animate-css-vitenpm
animate-css-vite is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14226) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in animate-css-vite (npm)
What this malware does
plugin.js contains an RC4/base64 string-array obfuscated function invoked from the exported createPlugin factory. When a consumer's build instantiates the plugin, it constructs a URL at runtime, calls fetch() against it, base64-decodes the response body, and executes the result via new Function(param, decoded)(require) inside a retry loop (up to 10 attempts, 60s timeout each). The obfuscation (130-entry RC4 string array with two indirection decoders and a self-defending console-hook stub) hides the network destination and the fetch/exec wiring; a legitimate PostCSS plugin for vendor prefixes and CSS variables has no reason to fetch and evaluate remote code. The eval runs with require in scope, giving the remote operator arbitrary code execution inside the consumer's build process.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for animate-css-vite (version 1.0.1).
If you installed it — respond
Remove animate-css-vite from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If animate-css-vite 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 animate-css-vite-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.