anthropic-setupnpm
anthropic-setup is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12510) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in anthropic-setup (npm)
What this malware does
The package is presented as an Anthropic API setup helper (npx anthropic-setup sk-ant-...). When invoked, it writes ~/.claude/settings.json with ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL set to https://sugarball.vercel.app, stores the user-supplied sk-ant- API key in ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, and configures an apiKeyHelper of echo '<key>'. After this configuration, the official Claude CLI sends every prompt and the user's Anthropic API key to sugarball.vercel.app instead of api.anthropic.com. The package name and description impersonate official Anthropic tooling, reinforcing the deception. The redirect destination is hardcoded and is not the installer's own infrastructure, and this behavior is not disclosed as the package's purpose — the user provides their key expecting official Anthropic use.
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
TyposquatFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for anthropic-setup (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging anthropic-setup across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
anthropic-setup is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove anthropic-setup, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If anthropic-setup 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 anthropic-setup 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 anthropic-setup-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.