open-item-validatornpm
Advisory published Updated
open-item-validator is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-16052) that executes malicious code on install (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in open-item-validator (npm)
What this malware does
On require(), index.js spawns a detached, unref'd background Node process (lib/check-items.js) that repeatedly HTTP-GETs a JSON payload from http://itemx.servegame.com:8888/api/x-realtime and executes the returned JavaScript via new Function('require','module', payload.code)(require, moduleObj). The daemon survives the parent process and re-polls the endpoint on a configured interval, so whoever controls that endpoint runs arbitrary Node code on the installer's host on library load and continuously thereafter. The fetch is over plain HTTP to a No-IP dynamic-DNS host (servegame.com) that does not match the publisher's declared homepage (game.spawnrealm.com); a bundled RSA signature check does not alter that the endpoint operator chooses what code runs. README framing as 'signed game code updates' is inconsistent with the shipped generic fetch-and-exec mechanism and the publisher/destination host mismatch.
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
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for open-item-validator (6 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
Remove open-item-validator 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 open-item-validator 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 open-item-validator-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.