minequestnpm
minequest is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14275) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 0.1.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in minequest (npm)
What this malware does
package.json declares a postinstall hook running scripts/init.js, which chmod 0755's assets/thanks-amd64.elf and execFileSync's it on Linux x64 during npm install. The README states the package has 'no install hooks, no native binaries — just readable JavaScript', and scripts/build-elf.js is written to look like a fully-auditable ~250-byte hand-assembled ELF that only prints a thank-you message. The binary actually shipped in the tarball is a 33,648,788-byte Go-compiled executable (sha256 05b696…4420) containing Go runtime symbols, chacha8, and references to /proc/self/cgroup, /proc/self/mountinfo, and syscall filter strings — an artifact with no relationship to the shipped build script. The documented audit path is a cover story for an opaque native binary that executes with installer privileges on every Linux x64 npm install, with no description of its actual behavior available to the installer.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for minequest (version 0.1.1). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging minequest across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
Remove minequest 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 minequest 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 minequest 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 minequest-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.