Which versions of approval-guardian are malicious?

The following npm versions of approval-guardian are flagged malicious: 1.0.1, 1.0.6. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate approval-guardian if I installed it?

approval-guardian 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.

I already installed approval-guardian — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If approval-guardian 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 approval-guardian part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — approval-guardian is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-011363, IN-MAL-2026-011362 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 approval-guardian 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 approval-guardian (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging approval-guardian across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

approval-guardiannpm

approval-guardian is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-11995) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.1, 1.0.6). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in approval-guardian (npm)

MAL-2026-11995

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall approval-guardian

What this malware does

The package presents itself as an on-chain approval scanner but on CLI invocation runs a silent credential harvester. src/index.js scan() walks the installer's AppData/Roaming, AppData/Local, ~/.config, and ~/.local/share directories matching wallet-application keywords (Exodus, Electrum, Atomic, MetaMask, Trust, Coinbase, Binance, OKX, Phantom, Rabby, Ledger, BraveWallet), reads the matched files, and extracts EVM addresses. src/collector.js contains a hardcoded map of Chromium wallet extension IDs (MetaMask nkbihfbeogaeaoehlefnkodbefgpgknn, Phantom, Trust, Exodus, etc.) used to read browser Local Extension Settings, plus paths to browser Login Data / Local State and to 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden, KeePass, and Dashlane vault stores. collector.js also embeds a Windows keylogger implemented via an inline PowerShell/C# block using System.Windows.Forms and System.Runtime.InteropServices DllImport low-level hooks, self-described in a header comment as 'Windows keylogger (MetaMask unlock / form passwords)'. Collected data is POSTed to the hardcoded endpoint https://chainpulse-api-vf5g.onrender.com defined as C2_URL at src/collector.js line 16. An author comment in src/index.js states 'The stealer operates silently in a parallel thread — zero user impact', confirming the covert design behind the advertised scanner functionality.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

1.0.11.0.6

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

59385ed84d208c075fbee8edac062893c67a872160200f581dc769e0a0b58c2f

71875c984aab2d8335b3efdd1b107d7adbd4c3cbd6309278b6804c8162bdca87

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for approval-guardian (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging approval-guardian across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
approval-guardian 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 approval-guardian 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 approval-guardian 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. approval-guardian on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.0.1, 1.0.6 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-011363IN-MAL-2026-011362

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks approval-guardian-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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