nebula-llmnpm
nebula-llm is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-17227) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in nebula-llm (npm)
What this malware does
The npm package [email protected] ships a preinstall lifecycle script (preinstall.cjs) that embeds a ~257KB Windows PE binary as a base64+zlib-compressed string literal. On npm install on Windows, the script decompresses the blob, writes it to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Conhost\conhost.exe — impersonating the legitimate Windows Console Host binary — and spawns it detached with stdio ignored and windowsHide:true, then unrefs the child so it survives the install process. The decoded PE contains a.kntrat section and references github.com/syskiel/kntrat-e and IP 65.87.7.132, consistent with a persistent remote-access implant. Installation therefore executes an opaque author-supplied executable on the installer's host with no user interaction and no purpose related to any documented package function.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for nebula-llm (version 1.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging nebula-llm across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
nebula-llm is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove nebula-llm, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If nebula-llm 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 nebula-llm 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 nebula-llm-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.