node-app-doctornpm
Advisory published Updated
node-app-doctor is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5733) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.9). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in node-app-doctor (npm)
What this malware does
collect.js gathers host identifiers via os.hostname() and os.homedir(), reads local filesystem state with fs.existsSync, spawns child_process commands, and POSTs the collected data to the hardcoded endpoint http://aab.sportsontheweb.net. The destination domain is unrelated to any legitimate npm/Node tooling publisher and there is no plausible benign reason for a 'node app doctor' utility to ship installer/host telemetry to that host. The combination of system enumeration (hostname, home directory, child_process), filesystem inspection, and hardcoded plaintext HTTP POST to an unaffiliated domain is the standard host-fingerprint exfiltration shape.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for node-app-doctor (3 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
node-app-doctor 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 node-app-doctor was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.
Frequently asked questions
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks node-app-doctor-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.