chai-as-verifiednpm
Advisory published Updated
chai-as-verified is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-10504) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 7.1.5). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chai-as-verified (npm)
What this malware does
Package name typosquats chai-as-promised while its package.json advertises unrelated logger/vulnerability-management metadata. On require, index.js invokes a middleware() that spawns a detached node child process running lib/initializeCaller.js with stdio ignored and unref()'d. That child decodes a base64-hidden URL (https://tomato-brunhilda-40.tiiny.site/index.json) from a shadowed process.env object, fetches the JS response with a base64-decoded header name x-secret-key, and executes it via new Function.constructor("require", response)(require), granting the remote payload full Node require access. The C2 URL, header name, and header value are stored as base64 to hide them from static analysis.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chai-as-verified (version 7.1.5).
If you installed it — respond
chai-as-verified establishes remote access, so treat any host that installed it as fully compromised. Isolate the machine, remove the package, rotate all credentials it could reach, and rebuild from a trusted image rather than cleaning in place — a backdoor may have planted additional persistence.
Did it already run?
If chai-as-verified 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 chai-as-verified-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.