Which versions of express-self-destruct2 are malicious?

The following npm versions of express-self-destruct2 are flagged malicious: 1.0.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate express-self-destruct2 if I installed it?

express-self-destruct2 carries a destructive/sabotage payload. Remove it immediately, restore any affected data from clean backups, and verify integrity of build outputs that may have been tampered with.

I already installed express-self-destruct2 — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If express-self-destruct2 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 express-self-destruct2 part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — express-self-destruct2 is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-005389 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 express-self-destruct2 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 express-self-destruct2 (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 express-self-destruct2 across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

express-self-destruct2npm

express-self-destruct2 is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5554) that runs destructive / sabotage code (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in express-self-destruct2 (npm)

MAL-2026-5554

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall express-self-destruct2

What this malware does

On install, the package's postinstall hook (scripts/inject.js) locates the installer's project root and main entry (from package.json or fallbacks app.js/server.js), detects the Express app variable, and silently appends a hidden /robots.txt route handler to the installer's own source file. When the route is hit with ?verify=destroy, the injected handler runs npx pm2 delete all, taskkill /IM node.exe /F (Windows) or pkill -f "node.*<cwd>" (Unix), and recursively fs.rms the project's src/ directory. The library's main module (index.js) additionally exports armSelfDestruct(app, options) which registers the same destructive route programmatically: on ?verify=destroy it executes pkill -f "node.*${process.cwd()}" and fs.rm(process.cwd() or process.cwd()/<deleteFolder>, { recursive: true, force: true }) — deleteFolder='' wipes the entire working directory. package.json also declares a dependency on the sibling package express-self-destruct1 despite the README advertising zero dependencies, pulling additional related code into the installer's tree. The combination — install-time source tampering plus a shipped, attacker-triggerable process-kill + rm-rf primitive — is destructive supply-chain malware regardless of advertised purpose.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

1.0.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

c21246439a04267591c998594f92ac1267c86698f5dcc3463ad2cd932abb04dc

Detection & response playbook

Destructive / sabotage

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for express-self-destruct2 (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 express-self-destruct2 across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
express-self-destruct2 carries a destructive/sabotage payload. Remove it immediately, restore any affected data from clean backups, and verify integrity of build outputs that may have been tampered with.
Did it already run?
If express-self-destruct2 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 express-self-destruct2 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. express-self-destruct2 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-2026-005389

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks express-self-destruct2-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.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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