Which versions of dust-helpers are malicious?

The following npm versions of dust-helpers are flagged malicious: 9999.0.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate dust-helpers if I installed it?

dust-helpers 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 dust-helpers — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If dust-helpers 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 dust-helpers part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — dust-helpers is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-014937 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 dust-helpers 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 dust-helpers (version 9999.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging dust-helpers across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

dust-helpersnpm

dust-helpers is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12786) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 9999.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in dust-helpers (npm)

MAL-2026-12786

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall dust-helpers

What this malware does

On npm install, the package's preinstall script runs node callback.js, which collects os.hostname(), os.userInfo().username, process.cwd(), npm_config_registry, and multiple CI repository-slug environment variables (GITHUB_REPOSITORY, CI_PROJECT_PATH, BUILD_REPOSITORY_NAME, and similar) and sends them as query-string parameters in an HTTP GET to the hardcoded endpoint http://75.119.137.232:31337/depconfuse. The package is published at version 9999.0.0 with a generic description and the exfil path is literally /depconfuse, matching the dependency-confusion reconnaissance pattern: publish a very-high-version squat of an internal-sounding name to the public registry so private builds that misresolve pick it up and identify themselves to the attacker. Installer identity, working directory, internal registry URL, and internal repository slugs leave the host to an attacker-controlled bare-IP endpoint at install time, enabling targeted follow-on supply-chain intrusion against the affected organization.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

9999.0.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

0e08146748974a55b50e565bc0ae7fc1788c9b8a28858536c697505032334310

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 dust-helpers (version 9999.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging dust-helpers across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
dust-helpers 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 dust-helpers 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 dust-helpers 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. dust-helpers on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 9999.0.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-014937

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks dust-helpers-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

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