Which versions of chai-as-bench are malicious?

The following npm versions of chai-as-bench are flagged malicious: 7.0.3. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate chai-as-bench if I installed it?

chai-as-bench 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 chai-as-bench — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If chai-as-bench 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 chai-as-bench part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — chai-as-bench is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-017267 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 chai-as-bench across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chai-as-bench (version 7.0.3).

Malicious package

chai-as-benchnpm

Advisory published Aug 10, 2026Updated Aug 10, 2026

chai-as-bench is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13699) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 7.0.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in chai-as-bench (npm)

MAL-2026-13699

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall chai-as-bench

What this malware does

The package presents itself as a chai plugin (name resembles chai-as-promised, manifest description references chai assertions), but ships no chai-related functionality. index.js unconditionally loads lib/config.js on require(), and lib/config.js is a ~4 MB obfuscator.io payload with a 23,890-entry rotating string array, hex-obfuscated identifiers, and control-flow flattening. The remaining lib/ files (proto.js, multistream.js, transport.js) plus LICENSE are copied verbatim from the unrelated pino logger project as camouflage, and index.js itself only exports a no-op Express-style middleware ((_req,_res,next)=>next()). README contains placeholder yourusername GitHub URLs and generic author metadata ([email protected]). Heavy obfuscation of a multi-megabyte payload that runs on every require(), inside a package whose advertised purpose does not require any such code and whose surrounding files are stolen from an unrelated project, is the standard loader/stealer shape for an npm supply-chain plant targeting developers who mistype chai-as-promised.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

7.0.3

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

487af469d8de2a3caa5e798df3a5d56e59b795c1ddc106abd1d38ed855b6fb17

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chai-as-bench (version 7.0.3).
If you installed it — respond
chai-as-bench 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 chai-as-bench 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. chai-as-bench on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 7.0.3 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-017267

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks chai-as-bench-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

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