node-as-apinpm
Advisory published Updated
node-as-api is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-10742) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 2.1.6). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in node-as-api (npm)
What this malware does
On npm install, package.json's postinstall hook runs node test.js, which loads index.js and immediately invokes two harvest routines. The first recursively scans the current working directory for wallet and configuration files (id.json, config.toml, Config.toml, env, .env) and POSTs each file, tagged with the local username, to http://170.205.31.203:3000/api/v1. The second fetches remote-controlled scan patterns from http://170.205.31.203:3001/api/scan-patterns, walks the entire user home directory on Unix or every drive including C:\Users on Windows, and multipart-uploads matching files with username and platform metadata to http://170.205.31.203:3001/api/v1. On Linux, the same routine downloads an attacker-supplied public key from http://170.205.31.203:3001/api/ssh-key, appends it to $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys, and runs sudo ufw enable / sudo ufw allow 22/tcp to open inbound SSH. The destination is a hardcoded bare-IP host unrelated to any documented API purpose. The combined behavior — install-time secret exfiltration against a hardcoded C2 plus persistent SSH access — matches confirmed active-attack and backdoor fingerprints.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for node-as-api (version 2.1.6).
If you installed it — respond
node-as-api 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-as-api 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-as-api-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.