GitHub and PyPI Add Time-Based Controls to Curb Package Supply-Chain Attacks

GitHub rolled out new supply-chain protections across **GitHub Actions** and **npm** to curb attacks that abuse CI/CD workflows and malicious package publishing. On public repositories hosted on GitHub.com, workflow runs that GitHub flags as suspicious are now automatically paused until a repository collaborator with write access approves them through an authenticated web session. The safeguard is enabled by default and is aimed at attacks involving compromised GitHub credentials, malicious workflow files, and workflow-based secret theft or package tampering, though GitHub has not disclosed detection logic and said the control does not guarantee every malicious run will be caught. GitHub also introduced **publish-time malware scanning** for npm packages, shifting enforcement from scanning after publication to gating releases before they become available. Under the new process, a package can be published, held for review, or blocked based on scan results, alongside new dual-use metadata requirements such as `contentPolicy` and `DISCLOSURE`. The changes build on GitHub’s broader response to open-source supply-chain attacks, including guidance to pin third-party Actions to full commit SHAs, avoid unsafe `pull_request_target` usage, use **OpenID Connect** for secretless authentication, and rely on trusted publishing across ecosystems including **npm**, **PyPI**, **NuGet**, **RubyGems**, and **Crates**.

Jul 31, 2026

GitHub Dependabot Adds Delay to Reduce Malicious npm Update Exposure

GitHub has changed Dependabot to wait three days before opening pull requests for non-security version updates, aiming to keep fast-moving malicious package releases out of automated developer workflows. The company said the change was driven by repeated software supply-chain incidents in which poisoned npm releases were detected and removed within hours, but still had enough time to be pulled into builds. GitHub pointed to a 2025 npm compromise in which an attacker phished a maintainer and published malicious versions of widely used packages including **`chalk`** and **`debug`**, with code that rewrote cryptocurrency wallet addresses before the packages were taken down roughly two hours later. Security updates tied to known advisories are not delayed and will still be issued immediately. The move aligns with broader industry guidance that the first hours after a package is published are the highest-risk period for dependency consumers. Research cited similar attacks affecting 18 npm packages with more than 2.6 billion weekly downloads and the **Nx** build attack, which remained live for about four hours, reinforcing recommendations to delay automated updates by 24 to 48 hours or longer. GitHub said the npm ecosystem logged more than 6,500 malware advisories in the year ending May 2026 and urged teams to combine cooldowns with other controls, including lockfiles, careful review before merge, scoped CI tokens, disabling install scripts where possible, and pinning dependency versions to reduce supply-chain exposure.

Jul 23, 2026

PyPI Blocks New Files on Package Releases Older Than 14 Days

PyPI has begun rejecting uploads of new files to package releases more than 14 days old, a security change designed to make it harder for attackers to poison long-stable versions after compromising a project's publishing token or CI workflow. The policy was driven in part by supply-chain incidents involving the **LiteLLM** and **Telnyx** packages, whose March 2026 compromises were tied to a mutable reference in the **Trivy GitHub Action**. PyPI maintainers said the operational impact should be limited: analysis found that only 56 of the top 15,000 packages uploaded a Python 3.14-compatible wheel more than 14 days after the original release. The approach gained support during discussions around **PEP 740** and at the 2026 Packaging Summit, where participants favored publishing a new package version instead of modifying an older release; the implementation by Seth Larson was merged on July 8.

Jul 23, 2026

GitHub and PyPI Add Time-Based Controls to Curb Package Supply-Chain Attacks

How this story unfolded

PyPI blocks late file additions to releases older than 14 days

GitHub adds 72-hour Dependabot cooldown for new packages

Related entities

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Sources

See the full picture, correlated to your attack surface.

GitHub and PyPI Add Time-Based Controls to Curb Package Supply-Chain Attacks

How this story unfolded

PyPI blocks late file additions to releases older than 14 days

GitHub adds 72-hour Dependabot cooldown for new packages

Related entities

Organizations

Sources

See the full picture, correlated to your attack surface.

GitHub and PyPI Add Time-Based Controls to Curb Package Supply-Chain Attacks

How this story unfolded

PyPI blocks late file additions to releases older than 14 days

GitHub adds 72-hour Dependabot cooldown for new packages

Related entities

Organizations

Sources

See the full picture, correlated to your attack surface.

Related stories

GitHub Adds Suspicious Actions Holds and npm Publish-Time Malware Gating

GitHub Dependabot Adds Delay to Reduce Malicious npm Update Exposure

PyPI Blocks New Files on Package Releases Older Than 14 Days

GitHub and PyPI Add Time-Based Controls to Curb Package Supply-Chain Attacks

How this story unfolded

PyPI blocks late file additions to releases older than 14 days

GitHub adds 72-hour Dependabot cooldown for new packages

Related entities

Organizations

Sources

See the full picture, correlated to your attack surface.

Related stories

GitHub Adds Suspicious Actions Holds and npm Publish-Time Malware Gating

GitHub Dependabot Adds Delay to Reduce Malicious npm Update Exposure

PyPI Blocks New Files on Package Releases Older Than 14 Days