@variational/common-uinpm
Malicious code in @variational/common-ui (npm) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
What this malware does
The package is advertised as 'Shared UI constants and utilities' but lib/index.js executes a malicious payload on require(). Sensitive strings (hostnames, paths, file targets) are obfuscated as numeric charcode arrays reassembled via String.fromCharCode to evade static scanners. After a randomized 0.5-2.5s delay, the module reads installer credentials from ~/.ssh/id_rsa, ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa, ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, ~/.ssh/config, ~/.aws/credentials, ~/.aws/config, ~/.kube/config, ~/.npmrc, ~/.netrc, ~/.docker/config.json, ~/.git-credentials, gcloud application-default credentials, gh hosts.yml, terraform credentials, Azure profile,.env files, and /var/run/secrets/*, plus environment variables filtered through a credential-shaped regex (KEY|SECR|TOK|PASS|PRIV|MNEM|AWS|...), and POSTs them to http://vexar-space.org/api/telemetry over plaintext HTTP. The module also queries the AWS instance metadata service (169.254.169.254 /latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/) and the GCP metadata service (metadata.google.internal /computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/default/token with Metadata-Flavor: Google) to capture live cloud IAM credentials on EC2/GCE/EKS/GKE hosts. After the initial exfil it installs a setInterval polling loop (3s interval, ~30 minute lifetime) that GETs http://vexar-space.org/api/s?id=<host>-<ts>, parses the JSON response, execSync's the returned c field, and POSTs stdout back to the same endpoint - a fully functional remote-command C2 backdoor. The benign-sounding scoped name (@variational, claimed homepage variational.io) is cover-story metadata.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for @variational/common-ui (14 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging @variational/common-ui across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
@variational/common-ui 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 @variational/common-ui was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.
How O3 protects you
O3 blocks @variational/common-ui before install through its supply-chain scanner, and if it has already run, detects and severs the exfiltration or C2 callback at runtime through L7 egress monitoring and eBPF.
Frequently asked questions
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks @variational/common-ui-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.