For those who have been Mac Use ChatGPT Desktop version,Codex or ChatGPT Atlas If you’re using this browser, remember to check if it’s the latest version.OpenAI recently published a security advisorystating that they discovered a security issue in their internal development process, where a widely-used third-party development tool was hit by a supply chain attack, leading to OpenAI Certificates used to sign macOS applications may be exposed to risk.
OpenAI emphasized that there is currently no evidence that user data, internal systems, or any released software has been affected. However, as a precaution, they have completed a full rotation of signing certificates and are requiring all macOS users to update to the latest version. After May 8, older versions will no longer receive updates or support.
OpenAI Urges macOS Users to Update! North Korean Hackers Infiltrate Third-Party Development Tools, Forcing Complete Signing Certificate Rotation
The root cause of this incident was an issue with Axios, a third-party development tool.
Axios is a popular network request tool that developers frequently use when writing code. It helps programs communicate with servers, and has tens of millions of downloads per week on npm.
According to a post-mortem report published by Axios on GitHub, in the early morning of March 31, 2026, attackers compromised the personal computer of Axios’s lead maintainer jasonsaayman using social engineering techniques. Even though the account had two-factor authentication enabled, the attackers successfully stole credentials and, in just over an hour, released two versions containing malicious code: axios@1.14.1 and axios@0.30.4.
Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence team attributed this attack to Sapphire Sleet, a hacker group associated with the North Korean government.
Fortunately, the community reacted quickly—around 1 AM, someone noticed something was wrong. Axios team member DigitalBrainJS immediately reported it to npm, and all malicious versions were removed before 3:29 AM, limiting the entire exposure to about 3 hours.
In OpenAI’s macOS app development workflow, GitHub Actions (an automation tool) was used to handle code signing, and on March 31st, a compromised version of Axios 1.14.1 was downloaded and executed.
This workflow has access to macOS application signing certificates, including those used to request notarization from Apple. macOS applications such as ChatGPT Desktop, Codex, and Atlas all use these certificates to pass Apple’s security checks.
Users don’t need to worry too much—OpenAI says the likelihood of the signing certificates actually being extracted is low, but for safety, all related certificates have been revoked and rotated. They’re also working with Apple to block any attempts to notarize using the old certificates.
Certificate rotation only applies to macOS apps. If you’re a Windows user, OpenAI’s desktop application is unaffected by this incident and no further action is needed.
If you’re not sure whether you’re using the latest version, you can refer to the following:
- ChatGPT Desktop：1.2026.051
- Codex App：26.406.40811
- Codex CLI：0.119.0
- Atlas：1.2026.84.2
Source: KOCPC Chinese