@peptide-unit/js-unimodenpm
Advisory published Updated
@peptide-unit/js-unimode is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-11177) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious versions 1.1.12, 1.1.13). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in @peptide-unit/js-unimode (npm)
What this malware does
index.js is a repackaged copy of the legitimate emptyport/unimod peptide-modification lookup library with an obfuscator.io RC4 string-array IIFE appended after the exported listMods function. On require(), the appended payload loads child_process, fs, os, path, and crypto, constructs a network URL keyed off the running Node major/minor/patch version, fetches a response, splits it on ':' into IV and ciphertext, AES-decrypts using a runtime-derived key (createDecipheriv + Buffer.from(iv,'hex')), writes the plaintext to a file under os.tmpdir() with writeFileSync flag 'w+', and invokes child_process exec on that file with cwd set to tmpdir and windowsHide disabled. The 336-entry rotating string array with base64+RC4 decoders (functions b/c) conceals the endpoint hostname, module names, and exec command. Package identity impersonates the legitimate emptyport/unimod project: package.json declares name @peptide-unit/js-unimode while homepage/repository point at github.com/emptyport/unimod and author is listed as Michael Porter — a scoped-name reupload with malicious payload grafted onto preserved legitimate exports (getByName/getById/listMods).
Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @peptide-unit/js-unimode (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
@peptide-unit/js-unimode is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove @peptide-unit/js-unimode, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If @peptide-unit/js-unimode was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.
Frequently asked questions
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks @peptide-unit/js-unimode-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.