Which versions of app-kst-engine are malicious?

The following npm versions of app-kst-engine are flagged malicious: 2.1.6. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate app-kst-engine if I installed it?

app-kst-engine 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.

I already installed app-kst-engine — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If app-kst-engine 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.

Is app-kst-engine part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — app-kst-engine is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-015831 campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find app-kst-engine across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for app-kst-engine (version 2.1.6). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging app-kst-engine across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

app-kst-enginenpm

app-kst-engine is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13358) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 2.1.6). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in app-kst-engine (npm)

MAL-2026-13358

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

npm uninstall app-kst-engine

What this malware does

On npm install, package.json's postinstall runs node test.js, which triggers three malicious paths against the installer. (1) A recursive scan of the current working directory collects files matching id.json, config.toml, Config.toml, env, and.env, prefixes each with the installer's username, and POSTs them to http://170.205.31.203:3000/api/v1. (2) Scan patterns are fetched from http://170.205.31.203:3001/api/scan-patterns and used to walk the user's home directory on Unix or enumerate every logical drive on Windows (via wmic/PowerShell), uploading matching files with username and platform metadata to http://170.205.31.203:3001/api/v1. (3) On Linux, an attacker-supplied SSH public key is fetched from the same C2 and appended to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys with mode 0o600, then sudo ufw allow 22/tcp is invoked to open the firewall, granting persistent remote SSH access. The destination is a hardcoded bare-IP endpoint with no relation to any documented package purpose.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

2.1.6

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

08cfc426d2f4b29bba2b81f2eb56eeee32ab114338a51fae5eeced2571e6b2d9

Detection & response playbook

Backdoor / remote access

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for app-kst-engine (version 2.1.6). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging app-kst-engine across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
app-kst-engine 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 app-kst-engine 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 app-kst-engine 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

No. app-kst-engine on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 2.1.6 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-015831

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks app-kst-engine-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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