lab-helpernpm
lab-helper is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5835) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 0.0.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in lab-helper (npm)
What this malware does
On npm install, the package's postinstall hook runs sec_check.js, which enumerates the host's network interfaces and proceeds only if an IPv4 address begins with 18.175. — a subnet-based targeting gate that hides the behavior on most developer/CI machines. When the gate passes, the script reads <INIT_CWD>/myfile.txt from the installer's working directory and uses curl -X POST to upload its contents to a hardcoded plaintext C2 at http://18.175.63.47:8080/collect. The combination of a lifecycle-script auto-execute path, network-identity targeting to evade scanners, hardcoded bare-IP exfiltration endpoint, and reading installer-side files matches a targeted supply-chain attack against a specific environment (likely an AWS/lab subnet).
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 lab-helper (version 0.0.3). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging lab-helper across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
lab-helper 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 lab-helper 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 lab-helper 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 lab-helper-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.