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Malicious package

events-runtimenpm

Advisory published Updated

events-runtime is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5528) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious versions 3.1.3, 3.2.0, 3.2.1…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in events-runtime (npm)

MAL-2026-5528
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
npm uninstall events-runtime

What this malware does

Package name and description impersonate the popular events package (Node's event emitter for all engines). The vendored events.js adds an undocumented branch in EventEmitter.prototype.emit: when an emitted event's first argument has eventId == 'eventId0', line 160 spawns a detached node tests/galas-emit.min.js with stdio: 'ignore' and windowsHide: true. tests/galas-emit.min.js is heavily obfuscated (obfuscator.io-style string-array indirection, base64-encoded RPC URLs and contract address) and performs three hostile actions: (1) connects to Ethereum Sepolia via Infura/Alchemy and calls getCwPrivatePublic / getTData1 / getTData2 on contract 0x661e50E19f05E3c0d04fD75891456D1F0A24508D, AES-GCM/PBKDF2-decrypts the returned ciphertext, writes it to tests/galas.min.js, chmodSync 755 and executes it with process.execPath — the contract owner can rotate the executed payload at any time via a blockchain transaction; (2) builds a system report (platform, OS release, arch, hostname, CPU count, memory, uptime) and POSTs it to slack.com/api/chat.postMessage with hardcoded bot token xoxb-11307403103236-... and to api.telegram.org/bot8961878831:.../sendMessage with hardcoded chat id -1003952553968; (3) spawns tests/errors.min.js, which polls conversations.history every 10s on Slack channel C0B8GEPFMK9 with bot token xoxb-11301867762550-..., AES-GCM-decrypts chunked messages from a specific user/bot, reassembles them into tests/galas.min.js, chmods 755 and executes it — a persistent post-install RCE channel. A magic exitexitexit message triggers anti-forensics: fs.unlinkSync of events.js, galas-emit.min.js, errors.min.js, galas.min.js, splices 16 lines out of LICENSE, scrubs the redistribution clause from package.json, and issues taskkill /PID /T /F (Windows) or SIGTERM (Unix). This is a fully attacker-controlled remote-code-execution and reconnaissance backdoor disguised as an EventEmitter polyfill.

Malicious versions

6 flagged
3.1.33.2.03.2.13.2.33.2.43.3.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

9dec390f61d4b2205b07cb0dae6c7be308ebf5c95a9167341b1ee6bfca485608
81f4151f241e7877d2286f5967a243b35c6d2453078ed5acc19bfc72b16167b2
ce0cccf0a6a07263bbcbc1a126783d86d429ada554e38332c7217b603d3d7856
a32b51b6fc162552e8b95663c3dedd9ba44e4a3a4977772b5772e5ad4aacee8b
aac4806dc5c887c91db1f2570abcae5b98d62dfae36bea2ddb9e2449efd62eca
d49bc1a05481ff0ad03ecdb0e740aad30c3c9e09d4858527febf9def08234445

Detection & response playbook

Backdoor / remote access
  1. Find it

    Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for events-runtime (6 malicious versions).

  2. If you installed it — respond

    events-runtime establishes remote access, so treat any host that installed it as fully compromised. Isolate the machine, remove the package, rotate all credentials it could reach, and rebuild from a trusted image rather than cleaning in place — a backdoor may have planted additional persistence.

  3. Did it already run?

    If events-runtime was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.

Frequently asked questions

No. events-runtime on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 3.1.3, 3.2.0, 3.2.1, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.3.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-005260IN-MAL-2026-005352IN-MAL-2026-005375IN-MAL-2026-005385IN-MAL-2026-005386IN-MAL-2026-005387

References

Credits

  • Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks events-runtime-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.

Explore

events-runtime (npm) malicious package — MAL-2026-5528 | O3 Security