dws-frontend-dws-frontend-corenpm
Advisory published Updated
dws-frontend-dws-frontend-core is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13203) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 35.4.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in dws-frontend-dws-frontend-core (npm)
What this malware does
On require() of this package, index.js loads support.js which downloads a platform-specific binary over HTTPS from author-controlled hosts under oob-worker.cf1*.workers.dev (with a DNS TXT-record base64 fallback under c.*.dl.wel1.ru). Destination hostnames are assembled via.join('') on split string fragments to evade static analysis. The fetched bytes are written to /var/tmp/.cache<hex> on Unix or %TEMP%\dotnet_diag_<hex>.exe on Windows — filenames disguised as a dotfile cache or a Microsoft.NET diagnostics binary — chmod 0755, and spawned detached via /bin/sh -c or cmd. A /tmp/.analytics_state marker file throttles re-execution, and the code pretends to honor DISABLE_TELEMETRY/ANALYTICS_OPT_OUT/DO_NOT_TRACK as a cover story despite the observed behavior being remote-binary execution rather than telemetry. No hash or signature verification is performed on the downloaded payload; the destination is not a publisher-owned or registry-hosted artifact.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for dws-frontend-dws-frontend-core (version 35.4.3).
If you installed it — respond
Remove dws-frontend-dws-frontend-core from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If dws-frontend-dws-frontend-core 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 dws-frontend-dws-frontend-core-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the malicious outbound activity and severs the channel.