base65-12xnpm
base65-12x is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13746) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious version 5.0.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in base65-12x (npm)
What this malware does
The package name base65-12x typosquats the popular base-x base-encoding library and reuses base-x's repository as its homepage. Both the CJS entry (index.js around line 116) and the ESM entry (src/esm/index.js around line 114) append an approximately 123 KB top-level obfuscated block after a copy of the legitimate base-x source. The block installs a VM-style dispatcher on globalThis (registries named vmr_3f4688 and vmw_bf472f), manipulates Object.defineProperty and proto, and contains multiple fetch references, so a network-capable code path is wired up and runs unconditionally when a consumer requires or imports the package. A base-encoding library has no functional need for a large globalThis-poisoning obfuscated VM with network fetch at module top level; the payload is duplicated across both module systems so it fires for CJS and ESM consumers alike.
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 base65-12x (version 5.0.2). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging base65-12x across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
base65-12x is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove base65-12x, 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 base65-12x 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 base65-12x 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 base65-12x-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.