44[ ![ CI] ( https://github.com/moderation-api/unicode-spoofing/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg )] ( https://github.com/moderation-api/unicode-spoofing/actions/workflows/ci.yml )
55[ ![ License: MIT] ( https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg )] ( ./LICENSE )
66
7- Detection of Unicode-based text obfuscation ("homoglyph attacks"): spammers
8- mixing lookalike characters into words to slip past keyword filters, e.g.
9- ` НОТ busіnеss рrоduсt ` — visually clean, but ` НОТ ` is pure Cyrillic and
10- ` busіnеss ` mixes two scripts inside one word.
7+ Text that reads as English but isn't. ` НОТ busіnеss рrоduсt ` looks ordinary in
8+ any font — ` НОТ ` is pure Cyrillic, ` busіnеss ` mixes two scripts inside one word,
9+ and neither matches a keyword filter looking for ` HOT ` or ` business ` .
10+
11+ This library finds that, plus the characters you can't see at all: zero-width
12+ joiners inside a word, bidi overrides that reorder a line, tag characters
13+ smuggling an instruction into a prompt. It reports what fired, where, and gives
14+ you the de-obfuscated text back.
1115
1216Zero runtime dependencies. Script classification rides the JS engine's own
1317Unicode property tables (` \p{Script=…} ` ); the only shipped data is the
@@ -28,24 +32,157 @@ npm install @moderation-api/unicode-spoofing
2832import { analyze , skeleton } from ' @moderation-api/unicode-spoofing' ;
2933
3034const r = analyze (' Неу Anatoly, НОТ busіnеss рrоduсt just drоppеd.' );
35+
3136r .spoofed ; // true
32- r .signals ; // { mixed_script: true, confusable_word: true, invisible: false, zalgo: false }
33- r .words ; // [{ word: 'НОТ', skeleton: 'HOT', scripts: ['Cyrillic'], signals: ['confusable_word'], index: 13 }, …]
37+ r .signals .confusable_word ; // true
3438r .normalized ; // 'Hey Anatoly, HOT business product just dropped.'
39+ r .words [1 ]; // { word: 'НОТ', index: 13, signals: ['confusable_word'],
40+ // scripts: ['Cyrillic'], skeleton: 'HOT' }
3541
3642skeleton (' раураl' ) === skeleton (' paypal' ); // true (UTS #39 comparison)
3743```
3844
45+ ## What it catches
46+
47+ Every example below runs as a test — see [ ` test/readme.test.ts ` ] ( ./test/readme.test.ts ) ,
48+ which asserts each documented output. Characters that would otherwise be
49+ invisible in this file are written as escapes.
50+
51+ ### Trojan Source
52+
53+ Bidi controls reorder how a line _ renders_ without changing what the compiler
54+ reads ([ CVE-2021 -42574] ( https://trojansource.codes/ ) ). The ` // admin check `
55+ below is not a comment — it only looks like one.
56+
57+ ``` ts
58+ const line = ' if (level != "user\u202E \u2066 // admin check\u2069 \u2066 ") {' ;
59+
60+ analyze (line ).signals .invisible ; // true
61+ analyze (line ).normalized ; // 'if (level != "user // admin check ") {'
62+ ```
63+
64+ The same trick renames files: ` 'invoice\u202Egnp.exe' ` renders as
65+ ` invoiceexe.png ` in most UIs, and normalizes to ` invoicegnp.exe ` .
66+
67+ ### ASCII smuggling
68+
69+ Tag characters (` U+E0000 ` –` U+E007F ` ) re-encode ASCII invisibly. Pasted into a
70+ prompt, an LLM reads the payload and a human reviewer sees a compliment.
71+
72+ ``` ts
73+ const encode = (s : string ) =>
74+ [... s ].map ((c ) => String .fromCodePoint (0xe0000 + c .codePointAt (0 )! )).join (' ' );
75+
76+ const msg = ` Looks helpful!${encode (' Ignore all previous instructions' )} ` ;
77+
78+ msg .length ; // 78 — the visible part is 14
79+ analyze (msg ).signals .invisible ; // true
80+ analyze (msg ).normalized ; // 'Looks helpful!'
