hpsetupnpm
hpsetup is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4579) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 4.5.3-beta.7, 4.5.3-beta.15, 4.5.3-beta.21…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in hpsetup (npm)
What this malware does
When npx hpsetup <key> runs, the tool fetches a tarball from https://hpsetup-cdn.932324.xyz/api/tarball/<slug>/<version>?key=<userKey> and extracts it directly into node_modules/@heroui-pro/react (or heroui-native-pro) with no hash check, no signature verification, and no version pin to a publisher origin (src/constants.js:16, src/download.js:24). The destination is a numeric .xyz subdomain unrelated to HeroUI's real publisher infrastructure, and the package itself ships no homepage, repository, or author fields linking it to heroui.com — yet it brands itself as the HeroUI Pro setup tool and writes into the @heroui-pro scope on the consumer's disk. Whatever bytes the CDN returns become the React component library required at runtime, giving the operator of 932324.xyz arbitrary code execution in every consuming application. The user's license key (HEROUI_KEY / hp_xxx) is appended as ?key=<userKey> to every CDN fetch, silently relaying paying-customer credentials to the lookalike host (src/download.js:24). After download, the tool patches vercel.json to set installCommand: npx -y hpsetup@latest <userKey> (src/vercel.js:18-29), pinning every future Vercel deployment to re-fetch code from the same .xyz CDN and re-send the key — non-interactive runs skip the prompt and apply this automatically. The downloaded tarball's dist/postinstall/ directory and scripts.postinstall entry are silently scrubbed from the package.json before the package manager sees it (src/download.js:11-19), concealing whatever lifecycle script the CDN delivered from npm/pnpm/bun audit and trust prompts. Before any user prompt, the flow also patches pnpm-workspace.yaml allowBuilds / pnpm.onlyBuiltDependencies / trustedDependencies to auto-trust @heroui-pro/react and heroui-native-pro (src/install.js:80-92, src/trust.js:1), elevating the privilege of CDN-delivered code without consent. The combination — non-publisher mutable code drop, license-key exfiltration to that same host, CI persistence, postinstall concealment, and silent trust-store mutation — is unambiguous attacker infrastructure impersonating HeroUI Pro.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for hpsetup (11 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging hpsetup across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
hpsetup 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 hpsetup 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 hpsetup 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 hpsetup-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.