Ardvane

Free, open-source protection for developers against malware that spreads through code: fake job interviews, malicious packages and the PolinRider worm.

Find it · block it · fix it · and stay on top of it every day. Everything runs on your own computer.

Get started · What it does · How it protects you · Accuracy · I think I'm infected · Contributing

Why Ardvane exists

Developers are being targeted by state-sponsored malware (North Korea's Contagious Interview campaign) that spreads through code: fake recruiters with "take-home tests", fake npm packages and malicious editor extensions. Once inside, a worm uses your stolen GitHub access to force-push itself into every repository you can reach, including your teammates' and your company's.

I was hit three times in five weeks. A clean reinstall lasted three days. Deleting files, rewriting history and revoking tokens didn't stop it, because it kept coming back through infected repositories and collaborators. Ardvane is everything that finally worked, packaged so you don't lose the weeks I did. → Read the story

🛑 Think you're infected right now? Go to docs/after-a-scan/if-danger-found.md. The order of the steps matters.

🚀 Get started

1. Install with one command:

No pipx yet? brew install pipx on a Mac, py -m pip install --user pipx on Windows, or use python3 -m pip install --user ardvane instead.

2. Open Ardvane:

ardvane

The dashboard opens in your browser and runs only on your computer. Press Scan now, then:

• Protection → Turn on protection: you see every change before it's made
• Overview → Daily check: choose your time (9:00 by default)
• Protection → Add app icon: adds Ardvane to your Applications folder (Start menu on Windows), so from now on you open it from Launchpad, Spotlight or the Dock, with no terminal

→ Dashboard guide

Prefer the terminal?

The scan ends with ✅ CLEAN, ⚠️ worth a look or 🛑 INFECTED, says exactly what to do next, and saves a report. Update with brew upgrade ardvane or pipx upgrade ardvane.

git clone https://github.com/Abdul-Moiz31/ardvane.git
cd ardvane
python3 app/dashboard.py            # = `ardvane`; add a command, e.g. python3 app/dashboard.py scan

✨ What Ardvane does

🛡️ How it protects you

A scan takes about 0.1–0.7 seconds per repository. When everything is clean you won't notice it.

🔒 Safe by design

• Local only. No account, no telemetry, no cloud. The dashboard listens on 127.0.0.1, needs a per-session key, and refuses requests from other websites.
• Detections that keep up, signed. Before each scan and daily check, Ardvane downloads a list of new detections from GitHub. It is used only if it carries Ardvane's signature and is newer than the copy you have, and it can only add detections, never remove one. Nothing about your computer is sent. See feed/README.md.
• Reads, doesn't run. The scanner only reads files and runs git with hooks and core.fsmonitor disabled, so even a booby-trapped repository can't make it execute anything.
• Nothing deleted, everything reversible. You see every change before it's made, fixes can be undone, and malware is quarantined as evidence.
• No dependencies. Python's standard library and plain JavaScript. No npm, no build step, no CDN: what you read here is exactly what runs.
• No real malware in this repository. Tests build synthetic samples at runtime.

📊 Accuracy

The scanner was built from real malware files taken from an actual infection, then tuned against clean code:

Honest limits: Ardvane targets this family of attacks, so a completely new technique may not be detected. That's why it also hardens your editor, npm, git and GitHub and checks every day. The Windows scripts are beta. A scan can't prove a machine is clean after a backdoor has run; see the recovery guide.

📁 What's in the repository

ardvane/
├── app/                        the Ardvane dashboard and `ardvane` command (Python standard library + plain JavaScript)
├── packaging/                  builds the PyPI package (standard library only)
├── scan-my-machine.sh / .ps1   one-command, read-only machine scan
├── scanner/                    detection and fixes: checkrepo, autofix, GitHub check, package lists, git hooks, safe clone, tests
├── mac/                        install / uninstall / daily check for macOS and Linux
├── windows/                    the same for Windows (beta)
└── docs/                       guides: the attacks, recovery, hardening, the story

📚 Learn more

• The attacks: PolinRider worm, fake job interviews, BeaverTail / InvisibleFerret stealers, the MicrosoftSystem64 backdoor, VS Code auto-run tasks, GlassWorm extensions, malicious npm packages, AI coding-agent attacks, ClickFix, EtherHiding
• If you're infected · Cleaning GitHub repositories · Secrets rotation · Hardening checklist
• Reference: Dashboard · checkrepo · Daily check · Infected packages

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are very welcome, especially Windows test reports, new malicious packages or indicators (with a link to the public report) and false-alarm reports. Read CONTRIBUTING.md, fork, branch, and open a pull request; every change needs a test.

Found a security problem in Ardvane itself? Please report it privately; see SECURITY.md.

🙏 Credits

Ardvane stands on the work of researchers and other victims who published their findings: OpenSourceMalware · polinrider-cleaner (MIT, indicator lists) · Bedri-B/polinrider (MIT) · pushwarden · gitshield · Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 · Google Threat Intelligence Group · JFrog Security Research · Socket · Elastic Security Labs · Checkmarx · Cloud Security Alliance. Full source lists are at the end of every page in docs/attacks.

⚖️ License and disclaimer

MIT: use it, share it, adapt it. Ardvane reduces risk; it cannot guarantee that a machine is clean or will stay clean. It is provided as-is, without warranty.