elephant-tusk-runnernpm
elephant-tusk-runner is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13445) that executes malicious code on install (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in elephant-tusk-runner (npm)
What this malware does
server.js starts an Express + WebSocket server via app.listen(PORT,...) with no host argument, defaulting the bind to 0.0.0.0, with fully open CORS (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *) and no authentication. A WebSocket route /terminal-stream and HTTP POST /api/v1/workspace-terminal-command each spawn a bash or powershell.exe PTY and pipe network-received bytes directly into ptySession.write(...), giving any peer that can reach port 4201 an interactive shell on the host running the tool. Additional endpoints on the same listener call child_process.exec with attacker-controllable arguments, including git clone --depth=1 ${targetGitUrl}..., composer install && php artisan key:generate, npm install, php "${terminalFile}", and taskkill/kill on arbitrary PIDs, plus a fetch-proxy that forwards arbitrary target URLs. The listener is started by npm start and by the tusk/elephant CLI shipped in the package's bin entries. On any developer or build machine on a shared or reachable network, this exposes a full remote-shell and remote-code-execution surface for the duration the tool runs.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for elephant-tusk-runner (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging elephant-tusk-runner across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
Remove elephant-tusk-runner 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 elephant-tusk-runner 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 elephant-tusk-runner 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks elephant-tusk-runner-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.