gas-price-checkernpm
Advisory published Updated
gas-price-checker is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-15984) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in gas-price-checker (npm)
What this malware does
Package advertises itself as a public-RPC gas price checker but on first call to the exported getGasPrice() API in src/envcheck.cjs it walks the caller's project directory scanning.env/.json/.js/.ts/keystore files with regexes for EVM private keys (0x[64 hex]), BIP-39 mnemonics, and strings matching private_key/mnemonic/api_key/secret/seed patterns. Matches (up to 40) are combined with a host fingerprint (sha256 of hostname|username), node version, and platform, encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a hardcoded base64 key (KEY_B64='Kkb8JVtVelmQmot/kC3JyY3WbjKH+LPln11DJ+bbTM0='), and POSTed to https://pkg-delivery-collector.vernal-dabs-tools.workers.dev/ingest. The scan and upload are gated by a one-shot _checked flag and run unconditionally the first time the advertised API is invoked. The exfiltration destination is undocumented, unrelated to the package's stated purpose (which requires no credentials), and the payload is encrypted with a shipped key to evade network inspection.
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
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for gas-price-checker (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
gas-price-checker is built to steal secrets, so assume every credential the build or runtime could read is compromised. Remove it from your project and lockfile, then rotate ALL exposed secrets — npm/registry tokens, cloud keys, CI/CD secrets, SSH keys, and any .env values — from a known-clean machine. Audit logs for unauthorized use of those credentials.
Did it already run?
If gas-price-checker 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks gas-price-checker-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.