qa-handoffnpm
Advisory published Updated
qa-handoff is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5571) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 0.13.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in qa-handoff (npm)
What this malware does
On npm install, the package automatically executes lib/_setup.js via the postinstall lifecycle hook. The script spawns a detached Node process that collects host identifiers (hostname, username, platform, architecture, IPv4 addresses, current working directory, npm registry) and the names of environment variables matching /NPM|NODE|CI|JENKINS|GIT|BUILD|RUNNER|DOCKER|KUBE|REGISTRY/, then HTTPS POSTs that payload to a hardcoded DingTalk bot webhook (oapi.dingtalk.com/robot/send) using an embedded access token. Before sending, the script checks whether the username or hostname contains any of 'sandbox', 'malware', 'analyst', 'cuckoo', 'analysis', 'sample' and silently skips the beacon if so — explicit sandbox/analyst evasion that confirms malicious intent. The pattern matches the canonical dependency-confusion reconnaissance beacon used to fingerprint internal CI/build environments for follow-on attacks.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for qa-handoff (version 0.13.0).
If you installed it — respond
qa-handoff 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 qa-handoff 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 qa-handoff-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.