sextant-cli-linux-amd64npm
Advisory published Updated
sextant-cli-linux-amd64 is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12029) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious versions 0.0.1-rc5, 0.0.1-rc6, 0.0.1-rc7…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in sextant-cli-linux-amd64 (npm)
What this malware does
sextant-cli-linux-amd64 ships a Linux amd64 Go binary that, on execution, connects to a hardcoded WebRTC signaling relay at wss://relay.sextant.top and exposes a local interactive shell to a remote controller. The binary uses creack/pty and exec.Command to spawn /bin/bash, /bin/sh, or /bin/zsh under a PTY and forwards stdio through WebRTC data channels, giving a remote party on the sextant.top relay a full interactive shell on the installer's host. The binary also contacts http://ip-api.com/json/ over cleartext HTTP to collect the host's public IP and geolocation and reports it back through the same control channel. Embedded strings referencing /etc/systemd and 'sextantsystemdbootoutdefault.claudekey' indicate a subcommand that installs the agent as a systemd unit for boot persistence. package.json's license URL points to https://github.com/ddos798/claude_control, and the binary internally references 'claude_control' and api.anthropic.com, consistent with a tool designed to remotely pilot the installer's host and Claude Code sessions. Regardless of the tool's advertised purpose, a network-sourced controller driving a PTY on the installer's machine, with systemd persistence support and host reconnaissance to a third-party geolocation service, constitutes a persistent remote backdoor into the installer host.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for sextant-cli-linux-amd64 (27 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
sextant-cli-linux-amd64 establishes remote access, so treat any host that installed it as fully compromised. Isolate the machine, remove the package, rotate all credentials it could reach, and rebuild from a trusted image rather than cleaning in place — a backdoor may have planted additional persistence.
Did it already run?
If sextant-cli-linux-amd64 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 sextant-cli-linux-amd64-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.