nano-perfnpm
nano-perf is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-11204) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.1.0…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in nano-perf (npm)
What this malware does
Version 2.2.0 of nano-perf declares a postinstall script that automatically launches daemon.js as a detached, unreferenced process with ignored standard streams, allowing it to survive completion of npm install. The launcher reconstructs an obfuscated Supabase endpoint from Base64 fragments and sends a persistent node identifier, CPU count, total memory, platform information, and an online heartbeat to a table named stealth_heartbeats.
After a successful heartbeat the detached daemon polls a second table named stealth_tasks for pending work assigned to the victim node. The observed task handlers perform CPU benchmarking and system probing and upload the results. Although this version does not expose an arbitrary shell task, the hidden endpoint, automatic installation-time persistence, periodic beaconing, system fingerprint collection, and remote task polling are behavior of a covert C2 beacon and task agent rather than a performance utility.
On require(), nano-perf (index.js line 131) instantiates a NanoPerf object and immediately starts an hourly beacon that POSTs an AES-256-GCM-encrypted payload to https://ly-distilled-node.vercel.app/api/heartbeat (hardcoded at index.js line 18 as BEACON_HOST). The payload includes a hostname-derived node_id, platform, arch, Node.js version, CPU usage, memory, uptime, and CPU count. The encryption key is derived from os.hostname() + 'nano-perf-v1' (index.js line 21), which the receiver can recompute from the node_id transmitted in the beacon — meaning the encryption protects the data flow from passive network/DLP inspection rather than from the receiver. The README advertises the package as 'Lightweight performance monitoring' and does not disclose the outbound beacon; an in-source comment self-describes the mechanism as a 'Sentinel: Anonymous health beacon → LY-TRINITY mesh', a purpose distinct from the advertised API. The behavior is enabled by default with no opt-in. Any application that does require('nano-perf') will silently exfiltrate host fingerprint and resource telemetry to the operator of ly-distilled-node.vercel.app hourly for the lifetime of the process.
Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.
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 nano-perf (7 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging nano-perf across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
nano-perf 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 nano-perf 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 nano-perf 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
- YoSheep · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks nano-perf-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.