Which versions of ethers-core are malicious?

The following npm versions of ethers-core are flagged malicious: 6.13.5, 6.13.7. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate ethers-core if I installed it?

ethers-core 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 ethers-core — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If ethers-core 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 ethers-core part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — ethers-core is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-010503, IN-MAL-2026-010590 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 ethers-core 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 ethers-core (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging ethers-core across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

ethers-corenpm

ethers-core is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-10580) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 6.13.5, 6.13.7). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in ethers-core (npm)

MAL-2026-10580

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall ethers-core

What this malware does

Package name typosquats the popular 'ethers' library. package.json declares a postinstall pointing at dist/index.min.js, whose sole top-level statement is eval(Buffer.from('<base64>','base64').toString()). The decoded payload enumerates installer secrets (env vars including PRIVATE_KEY, MNEMONIC, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, GITHUB_TOKEN, NPM_TOKEN; files including.env, ~/.aws/credentials, ~/.ssh/id_rsa, ~/.npmrc, wallet.json, keystore.json, seed.txt) and POSTs them to a hardcoded Telegram bot endpoint at api.telegram.org. Any 64-hex or WIF private key recovered is loaded into an ethers.Wallet, balance-checked against cloudflare-eth.com, and drained via sendTransaction to hardcoded attacker ETH/BTC addresses (ETH 0x72bC6c85847136..., BTC bc1qvg0vmlxf2ly248my69r2k6zut8s4q93j9mqvtf); BTC transactions are pushed via blockchain.info/pushtx. Persistence is established by appending 'node /tmp/sys-core.js &' to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, and ~/.profile, writing ~/.config/autostart/sys-core.desktop, and dropping /tmp/sys-core.js, which polls an attacker webhook via child_process.exec. A companion config/attacker-config.json ships the attacker's Telegram bot token, chat_id, wallet destinations, and target secret path/env-var list.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

6.13.56.13.7

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

c45244535e6a0091daf7b425d3d8c5040f26b487db54fdae84efc63a17fbf76d

3959190c7c321e0d6f512b89b3c54a6399f3e6f7daecd0563ff753a6a6fed2f5

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 ethers-core (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging ethers-core across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
ethers-core 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 ethers-core 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 ethers-core 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. ethers-core on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 6.13.5, 6.13.7 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-010503IN-MAL-2026-010590

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks ethers-core-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

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