github-policy-botnpm
github-policy-bot is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14245) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in github-policy-bot (npm)
What this malware does
On npm install, the package's postinstall script collects host identifiers (os.hostname(), platform, arch, node version, package name, npm lifecycle event) and POSTs them as JSON to the hardcoded host vlfl47tl.instances.poc.jchunt.top at path /github-policy-bot. The outbound request is fail-silent (error handler swallows failures) and short-timeout, consistent with a beacon. The package name shadows the Google-owned js-github-policy-bot repository path referenced in the tarball's source.txt, and the package.json author is a placeholder (r00tdaddy) with a self-declared 'security research canary' purpose — an author-controlled label that does not change the behavior. Installing this package causes unsolicited disclosure of the installer's hostname and environment metadata to a third-party endpoint the installer did not configure.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for github-policy-bot (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 github-policy-bot across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
github-policy-bot 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 github-policy-bot 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 github-policy-bot 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks github-policy-bot-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.