json-validator-utilsnpm
Advisory published Updated
json-validator-utils is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12182) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.1.0…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in json-validator-utils (npm)
What this malware does
The package advertises itself as a JSON/XML validator but lib/core.js contains a multi-stage dropper triggered on any call to the public API (validateJson/validateXml). A hardcoded C2 URL is stored as an XOR-encrypted hex literal (key 0xAA ^ 0xFF = 0x55) and decoded at runtime to https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/cryptonomad411/cool-utils/package.json — a personal GitHub account unrelated to the package's stated purpose. The decoded manifest supplies a platform+arch-keyed payload URL that is downloaded to /tmp or %TEMP% and executed (cscript on Windows; chmod+x and spawn('sh',...) on Linux/macOS). Execution is gated behind os.uptime() >= 300 to evade short-lived analysis sandboxes and CI containers. After running the second-stage payload, the Linux branch writes a randomly-named unit to ~/.config/systemd/user and enables it via systemctl --user enable --now, and the macOS branch writes a randomly-named plist to ~/Library/LaunchAgents and loads it via launchctl load -w, granting persistent auto-start execution of attacker-controlled code on the installer's host.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for json-validator-utils (4 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
json-validator-utils establishes remote access, so treat any host that installed it as fully compromised. Isolate the machine, remove the package, rotate all credentials it could reach, and rebuild from a trusted image rather than cleaning in place — a backdoor may have planted additional persistence.
Did it already run?
If json-validator-utils 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 json-validator-utils-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.