hydration-ui-dlxnpm
Advisory published Updated
hydration-ui-dlx is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14577) 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 hydration-ui-dlx (npm)
What this malware does
The package's main module contains a top-level IIFE that chmods 0o755 and detached-spawns dist/internal/math-calc.mjs, which is a Linux x86_64 ELF executable rather than a JavaScript module. Simply importing the package launches the binary as a background process on the installer's host. The bundled implant contacts a hardcoded C2 at 217.60.77.63 and provides full post-exploitation capability: interactive remote shell (/redshell), fetch-and-execute of additional ELF payloads and shellcode from http://217.60.77.63/Others/ and /SC/ (including fileless in-memory execution via memfd_create syscall 319), exfiltration of files, SSH keys, credentials, database contents, and clipboard data via chunked HTTP POST to http://217.60.77.63/api/extract-receive, systemd-user-unit persistence written to ~/.config/systemd/user/svc-update.service and masqueraded as "System Update Service" with Restart=always, and SOCKS5 proxy plus arbitrary TCP port-forwarding that turns the host into an attacker network pivot. The README describes the package as a dependency-free calendar-day bucketing utility and the loader labels the binary a "native math accelerator"; both are cover stories inconsistent with the ELF's actual functionality, and the.mjs extension on a native ELF is deliberate extension spoofing to evade review.
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 hydration-ui-dlx (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
hydration-ui-dlx 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 hydration-ui-dlx 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 hydration-ui-dlx-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.