Malware Problem: Reporting Is Not Enough Anymore

[tykkz]

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GitHub plays a critical role in the global software ecosystem, which also makes it an attractive target for malware abuse. Security researchers continue to observe repositories that are clearly created for malicious distribution and are actively used in real-world attacks.

While GitHub provides reporting mechanisms, response time is crucial. Even brief delays can allow malicious repositories to be leveraged at scale, often benefiting from the platform’s strong reputation and user trust.

Improving prioritization and speed for clear malware cases would significantly reduce risk for users and organizations. Many in the security community are willing to collaborate and share insights to help address this challenge more effectively.

Strengthening defenses against this type of abuse will further reinforce trust in the platform and the broader open-source ecosystem.

Examples include repositories distributing obfuscated loaders, credential stealers, and trojanized “cracked” tools, often hosted under newly created accounts and used directly in phishing or malware delivery campaigns.

Below are simple example that I have observed recently, targeting Turkish users probably:

https://github.com/nuribilgeceylen-eng/babacan
https://github.com/selim1192353/aa
https://github.com/gaqgazec-lgtm/atraa

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[tykkz]

The following repositories are some other examples that have been reported by security researchers and, at the time of writing, are still remain accessible on GitHub:

https://github.com/kurdretlikudret-art/arterte
https://github.com/cglr3434/depo1

Feedback from GitHub on how such cases are reviewed, prioritized, and addressed—particularly when active malware distribution is suspected—would be greatly appreciated, as it would help the security community better align its reporting efforts and expectations.

[eMPee584]

I also have reported quite a number of repos but obviously they keep popping up faster than GH team can manually delete them.
Giveaway is all links in the README.md point to a zip file with a LUA runtime exe and obfuscated LUA code, should be easy to spot.