Response to Axios developer tool compromise impacting macOS app signing
Key Points
- Rotated macOS signing certificate; revocation on 2026-05-08
- No evidence of user data or product compromise
- Pin GitHub Actions and audit macOS notarization
Summary
On 2026-03-31 a malicious release of the third‑party library Axios was executed in a GitHub Actions workflow used for OpenAI macOS app signing. OpenAI found no evidence of user data access, system compromise, or tampering of published software, but treated the signing/notarization material as potentially exposed. The macOS signing certificate has been rotated, new builds published, and OpenAI will fully revoke the old certificate on 2026-05-08. Users must update macOS apps to continue receiving updates and to avoid macOS blocking app launches.
Key Points
- Incident: compromised Axios (v1.14.1) executed in a macOS app-signing GitHub Actions workflow.
- Root cause: workflow misconfiguration — floating action tag (not a commit hash) and no minimumReleaseAge for new packages.
- Impacted products (earliest release signed with new certs):
- ChatGPT Desktop: 1.2026.051
- Codex App: 26.406.40811
- Codex CLI: 0.119.0
- Atlas: 1.2026.84.2
- Timeline: old certificate will be revoked effective 2026-05-08; older macOS versions may stop working or be blocked by macOS after revocation.
- Evidence: no detected misuse of signing/notarization material; OpenAI reviewed notarization events and validated published binaries.
- Mitigation taken: engaged third-party DFIR, rotated code‑signing certificate, published new notarized builds, blocked further notarization with the old certificate, and coordinated with Apple.
Recommended actions for engineers
- Update: instruct users to install macOS app updates via in-app updater or official download pages only.
- CI hygiene: pin GitHub Actions to specific commit hashes, set minimumReleaseAge for package-based actions, and avoid floating tags.
- Key management: rotate and revoke signing keys promptly when exposure is suspected; review and limit workflow access to code-signing material.
- Verification: audit notarization logs and build artifacts, confirm no unexpected notarizations, and monitor for indicators of misuse.
- Distribution hardening: educate users to avoid third-party download sources and to verify app provenance.
Where to get updated builds
Download only from the in-app updater or the official OpenAI macOS product pages (ChatGPT, Codex, Codex‑cli, Atlas).