Which versions of atomic-notes are malicious?

The following npm versions of atomic-notes are flagged malicious: 0.5.3. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate atomic-notes if I installed it?

atomic-notes 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 atomic-notes — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If atomic-notes 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.

Is atomic-notes part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — atomic-notes is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-004825 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 atomic-notes across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for atomic-notes (version 0.5.3).

Malicious package

atomic-notesnpm

Advisory published May 26, 2026Updated Jun 4, 2026

atomic-notes is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4486) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 0.5.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in atomic-notes (npm)

MAL-2026-4486

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall atomic-notes

What this malware does

package.json declares preinstall:./.github/scripts/precheck, which executes a 976 KB stripped, UPX-packed Linux x86_64 ELF shipped at .github/scripts/precheck on every npm install. The binary is opaque (packed + stripped, UPX marker http://upx.sf.net present) and contains kernel/syscall surface (LIBBPF, PTRACE, NETLINK, NETLINK_DIAG), a TLS/HTTP client (HTTP/1.1, Ed25519, RSA_PKCS1_, POST), and references to USERPROFILE and https:// — capabilities entirely unrelated to the package's advertised purpose as a JavaScript Arweave/AO 'atomic-notes' library. The binary is hidden under .github/scripts/, a directory normally reserved for CI workflow YAML, not runtime code. Author and description fields in package.json are empty placeholders. There is no hash verification, no documentation, and no legitimate reason for a JS library to execute an opaque privileged Linux binary at install time.

This package was compromised as part of the IronWorm campaign. This campaign executes a malicious binary payload during installation via a preinstall hook. The payload is a Rust-built infostealer that targets developer environments, scanning for and harvesting credentials related to cloud providers, object storage, databases, source-control, package registries, and AI developer tools. It also targets cryptocurrency wallets, specifically injecting a malicious JavaScript hook into the Exodus desktop wallet to capture passwords and recovery phrases. Furthermore, the malware exhibits worm-like behavior by stealing GitHub and NPM credentials to push malicious updates to the victim's repositories and publish trojanized packages, and it uses an eBPF-based kernel rootkit to hide its processes and network connections on Linux systems.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

0.5.3

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

c70dcf4fd11ae58bf4e06b896b2f163d54e3c3a26b66d472bab1e0af126f6f81

146faaf0d97c6a533a969bc3f3f117811f9317dc865ed4ab37f1679842ddeaae

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for atomic-notes (version 0.5.3).
If you installed it — respond
atomic-notes 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 atomic-notes 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

No. atomic-notes on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 0.5.3 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-004825

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks atomic-notes-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

Explore

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database