requests-middlewarenpm
Advisory published Updated
requests-middleware is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-6096) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious version 1.0.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in requests-middleware (npm)
What this malware does
The package masquerades as a typosquat of the legacy request/requests HTTP library, copying that project's README, dependencies, and source files verbatim, with a malicious dropper grafted on. Its sole exported function middleware (index.js:117-122) detached-spawns node lib/logger.js with { detached: true, stdio: 'ignore' } and immediately unref()s the child, so the loader runs silently and outlives the parent process. lib/logger.js then uses axios to GET https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/YL7GN, extracts the JS payload from the response's Cookie field, and evaluates it with new Function.constructor('require', s)(require), retrying up to 5 times. This grants attacker-controlled JavaScript full require access in the consumer process. The remote URL is disguised in lib/logger.js:4-8 as DEV_API_KEY inside a fake process.env-shaped object to look like benign configuration. jsonkeeper.com is an anonymous, author-mutable paste host, so the executed bytes can change at any time without any package update. Any application that imports this package and invokes the default middleware export will execute remote attacker code.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
TyposquatFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for requests-middleware (version 1.0.2).
If you installed it — respond
requests-middleware is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove requests-middleware, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If requests-middleware 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
- ReversingLabs · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks requests-middleware-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.