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Malicious package

ethers-signing-keynpm

Malicious code in ethers-signing-key (npm) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

MAL-2026-3761
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
npm uninstall ethers-signing-key

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

1 flagged
1.0.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

41a4f59f7394b40b2a1f7a24c1f2b4d43bd5dbdcaacefb040660f73eb286233c
b6735be7311be4f6b4f609762cfb77504fe141bc9d8d5b5c0a75d521119aa2fa
aa6ac62c8f62bce87d42fe3fccb998c223086ee5f529221f4342177c0798627a

Detection & response playbook

Typosquat
  1. Find 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

No. ethers-signing-key on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 1.0.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-002689IN-MAL-2026-002814GHSA-4h8m-265v-jp4c

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.

ethers-signing-key (npm) malicious package — MAL-2026-3761 | O3 Security