chai-leafnpm
chai-leaf is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-10940) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.4.5, 1.4.6, 1.4.7…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chai-leaf (npm)
What this malware does
[email protected]'s main entry index.js unconditionally requires./lib/config, which is a single 3,546,568-byte obfuscator.io-encoded file (20,721-entry string array with self-defending routines) that runs immediately on require(). The decoded string table inside lib/config.js contains literals for.ssh and.aws (installer credential directories) alongside axios, spawn, exec, Function, and require — the shape of a load-time credential stealer that reads secrets from the installer's home directory and exfiltrates via HTTP. package.json declares axios as a runtime dependency. The package presents itself with inconsistent cover stories: package.json describes it as vulnerability-management documentation while the README impersonates pino (badges, prose, and docs/api.md copied verbatim from pinojs/pino) and the lib/ tree mirrors pino's file names (proto.js, redaction.js, tools.js, transport.js, worker.js) with the extra obfuscated config.js that has no analog in real pino. The package name and README also allude to chai, unrelated to either declared purpose. A logger/chai plugin has no legitimate need for a multi-megabyte self-defending obfuscated blob that executes at import, and no legitimate need to reference ~/.ssh and ~/.aws.
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-leaf (4 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging chai-leaf across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
chai-leaf 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-leaf 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-leaf 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-leaf-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.