Attackers are buying sponsored Google search ads that send Mac developers to fake OpenAI Codex download pages. The pages instruct victims to paste a Terminal command that looks like a normal install step, but actually downloads and runs a multi-stage malware payload.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
You Google “OpenAI Codex download for macOS” and click the top result, looks legit, OpenAI logo and all. But that click lands you on a Google Sites page impersonating the Codex download. Instead of a normal installer, it says: “Install Codex for macOS: open Terminal and paste the following command to complete installation.” The command looks like a normal npm install, but tacked on is obfuscated Base64, curl, and a pipe into zsh, quietly pulling a Mach-O payload into /tmp/helper and stripping macOS security flags. One paste, multi-stage infection. If any website tells you to paste a long install command into Terminal, stop. Instead, go directly to openai.com yourself and only follow install steps from there.
Attackers used a sponsored search ad to send macOS users to a fake “OpenAI Codex download” page hosted on Google Sites. The page convinced victims to open Terminal and paste a command that secretly downloaded and ran a multi-stage malware infection.
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