color-style-utilsnpm
Advisory published Updated
color-style-utils is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4534) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 1.0.5…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in color-style-utils (npm)
What this malware does
On npm install, all three lifecycle hooks (preinstall, install, postinstall) execute postinstall.js, which harvests installer secrets and exfiltrates them to an attacker-controlled localhost.run SSH tunnel at edcf8b03c84634.lhr.life. The script reads ~/.ssh/*, ~/.aws/credentials and config, ~/.config/gcloud, ~/.azure, ~/.npmrc, ~/.kube/config, ~/.docker/config.json, browser profile directories, crypto wallets, VPN configs, shell histories, and dotfiles; dumps process.env; and regex-matches GitHub, AWS, Google, Stripe, Slack, and Discord tokens. It also fingerprints the host via api.ipify.org and ipapi.co (public IP, country, city, ISP, lat/lon, hostname, username, uid/gid, local IPs) and POSTs the full bundle to https://edcf8b03c84634.lhr.life/collect via https.request. The package additionally declares a self-referential dependency on itself (color-style-utils: ^1.0.4) and ships an undeclared ~35 KB sibling file postinstall2.jsµ with a non-ASCII suffix that is not referenced by any documented script — both consistent with name-squat/decoy smuggling patterns.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for color-style-utils (7 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
color-style-utils 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 color-style-utils 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 color-style-utils-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.