@vite-tab/tabnpm
Advisory published Updated
@vite-tab/tab is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-6988) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious versions 3.15.10, 5.7.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in @vite-tab/tab (npm)
What this malware does
@vite-tab/tab republishes Vite's codebase under a different name while impersonating the upstream project: package.json declares bin: { vite: 'bin/vite.js' } (hijacking the vite command on $PATH), author: 'Evan You', repository: git+https://github.com/vitejs/vite.git, and homepage: https://vitejs.dev. Appended to bin/vite.js after the legitimate Vite bootstrap is a self-decoding string table (var _$_4445=(function(k,p){...})("...",4606094)) built via a Fisher-Yates-style scramble with \x25/\x23 substitution markers; all sensitive identifiers (https, get, request, JSON.parse, child_process, spawn, eval, host fragments) are referenced as indices into this table to defeat static review. At runtime the decoded routines perform an HTTPS GET followed by a JSON-RPC POST ({jsonrpc, method, params, id:1}) to a dynamically resolved hostname, base64-decode and XOR-decrypt the response, and pass it to eval(r); a second fetched payload is launched via child_process.spawn(..., {detached:true, windowsHide:true}), with a 30-second throttle. The fetch loop runs every time a developer invokes the hijacked vite command, giving the publisher arbitrary remote code execution on the developer machine with persistence via detached child processes. The remote-hostname JSON-RPC lookup makes the C2 endpoint resistant to static domain blocking.
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
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @vite-tab/tab (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
@vite-tab/tab establishes remote access, so treat any host that installed it as fully compromised. Isolate the machine, remove the package, rotate all credentials it could reach, and rebuild from a trusted image rather than cleaning in place — a backdoor may have planted additional persistence.
Did it already run?
If @vite-tab/tab 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 @vite-tab/tab-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.