items-validatornpm
Advisory published Updated
items-validator is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-17235) that executes malicious code on install (malicious versions 1.0.4, 1.0.5). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in items-validator (npm)
What this malware does
On require, index.js invokes initializeDaemon() at top level, which uses spawn('node', [lib/check-items.js], { detached: true, stdio: 'ignore' }) followed by child.unref() to launch a persistent background process independent of the parent. The daemon HTTP-GETs a JSON payload from the hardcoded endpoint https://game.spawnrealm.com/api/item-realtime?key=abcdef123456 and passes payload.code to new Function('require', 'module', payload.code), executing server-supplied JavaScript inside the installer's Node process with full require access. An RSA signature check is performed against a public key bundled in the package (crypto-config.js), so the author controls both the signing key and the verifier and the check provides no independent integrity guarantee. Anyone controlling game.spawnrealm.com — including via DNS or TLS — can run arbitrary code as the installing user for the lifetime of the host process. The package is advertised as a validator library, and this remote-code-loader behavior is undisclosed and unrelated to the stated purpose.
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
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for items-validator (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
Remove items-validator 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 items-validator 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 items-validator-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.