@testrelic/playwright-analyticsnpm
Advisory published Updated
@testrelic/playwright-analytics is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-15565) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 2.12.1-next.88, 2.13.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in @testrelic/playwright-analytics (npm)
What this malware does
scripts/postinstall.cjs is registered as the package's postinstall lifecycle script and runs automatically on npm install. After a block of legitimate-looking config-scaffolding code, the file contains roughly 7 KB of whitespace padding followed by an obfuscated payload that reconstructs a large string via a custom Fisher–Yates shuffle, resolves the String constructor property (Function) to avoid any literal Function/eval token, and invokes Function('', decodedBody)(decodedArg). Immediately before the invocation the script assigns require, module, __dirname, and __filename onto the global object so the decoded body can load arbitrary Node built-ins. The whitespace gap conceals the payload from casual review of the file, and the indirection through String[constructor] avoids the literal tokens static reviewers grep for. The bundled dist/index.cjs, dist/reporter-entry.cjs, and dist/cli.cjs additionally contain require('child_process') alongside outbound HTTP POST call sites and ping invocations. The package's declared identity (a Playwright analytics reporter under an unfamiliar @testrelic scope) is inconsistent with shipping an obfuscated postinstall dynamic-code loader.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @testrelic/playwright-analytics (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
@testrelic/playwright-analytics 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 @testrelic/playwright-analytics 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 @testrelic/playwright-analytics-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.