color-utils-dee0npm
Advisory published Updated
color-utils-dee0 is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-6089) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in color-utils-dee0 (npm)
What this malware does
package.json declares a postinstall hook ("postinstall": "node run.js") that automatically runs run.js on npm install. run.js imports child_process, os, http, and https, reads host identifiers via os.hostname() and os.platform(), and performs outbound HTTP/HTTPS GET and POST calls (run.js lines 48, 62, 63, 265). The combination of automatic install-time execution, host fingerprinting, child_process availability, and outbound network POSTs of host data is the canonical install-time exfiltration / dropper shape. The package name (a short, randomly-suffixed color-utils-dee0) and v1.0.0-only release are consistent with a disposable squat/lure rather than a legitimate utility. Installing this package will run attacker-chosen code with the installer's privileges and leak host information to an external endpoint.
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
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for color-utils-dee0 (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
color-utils-dee0 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-utils-dee0 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
Detect & block this
O3 blocks color-utils-dee0-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.