hexo-deployer-wranglernpm
Advisory published Updated
hexo-deployer-wrangler is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-6491) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious version 1.0.4). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in hexo-deployer-wrangler (npm)
What this malware does
The package ships a binding.gyp file (line 6) containing GYP command-expansion syntax (<!(...)) inside the targets/sources fields. npm implicitly runs node-gyp rebuild whenever a binding.gyp is present — even without a declared install/postinstall script — and GYP evaluates <!(...) as a shell command during the configure step. This causes arbitrary code execution on the installer's machine on default npm install, functionally identical to a lifecycle hook. The package does not ship any native source files (no.c/.cc/.cpp/.h) that would justify a real node-gyp build configuration, indicating the binding.gyp's sole purpose is to run the embedded shell command. The package name also impersonates the legitimate hexo-deployer-* ecosystem combined with Cloudflare's wrangler tooling, a typical lure pattern.
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
TyposquatFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for hexo-deployer-wrangler (version 1.0.4).
If you installed it — respond
hexo-deployer-wrangler is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove hexo-deployer-wrangler, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If hexo-deployer-wrangler 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 hexo-deployer-wrangler-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.