chalk-tempaltenpm
Advisory published Updated
chalk-tempalte is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4517) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.14, 1.0.15, 1.0.16…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in chalk-tempalte (npm)
What this malware does
Package name chalk-tempalte is a single-character transposition of the popular chalk-template package (a top-tier npm utility), consistent with deliberate typosquatting. The tarball ships a postinstall.js lifecycle script that imports child_process, performs HTTP GET/POST traffic via http.request(...), and collects host identifiers (hostname: fields appear repeatedly throughout the script at lines 20, 46, 287, 409, 427). A second large file, phantom.js, contains multiple POST sinks (lines 1807, 2113, 3183, 6795, 6852). The structural shape — typosquat name + postinstall script that combines child_process, outbound HTTP, and host/system metadata harvesting — matches the credential/host-data exfiltration pattern used by recent npm supply-chain campaigns. Installing this package causes the postinstall hook to fire automatically on npm install, transmitting installer machine data to a remote endpoint and providing a foothold for further code execution.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for chalk-tempalte (6 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
chalk-tempalte 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 chalk-tempalte 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
- ReversingLabs · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks chalk-tempalte-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.