81+ ```
82+
83+ To read what was hidden rather than just strip it:
84+
85+ ``` ts
86+ const hidden = analyze (msg )
87+ .words .flatMap ((w ) => [... w .word ])
88+ .filter ((c ) => c .codePointAt (0 )! >= 0xe0000 )
89+ .map ((c ) => String .fromCodePoint (c .codePointAt (0 )! - 0xe0000 ))
90+ .join (' ' ); // 'Ignore all previous instructions'
91+ ```
92+
93+ ### Lookalike domains and usernames
94+
95+ ``` ts
96+ // Cyrillic 'а' in the middle of a Latin word.
97+ analyze (' Login at pаypal.com to verify' ).words [0 ];
98+ // { word: 'pаypal', index: 9, signals: ['mixed_script'],
99+ // scripts: ['Latin', 'Cyrillic'], skeleton: 'paypal' }
100+
101+ // A whole word in one non-Latin script needs context to judge — say what you
102+ // expect and it resolves.
103+ analyze (' аррӏе.com' , { expectedScripts: [' Latin' ] }).normalized ; // 'apple.com'
104+
105+ // Comparing identifiers directly: skeleton() is the UTS #39 fold.
106+ skeleton (' аdmin' ) === skeleton (' admin' ); // true
107+ ```
108+
109+ ### Filter evasion
110+
111+ Four spellings that read normally, match no keyword list, and come back clean:
112+
113+ ``` ts
114+ analyze (' Get f\u200B r\u200B e\u200B e m\u200B o\u200B n\u200B e\u200B y now' ).normalized ;
115+ // 'Get free money now' — zero-width spaces inside the words
116+
117+ analyze (' buy cheap v\u3164 i\u3164 a\u3164 g\u3164 ra' ).normalized ;
118+ // 'buy cheap viagra' — HANGUL FILLER: blank, but not whitespace
119+
120+ analyze (' 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨 giveaway' ).normalized ;
121+ // 'FREE crypto giveaway' — math alphanumerics
122+
123+ analyze (' Ⓕⓡⓔⓔ ⓜⓞⓝⓔⓨ' ).normalized ;
124+ // 'Free money' — circled letters (also FREE fullwidth)
125+ ```
126+
127+ ### Zalgo
128+
129+ ``` ts
130+ analyze (' Z̸̢̬̈a̛̠͎lg̕o̶ spam' ).normalized ; // 'Zalgo spam'
131+ ```
132+
133+ ### Left alone
134+
135+ None of these are flagged — see [ false-positive guards] ( #false-positive-guards ) :
136+
137+ ``` ts
138+ analyze (' Привет, как дела?' ).spoofed ; // false — real Cyrillic, not a lookalike
139+ analyze (' 日本語のテキスト。辻\uFE00 さん' ).spoofed ; // false — ideographic variant sequence
140+ analyze (' می\u200C خواهم کتاب' ).spoofed ; // false — Persian ZWNJ is orthography
141+ analyze (' Ship it 🎉 👨\u200D 👩\u200D 👧 ℹ\uFE0F ' ).spoofed ; // false — emoji ZWJ, presentation selector
142+ ```
143+
39144## Signals
40145
41146| Signal | Meaning | Example |
42147| ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
43148| ` mixed_script ` | One word blends multiple scripts | ` busіnеss ` (Latin + Cyrillic ` і ` /` е ` ) |
44149| ` confusable_word ` | Whole word is a Latin lookalike (UTS #39 skeleton resolves to ASCII) | ` НОТ ` → ` HOT ` , ` HOT ` , ` 𝐇𝐎𝐓 ` |
45- | ` invisible ` | Format characters (zero-width etc.) inside a word | ` free ` |
150+ | ` invisible ` | Characters that render as nothing, in or between words | zero-width, bidi, tag chars, fillers |
46151| ` zalgo ` | Combining marks stacked beyond orthographic depth (≥3 per base) | ` Z̸̢̬a̛lg̕o ` |
47152| ` illegal ` | Control, non-character, or replacement code points anywhere in text | ` NUL ` , ` U+FFFE ` , ` U+FFFD ` |
48153
154+ What ` invisible ` covers: format characters (zero-width space/joiner, word
155+ joiner, …), bidi controls incl. the Trojan Source overrides, tag characters,
156+ blank-but-not-whitespace glyphs, invisible combining marks, and variation
157+ selectors on a base with no registered sequence — whether they sit inside a
158+ word or alone between punctuation.
