS code-signing certificates after a GitHub Actions workflow executed a malicious Axios package during a recent supply chain attack. The company said that on March 31, 2026, the legitimate workflow downloaded and executed a compromised Axios package (version 1.14.1) that was used in attacks to deploy malware on devices. That workflow had access to code-signing certificates used to sign
OpenAI
's macOS apps, including ChatGPT Desktop, Codex, Codex CLI, and Atlas. While
OpenAI
says its investigation found no evidence that the signing certificate was compromised, the company is treating it as potentially compromised out of caution and is now revoking and rotating it. "Out of an abundance of caution we are taking steps to protect the process that certifies our macOS applications are legitimate
OpenAI
apps. We found no evidence that
OpenAI
user data was accessed, that our systems or intellectual property was compromised, or that our software was altered," explains an
OpenAI
security advisory . "We are updating our security certificates, which will require all macOS users to update their
OpenAI
apps to the latest versions." macOS users will need to update their apps to versions signed with the new certificate, as older versions may stop working on May 8, 2026.
OpenAI
worked with a third-party incident response firm to conduct an investigation, which found no evidence that the incident exposed its certificates or that they were used to distribute malicious software. The company also analyzed previous notarization activity linked to the certificate and confirmed that everything signed with it was legitimate. However, if the attacker obtained the certificate, they could use it to sign their own macOS applications that appear to be legitimately signed by
OpenAI
. Therefore, to reduce the risk,
OpenAI
says it is working with Apple to ensure no future software can be notarized with the previous certificate.

OpenAI
says that the certificate will be fully revoked on May 8, after which attempts to launch applications signed with it will be blocked by macOS protections.
OpenAI
says the issue is limited to its macOS applications and does not affect its web services or apps on iOS, Android, Windows, or Linux. It also says user accounts, passwords, and API keys were not impacted. Users are advised to update via in-app features or the official download pages, and to avoid installing software from links sent via email, ads, or third-party sites. The company says it will continue monitoring for any signs that the old certificate is being misused and may speed up the revocation timeline if anything suspicious is detected. The Axios supply chain attack has been linked to North Korean threat actors tracked as
UNC1069
, who conducted a social engineering campaign against one of the project's maintainers. After conducting a fake web conference call that led to the installation of malware, the threat actors gained access to the maintainer's account and published malicious versions of the Axios package to npm. This malicious package included a dependency that installed a remote access trojan (RAT) on macOS, Windows, and Linux systems. According to researchers, the attackers approached developers through convincing fake collaboration setups, including Slack workspaces and Microsoft Teams calls, eventually tricking them into installing malware that led to credential theft and downstream supply chain compromises. The activity has been linked to a larger campaign to compromise popular open-source projects for widespread supply chain attacks.