chai-as-deployernpm
chai-as-deployer is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13700) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 2.3.5, 2.3.6). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chai-as-deployer (npm)
What this malware does
The package is published as chai-as-deployer but its tarball contains verbatim pino README/docs/type-definitions while the advertised chai plugin is a no-op Express middleware (return (_req,_res,next) => { next(); }). index.js unconditionally executes require('./lib/config') at module top level, loading a ~3.5MB single-line obfuscator.io-style bundle (rotated string array, decoder functions, hex-escaped identifiers) that has no relationship to pino or the advertised functionality. The obfuscated body contains require, exec, spawn, and axios tokens, indicating the decoded code drives child-process execution and outbound HTTP requests. Any consumer that imports chai-as-deployer triggers this payload with no further action. Author metadata is generic (Harrison Thorn <[email protected]>, bugs URL harrisonthorn.com) and the package description is unrelated boilerplate. The combination of cover-story impersonation, no legitimate functionality, top-level require of a heavily obfuscated bundle, and shell+network primitives inside that bundle is the canonical shape of an import-time stealer/loader.
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
Credential / info stealerFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for chai-as-deployer (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging chai-as-deployer across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
chai-as-deployer 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-deployer 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 chai-as-deployer 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
- ReversingLabs · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks chai-as-deployer-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.