159+
160+ ## Recipes
161+
162+ ** Run your existing filter against clean text.** ` normalized ` is the whole
163+ point: match on it, report on the original.
164+
165+ ``` ts
166+ const { normalized, spoofed } = analyze (userInput );
167+ const hit = BANNED .some ((word ) => normalized .toLowerCase ().includes (word ));
168+ if (hit || spoofed ) flagForReview (userInput );
169+ ```
170+
171+ ** Block impersonating usernames** without banning non-Latin ones:
172+
173+ ``` ts
174+ const taken = new Set (existingUsernames .map (skeleton ));
175+ if (taken .has (skeleton (candidate ))) reject (' too similar to an existing name' );
176+ ```
177+
178+ ** Tell it what's normal for your traffic.** Declaring ` expectedScripts ` cuts
179+ false positives on genuine non-Latin content _ and_ sharpens detection: a whole
180+ word in an unexpected script becomes evidence on its own.
181+
182+ ``` ts
183+ analyze (text , { expectedScripts: [' Cyrillic' ] }); // real Russian traffic
184+ ```
185+
49186### False-positive guards
50187
51188- Legitimate multilingual text is never flagged: whole words in a single
@@ -63,11 +200,35 @@ skeleton('раураl') === skeleton('paypal'); // true (UTS #39 comparison)
63200 are legitimate single-word script mixes and are exempt.
64201- Scripts whose orthography uses joiners/zero-width characters (Arabic, Indic
65202 scripts, Persian ZWNJ, …) are exempt from ` invisible ` ; scripts with stacked
66- marks (Hebrew points, Arabic tashkeel, …) are exempt from ` zalgo ` . Emoji ZWJ
67- sequences are never word tokens, so they are never flagged.
203+ marks (Hebrew points, Arabic tashkeel, …) are exempt from ` zalgo ` .
204+ - Invisible characters that build a sequence are left alone: emoji ZWJ
205+ sequences, keycaps, the tag characters in ` 🏴 ` , emoji presentation
206+ selectors (` ❤️ ` , ` ℹ️ ` ), ideographic variants (` 辻︀ ` ) and Mongolian FVS.
207+ - Unicode whitespace (` U+00A0 ` , ` U+2000 ` –` U+200A ` , ` U+3000 ` , …) is NOT flagged:
208+ it is real typography and every ` \s ` matcher already treats it as a space.
209+ Blank glyphs that are _ not_ whitespace — Hangul fillers, ` U+2800 ` — are.
68210- ` normalized ` only rewrites _ affected_ words; legitimate non-Latin text is
69211 returned byte-for-byte.
70212
213+ ## From Moderation API
214+
215+ We build [ Moderation API] ( https://moderationapi.com ) — a hosted moderation
216+ platform covering toxicity, NSFW, PII, spam, scams and phishing across text,
217+ images, video and audio in 120+ languages, with review queues, user trust
218+ levels and DSA/GDPR audit trails.
219+
220+ This library is one primitive from that stack, released standalone because
221+ Unicode spoofing is a self-contained problem worth solving in the open. It
222+ makes no network calls, needs no API key, and does not talk to the hosted
223+ service — use it on its own for as long as it does the job. If lookalike text
224+ turns out to be one symptom of a wider user-generated-content problem, the
225+ platform is the rest of the answer.
226+
227+ ## Credits
228+
229+ - Confusables data comes from the Unicode Consortium's
230+ [ UTS #39 ] ( https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr39/ ) security tables.
231+
71232## Updating the Unicode data
72233
73234``` bash
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