manticore-lognpm
manticore-log is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14433) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 9.4.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in manticore-log (npm)
What this malware does
The package's preinstall lifecycle script fires automatically on npm install and collects the installer's OS username, hostname, current working directory, and the enclosing project's package.json name/author/version (obtained by walking up parents of __dirname). The JSON payload is hex-encoded, split into 60-character chunks, and leaked as DNS labels via dns.lookup queries under the hardcoded subdomain da5u87oh92rc72pp1dngqfc6hp8gwshm6.o.jgl.red, with a fallback DNS query on error. The chunked hex-over-DNS transport is a covert-channel technique that evades many egress filters. Package metadata is minimal (placeholder main, empty author) and inconsistent with any legitimate logging library, matching a dependency-confusion reconnaissance beacon pattern.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for manticore-log (version 9.4.3). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging manticore-log across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
manticore-log 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 manticore-log 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 manticore-log 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 manticore-log-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.