Warning: New Fake GitHub Trading Bot is Draining Solana Wallets

The cybersecurity company SlowMist has issued a warning after a user lost their cryptoassets by downloading something that looked like a legitimate Solana trading bot. The project named "solana-pumpfun-bot" claims to help users trade tokens on Pump.fun, a popular platform in the Solana ecosystem. But instead, it drained the user's wallet. Bots are innocent with a dangerous turn. Users downloaded an open-source bot from GitHub, ran it, and shortly after, their wallets were completely wiped out. At first glance, the project looks normal. It has stars, branches, and even recent commits. The project is a Node.js application that includes a hidden dependency - a package linked from a custom GitHub URL instead of the official NPM registry. This allows the malicious package to bypass NPM's security checks, making detection more difficult. After installation, the code will scan the victim's system to find wallet data and send their private keys to a remote server controlled by the attacker. To appear safe, the attacker used a fake GitHub account to clone and branch the project, giving it the appearance of being widely used. However, according to SlowMist, the entire codebase was uploaded just three weeks ago, which is a clear sign that something is wrong. In a tweet, SlowMist explained: "The perpetrator disguised a malicious program as a legitimate open-source project... users inadvertently ran a Node.js project that embedded malicious dependencies, exposing private keys and losing cryptoassets." Important warning for developers and traders SlowMist advises users to never blindly trust GitHub projects, especially those that require wallet access or handle private keys. If you need to test such tools, do so in a sandbox environment rather than with your real assets. The research team warns: "If you must test them, do so in an isolated environment, with a sandbox and without sensitive data." Why is this important? As more and more traders and developers rely on open-source tools in the crypto space, attacks like these are becoming harder to detect. The key point here is very simple: if a GitHub project relates to your wallet, consider it a high-risk project!