Which versions of ppb-manticore are malicious?

The following npm versions of ppb-manticore are flagged malicious: 9.4.3. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate ppb-manticore if I installed it?

Remove ppb-manticore 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.

I already installed ppb-manticore — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If ppb-manticore 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.

Is ppb-manticore part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — ppb-manticore is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-018632 campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find ppb-manticore across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for ppb-manticore (version 9.4.3).

Malicious package

ppb-manticorenpm

Advisory published Aug 24, 2026Updated Aug 24, 2026

ppb-manticore is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14437) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 9.4.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in ppb-manticore (npm)

MAL-2026-14437

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

npm uninstall ppb-manticore

What this malware does

On npm install, the package's preinstall lifecycle script collects the installer's OS username, hostname, and current working directory, walks upward through parent directories to read the enclosing project's package.json (name, author, version), hex-encodes the aggregated JSON, splits it into 60-character DNS labels with a sequence prefix, and issues dns.lookup() queries to the hardcoded nameserver da5u87oh92rc72pp1dngqfc6hp8gwshm6.o.jgl.red. The channel uses DNS rather than HTTP, evading HTTP/proxy egress controls, and fires automatically without user interaction. A source comment framing the behavior as bug-bounty or dependency-confusion research does not alter the mechanism: installer-side identity and enclosing-project identifiers are transmitted to a third-party author-controlled destination.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

9.4.3

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

2558d8bae443d40330d8166eec921f02de17b395b4359a086a0f12792b026422

Detection & response playbook

Malicious package

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for ppb-manticore (version 9.4.3).
If you installed it — respond
Remove ppb-manticore 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 ppb-manticore 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

No. ppb-manticore on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 9.4.3 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-018632

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks ppb-manticore-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.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

Explore

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