Which versions of cwao are malicious?

The following npm versions of cwao are flagged malicious: 0.5.6. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate cwao if I installed it?

cwao 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.

I already installed cwao — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If cwao 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.

Is cwao part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — cwao is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-004812 campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find cwao across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for cwao (version 0.5.6). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging cwao across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

cwaonpm

Malicious code in cwao (npm) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

MAL-2026-4544

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

npm uninstall cwao

What this malware does

package.json declares "preinstall": "./vendor/setup", which directly executes a 976,568-byte packed Linux x86 ELF binary shipped in the tarball. The README advertises the package as a pure-JS CosmWasm/Arweave AO SDK and never mentions a native binary. The binary is opaque (mostly non-printable, UPX-style packing) with no shipped source, no binding.gyp, no node-gyp/prebuild-install manifest, no version pin and no hash verification. Embedded string fragments include LIBBPF, PTRACE, /proc, HTTP/1.1, https://, RSA, and USERPROFILE — capabilities (kernel BPF, process tracing, outbound HTTPS, credential paths) entirely unrelated to a JavaScript SDK. Every installer running npm install cwao on Linux executes this attacker-controlled native code with the user's privileges before any JavaScript loads. This matches the generic-binary-runner-dropper pattern: undocumented binary, purpose mismatch with the advertised package function, opaque payload, no integrity check, direct lifecycle invocation.

This package was compromised as part of the IronWorm campaign. This campaign executes a malicious binary payload during installation via a preinstall hook. The payload is a Rust-built infostealer that targets developer environments, scanning for and harvesting credentials related to cloud providers, object storage, databases, source-control, package registries, and AI developer tools. It also targets cryptocurrency wallets, specifically injecting a malicious JavaScript hook into the Exodus desktop wallet to capture passwords and recovery phrases. Furthermore, the malware exhibits worm-like behavior by stealing GitHub and NPM credentials to push malicious updates to the victim's repositories and publish trojanized packages, and it uses an eBPF-based kernel rootkit to hide its processes and network connections on Linux systems.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

0.5.6

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

f48b0fefe9d99bcebeaa878f5bb2ca40df917b40785d6b5b8a31cf6e70a44970

146faaf0d97c6a533a969bc3f3f117811f9317dc865ed4ab37f1679842ddeaae

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for cwao (version 0.5.6). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging cwao across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
cwao 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 cwao 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 cwao 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

No. cwao on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 0.5.6 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-004812

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks cwao-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring