Which versions of data-format-helper are malicious?

The following npm versions of data-format-helper are flagged malicious: 1.0.0, 1.0.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate data-format-helper if I installed it?

data-format-helper 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 data-format-helper — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If data-format-helper 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 data-format-helper part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — data-format-helper is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-011483, IN-MAL-2026-011482 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 data-format-helper 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 data-format-helper (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging data-format-helper across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

data-format-helpernpm

data-format-helper is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12039) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in data-format-helper (npm)

MAL-2026-12039

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall data-format-helper

What this malware does

The package advertises itself as a data-formatting utility but ships a postinstall.js that auto-executes on npm install and runs shell commands to collect installer/CI identity and secrets, then sends them to an attacker-controlled Burp Collaborator subdomain over plain HTTP. Observed collection includes hostname, whoami/id, sudo -l output, process and network state, GitHub Actions environment (GITHUB_TOKEN, GITHUB_REPOSITORY, GITHUB_ACTOR, RUN_ID and related), and any environment variables matching KEY|TOKEN|SECRET|NPM_TOKEN|AWS_|AZURE|GCP|GITHUB_TOKEN, each base64-encoded and sent via curl to http://pzs5w7ntzhsnepwk564lyfdci3oucl0a.oastify.com/. The script additionally probes cloud instance-metadata endpoints for AWS, Aliyun, GCP and Tencent and forwards the responses to the same collector. A separate phase probes the internal hostname tst.woa.com and base64-encodes the response body of an internal flag.html before sending it to the collector, indicating targeted reconnaissance against a specific internal (Tencent) environment consistent with a dependency-confusion decoy. The advertised 'data formatting utilities' description and benign color-helper index.js are cover metadata unrelated to the postinstall behavior.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

1.0.01.0.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

1f06ab5181c32dbe125d9dfe5b9c8f9e4052a060b61acdc04afc886b1a097fa9

21db9b8662eac789b1523c3f2114daa6a5fd3a2a0c7bbfb58fafdf3b4809c7cd

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 data-format-helper (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging data-format-helper across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
data-format-helper 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 data-format-helper 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 data-format-helper 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. data-format-helper on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-011483IN-MAL-2026-011482

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks data-format-helper-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

Explore

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database