routing-controlsnpm
Advisory published Updated
routing-controls is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5635) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in routing-controls (npm)
What this malware does
Package name routing-controls is a one-edit variant of the popular routing-controllers package (~1M weekly downloads), and the README and source are a near-verbatim clone. Inside build/cjs/RoutingControllers.js lines 84-88, the executeAction method contains a non-standard code path that fires on every POST action: it resolves ./util/lib.min.js, deletes the entry from require.cache, and re-requires the file. In version 1.0.1 the target file build/cjs/util/lib.min.js (and its esm2015 sibling) is a 100-byte stub containing only console.log('[routing-controls] POST route invoked at ' + new Date().toISOString());, so no actively harmful behavior fires today. However, the misleading .min.js suffix on a stub file paired with a cache-busting reload on every POST is the structural shape of a hot-swappable trigger — a follow-up version could replace lib.min.js with arbitrary code that runs on every POST request in any application using this library. The current version exhibits no exfiltration, no remote fetch, no install-time execution, and no credential access; the harm is latent and depends on a future republication.
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
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for routing-controls (version 1.0.1).
If you installed it — respond
routing-controls 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 routing-controls 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 routing-controls-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.