NIST deprecates RSA-2048 from 2030. Find every one of them before attackers do.
Malicious package

chai-net-testnpm

Advisory published Updated

chai-net-test is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5607) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious versions 1.1.0, 1.1.2, 1.1.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in chai-net-test (npm)

MAL-2026-5607
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
npm uninstall chai-net-test

What this malware does

chai-net-test ships a remote-code-execution dropper behind its public chain() API. When a consumer calls chain([...]) (the documented entry point), src/index.js spawns src/utils/swap.js as a detached child Node process. swap.js performs axios.get('https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/5IZTJ'), takes the response's .Cookie string, builds a function via new Function.constructor('require', s), and invokes it with the package's require — granting the attacker-supplied JavaScript full Node module access on the consumer's machine. The destination is jsonkeeper.com, a public anonymous JSON paste host whose contents are fully mutable by whoever holds the paste id, so the executed bytes can change at any moment without any package republish. The package additionally impersonates the legitimate stream-chaining library chain by uhop: the README claims to be a 'lightweight, no-dependencies micro-package' and links to uhop's wiki, while package.json declares runtime dependencies on axios and sqlite3 — a cover-story to lure consumers of the real library into invoking the trojaned API.

Malicious versions

3 flagged
1.1.01.1.21.1.3

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

cd5f4bb3d7abae3be57c7521b84016b6484d4c21bd2898fcde043d376513cf1e
151f9c459427cf7881a798704de6296230cf19ee96d84d270eedadf26369f8df
7e63802b5318bbeddf630c42bc5c49a9a702368720174f843c4f32531f4680c5
c59433f3b93cd0034f3a6f6f928d1a21429d41dfbee327da933661f2f57745db
ef2a129e81dc5f5ff6b4e9e043fb38e1637b46a7cd433a28a4d3b9d6f2835224

Detection & response playbook

Typosquat
  1. Find it

    Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chai-net-test (3 malicious versions).

  2. If you installed it — respond

    chai-net-test is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove chai-net-test, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.

  3. Did it already run?

    If chai-net-test 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

No. chai-net-test on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.1.0, 1.1.2, 1.1.3 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-005709IN-MAL-2026-006144IN-MAL-2026-006143IN-MAL-2026-006146IN-MAL-2026-006145

References

Credits

  • Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks chai-net-test-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.

Explore

chai-net-test (npm) malicious package — MAL-2026-5607 | O3 Security