Which versions of hardhat-starter-kit are malicious?

The following npm versions of hardhat-starter-kit are flagged malicious: 99.0.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate hardhat-starter-kit if I installed it?

Remove hardhat-starter-kit from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.

I already installed hardhat-starter-kit — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If hardhat-starter-kit 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.

Is hardhat-starter-kit part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — hardhat-starter-kit is associated with the RLMA-2026-01970 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 hardhat-starter-kit across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for hardhat-starter-kit (version 99.0.1).

Malicious package

hardhat-starter-kitnpm

Advisory published Apr 16, 2026Updated Apr 23, 2026

hardhat-starter-kit is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-2769) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 99.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in hardhat-starter-kit (npm)

MAL-2026-2769

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall hardhat-starter-kit

What this malware does

The package hardhat-starter-kit was found to contain malicious code.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

99.0.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

67d2023e45dc91b715636d6c068f3817166c609f43db3e6fd8900aae2db44e3a

127bcfdba774e2dd942b89041f670f62c7523c32b766606d81a1b229b961b1a4

Detection & response playbook

Malicious package

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for hardhat-starter-kit (version 99.0.1).
If you installed it — respond
Remove hardhat-starter-kit from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If hardhat-starter-kit 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. hardhat-starter-kit on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 99.0.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

RLMA-2026-01970

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder
ReversingLabs · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks hardhat-starter-kit-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

Explore

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database