Which versions of expect-dotenv are malicious?

The following npm versions of expect-dotenv are flagged malicious: 7.2.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate expect-dotenv if I installed it?

expect-dotenv 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.

I already installed expect-dotenv — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If expect-dotenv 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 expect-dotenv part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — expect-dotenv is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-018432 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 expect-dotenv 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 expect-dotenv (version 7.2.1). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging expect-dotenv across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

expect-dotenvnpm

expect-dotenv is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14316) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 7.2.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in expect-dotenv (npm)

MAL-2026-14316

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall expect-dotenv

What this malware does

The package's main entry runs a worker that performs an HTTPS GET to https://realase-0626.vercel.app/api/v1 and passes the response's parser string into vm.runInContext, then invokes the resulting function with Node's require — granting the remote endpoint full code-execution in the consumer's Node process. The destination URL is concealed as a hex byte array in constants.js (pluginIDs) and reassembled at runtime via String.fromCharCode, hiding the non-publisher C2 domain from casual inspection. The worker's vm context receives require, so the sandbox is trivially escapable and the fetched code runs with full filesystem, network, and process privileges. This behavior fires on require('expect-dotenv') followed by .config() or .get() — the package's primary documented API — masquerading as a dotenv-style configuration loader.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

7.2.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

ffc39d28e4d33afe723182c097769f087bf528732e5468b1511bf2bff41db01e

Detection & response playbook

Backdoor / remote access

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for expect-dotenv (version 7.2.1). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging expect-dotenv across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
expect-dotenv 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.
Did it already run?
If expect-dotenv 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 expect-dotenv 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. expect-dotenv on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 7.2.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-018432

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

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

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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