break-afternpm
break-after is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12518) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 9999.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in break-after (npm)
What this malware does
The package's preinstall script runs automatically on npm install and collects os.hostname(), os.userInfo().username, process.cwd(), the configured npm registry, and a set of CI/repository environment variables, then sends the values as query-string parameters in an HTTP GET to the hardcoded bare-IP endpoint http://75.119.137.232:31337/depconfuse. The version number 9999.0.0 combined with the name of an existing public package and preinstall exfiltration of host, user, working-directory, and internal CI repository identifiers is the fingerprint of a dependency-confusion reconnaissance payload: it is designed to be pulled in by an internal build that resolves the higher version from the public registry, and to report back the identity of the victim organization and its private repository names.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for break-after (version 9999.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging break-after across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
break-after 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 break-after 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 break-after 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 break-after-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.