npm-dc-devnpm
Advisory published Updated
npm-dc-dev is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13378) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 1.1.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in npm-dc-dev (npm)
What this malware does
package.json declares "postinstall": "node test.js". test.js top-level require('.')s index.js and awaits an exported from_str(). index.js consists of a single Function("k4Wmku", "...") invocation whose ~170KB body is encoded with a custom 85-character alphabet and a shuffled string array; standard deobfuscation does not recover the payload. On npm install, the postinstall hook constructs and runs this opaque code on the installer's machine, with child_process, axios, and form-data available as declared dependencies. Package metadata is generic (blank author and description, name npm-dc-dev) and no legitimate library surface is exported. The install-time construction and execution of an unreadable dynamic payload matches the install-time remote-code-execution pattern; no benign reason exists for this shape.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for npm-dc-dev (version 1.1.1).
If you installed it — respond
Remove npm-dc-dev from your project and lockfile, then assume any secrets accessible to the build or runtime were exposed: rotate API keys, tokens, and credentials, and audit for unexpected outbound activity or persistence.
Did it already run?
If npm-dc-dev 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 npm-dc-dev-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.