@prime0/alanced-matchnpm
Advisory published Updated
@prime0/alanced-match is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-16204) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in @prime0/alanced-match (npm)
What this malware does
The package @prime0/alanced-match is a 1-character-drop typosquat of balanced-match. Its postinstall.js runs automatically on npm install and POSTs a host fingerprint (hostname, username, platform, arch, cwd, node version, pid, non-internal IP addresses, uptime, package name) to the hardcoded bare-IP endpoint http://69.48.229.140:8080/b. Its main entry index.js opens a require-time HTTP polling channel to the same host, retrieves JSON commands from /c every 30 seconds (with 10-minute re-beacons), executes them via child_process.exec, and posts stdout/stderr back to /r — providing full remote code execution on the installer's machine. A source comment self-identifies the code as a 'Minimal stealth agent' and 'typosquat'.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @prime0/alanced-match (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
@prime0/alanced-match is built to steal secrets, so assume every credential the build or runtime could read is compromised. Remove it from your project and lockfile, then rotate ALL exposed secrets — npm/registry tokens, cloud keys, CI/CD secrets, SSH keys, and any .env values — from a known-clean machine. Audit logs for unauthorized use of those credentials.
Did it already run?
If @prime0/alanced-match 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 @prime0/alanced-match-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.