ladash-clinpm
ladash-cli is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14178) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in ladash-cli (npm)
What this malware does
ladash-cli is a one-character typosquat of lodash-cli whose main entry exports an empty object; the only functional code is scripts/postinstall.js, which runs on npm install. The postinstall XOR-decodes (key 'stf2026') a hidden URL to https://github.com/bebraz1/qPzM50V1AKG0rVlH/releases/download/null/main.exe, downloads it to %TEMP%\main.exe, and spawns it detached with stdio ignored and windowsHide on win32 hosts, granting the publisher full-host code execution on the installer's machine. A WSL-detection branch inspects /proc/version and /proc/sys/kernel/osrelease for 'microsoft'/'WSL' and, when matched, decodes a PowerShell bridge command from further XOR-encoded byte arrays and exec()s it, delivering the same Windows executable to the underlying host from a Linux-WSL install. The postinstall also unconditionally POSTs a JSON platform label to http://193.70.34.101:20099/vote, using a bare IP assembled from a split string array over plain HTTP as an install beacon. The download URL, PowerShell command, and byte arrays are stored as XOR-encoded data with no hash or signature check, the release tag is 'null', and the GitHub account hosting the binary is unrelated to any lodash publisher.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for ladash-cli (version 1.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
ladash-cli 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 ladash-cli 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 ladash-cli-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.