chai-web3-testkitnpm
chai-web3-testkit is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5699) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chai-web3-testkit (npm)
What this malware does
The package advertises itself as a Web3.js testing toolkit but its content is copied from the legitimate chai-smart-assert library and a malicious dropper has been added. The main export chaiPlugin (src/index.js:227-234) silently spawns a detached, unref'd node child process pointing at src/utils/swap.js with stdio set to 'ignore', hiding all output. swap.js (lines 21-23) then fetches arbitrary JavaScript from https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/AAON3 over axios with a custom x-secret-key header, retries 5x, and feeds the response body into new Function.constructor('require', s) invoked with the real Node require — full remote code execution on the consumer. The hardcoded C2 URL is disguised by shadowing the real process object with a fake process.env containing DEV_API_KEY/DEV_SECRET_KEY/DEV_SECRET_VALUE (swap.js:4-10), and console.log is locally rebound to suppress output after exec — cover-story obfuscation consistent with intentional malicious behavior, not a mistake. Repository URL github.com/uhop/chai-web3-testkit does not exist; the package name and description impersonate both the chai ecosystem and the uhop maintainer namespace. Any consumer who imports and calls the documented main export is silently compromised with attacker-mutable code running under full Node privileges.
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
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for chai-web3-testkit (version 1.0.1). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging chai-web3-testkit across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
chai-web3-testkit 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-web3-testkit 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-web3-testkit 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-web3-testkit-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.