Your RSA-2048 keys break in 2030. Find every one of them before attackers do.
Malicious package

n8n-nodes-utils-helpernpm

n8n-nodes-utils-helper is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-11006) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in n8n-nodes-utils-helper (npm)

MAL-2026-11006
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
npm uninstall n8n-nodes-utils-helper

What this malware does

The package advertises itself as an n8n community node ('Utility nodes for n8n'), but the declared community node file MyNode.js is an empty stub and the real payload lives in index.js, which is set as main and executes as a top-level IIFE the moment the package is required. On load, index.js spawns /bin/bash and connects it to 103.27.109.184:8895 via /dev/tcp, giving the operator an interactive reverse shell on the installer's host. It also collects hostname, user id, IP addresses, Docker state, environment variables, and kubelet/kubeconfig contents and streams the data as JSON to 103.27.109.184 on ports 8890 and 8891. It attempts several Docker container-escape techniques (bind-mounting the host root filesystem into an alpine container, and --privileged nsenter) to append an attacker-controlled ssh-ed25519 key tagged 'n8n-backdoor' to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys on the host, establishing persistent root SSH access. It additionally targets a specific local Docker container id and internal Evolution API endpoints with default admin/admin credentials for lateral movement. The n8n community-node metadata is a cover story for a targeted attack against n8n + Evolution API deployments.

Malicious versions

3 flagged
1.0.01.0.11.0.2

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

59355ca0558ed7f96b9680bfdfe5d283f64f0ec568b59690d6eaf150d38a109c
9256e5f20f66f3eb9875dcc475299249173730d784230eb157c327171d114e21
c4146a8a020688e0afa7b7c1897b2bc2d5d19a1e1149886efc9aba3629f02337

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer
  1. Find it

    Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for n8n-nodes-utils-helper (3 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging n8n-nodes-utils-helper across your stack and pipelines.

  2. If you installed it — respond

    n8n-nodes-utils-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.

  3. Did it already run?

    If n8n-nodes-utils-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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 blocks n8n-nodes-utils-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

No. n8n-nodes-utils-helper on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-010812IN-MAL-2026-010829IN-MAL-2026-010809

References

Credits

  • Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks n8n-nodes-utils-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.

Explore

n8n-nodes-utils-helper (npm) malicious package — MAL-2026-11006 | O3 Security