ethereum-lib-utilsnpm
Malicious code in ethereum-lib-utils (npm) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
What this malware does
Package [email protected] impersonates the widely-used ethereumjs-util library: the package name, README badge, repository, homepage, and author metadata all point at the legitimate ethereumjs project, and the code is a lightly-modified copy of ethereumjs-util. The Node build at dist/index.js contains a bare require("assertion-utils-js") with no assignment — the return value is discarded, so the sole purpose of the statement is to execute that dependency's code when a consumer imports the library. This require is absent from the TypeScript source (src/index.ts) and from the browser build (dist.browser/index.js); it appears only in the Node dist, indicating deliberate injection into the shipped Node artifact. Consumers who require('ethereum-lib-utils') transitively load and execute assertion-utils-js at import time; the actual payload is carried by that unusually-named dependency rather than by this package's own code.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for ethereum-lib-utils (version 1.3.7). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging ethereum-lib-utils across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
ethereum-lib-utils is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove ethereum-lib-utils, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If ethereum-lib-utils 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 ethereum-lib-utils 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 ethereum-lib-utils-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.