cdn-img-fetchnpm
Advisory published Updated
cdn-img-fetch is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-17320) that executes malicious code on install (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in cdn-img-fetch (npm)
What this malware does
On require() of cdn-img-fetch, index.js unconditionally invokes https.get against https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cavecrew/proj/main/banner.png and pipes the response into a hidden dot-file at os.tmpdir()/._cif_data (written via a.part file and renamed into place). The source is a mutable main-branch URL in a personal GitHub account unrelated to the npm publisher, with no version pin, hash, or signature check, so whoever controls that repo controls the bytes dropped onto the installer's disk on every import. The fetch fires automatically as an IIFE at module load, not from any user-invoked API, and the destination filename is deliberately hidden. The package advertises itself as a CDN image cache helper, which does not explain an import-time download of an opaque file from a third-party personal repo to a hidden tmp location. This is the first-stage dropper / staging shape: the current fetched bytes are written but not executed in this version, but the mechanism gives an off-registry actor a persistent import-time write primitive into every installer's tmp directory.
Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for cdn-img-fetch (3 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
Remove cdn-img-fetch 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 cdn-img-fetch 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 cdn-img-fetch-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.