remote_session_elementsnpm
Advisory published Updated
remote_session_elements is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12427) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 9999.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in remote_session_elements (npm)
What this malware does
Package version 9999.0.0 is published with placeholder metadata ("Shared utility helpers.", no author) — the canonical shape of a dependency-confusion squat designed to override an internal package of the same name during resolution. On npm install, the scripts.preinstall hook runs node callback.js, which reads os.hostname(), os.userInfo().username, the current working directory, the configured npm registry, and CI-provided repository identifiers (e.g. process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY) and sends them via HTTP GET to http://75.119.137.232:31337/depconfuse?pkg=..., a hardcoded bare-IP endpoint over cleartext HTTP. This provides an external operator with the internal package name, host identity, and originating CI repository slug of every environment where the squat is installed — reconnaissance for further dependency-confusion attacks against the victim's internal package namespace.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for remote_session_elements (version 9999.0.0).
If you installed it — respond
Remove remote_session_elements 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 remote_session_elements 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 remote_session_elements-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.