cache-poisoning-pwn-demonpm
Advisory published Updated
cache-poisoning-pwn-demo is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-3751) that executes malicious code on install (malicious versions 0.1.27, 0.1.28, 0.1.29). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in cache-poisoning-pwn-demo (npm)
What this malware does
The package's postinstall hook (node -e "try { require('./dist/postinstall.js'); } catch(e) {}") loads dist/postinstall.js, which bundles a poisoned is-number module whose top-level IIFE unconditionally calls child_process.exec with a platform-specific command: open -a Calculator on macOS, calc.exe on Windows, gnome-calculator/xcalc on Linux. The same IIFE is also present in dist/index.js (the package's main entry), so any consumer that does require('cache-poisoning-pwn-demo') or imports it will also spawn a child process with no user consent. The package self-describes as a supply-chain attack demonstration. While today's payload spawns only a calculator, the mechanism is a fully functional install-time and import-time arbitrary-command executor: any installer running npm install or any downstream library that transitively requires this package will execute the hardcoded command in the installer's context. The calculator is a demonstration payload; the delivery primitive is a real attack.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for cache-poisoning-pwn-demo (3 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
Remove cache-poisoning-pwn-demo from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If cache-poisoning-pwn-demo 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks cache-poisoning-pwn-demo-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.