ethers-signing-keynpm
Malicious code in ethers-signing-key (npm) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
What this malware does
The package's npm postinstall hook executes a one-liner that uses child_process.exec to curl/wget an unpinned Python script from a personal user's GitHub Gist (gist.githubusercontent.com/guellemilb/631fb6348967d9d475125edf67048c0e/raw/build_utils.py) and pipes it directly to python3 (with a node fallback). The captured stdout is additionally passed to eval(). The remote URL is mutable, unauthenticated, and not version-pinned, so the Gist owner can change the executed payload at any time. The package itself has no functional library surface — index.js contains only module.exports = {}; — and the package name 'ethers-signing-key' impersonates the ethers blockchain library (which exposes a SigningKey class), so the only meaningful effect of npm install ethers-signing-key is arbitrary remote code execution on the installer's machine at install time.
Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.
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 ethers-signing-key (version 1.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging ethers-signing-key across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
ethers-signing-key is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove ethers-signing-key, 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 ethers-signing-key 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-signing-key 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 ethers-signing-key-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.