sm-adminnpm
Advisory published Updated
sm-admin is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-14393) that executes malicious code on install (malicious versions 99.0.0, 99.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in sm-admin (npm)
What this malware does
Package [email protected] defines preinstall and postinstall lifecycle scripts that issue plain-HTTP GET requests to a hardcoded bare-IP endpoint at http://16.192.173.5/sm-admin/pre and http://16.192.173.5/sm-admin/post. Installing the package causes the installer host to contact this endpoint, revealing that the internal-sounding name 'sm-admin' resolved on that machine and disclosing the installer's source IP to the operator of that endpoint. The destination is a bare IPv4 over cleartext HTTP with no relationship to any publisher, and the elevated version number (99.0.0) together with the callback shape is characteristic of a dependency-confusion probe against a private-registry name. The endpoint is attacker-controlled and unauthenticated, so the response body served to preinstall/postinstall could change at any time.
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.
The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'sm-admin' @ 99.0.1 (npm) as malicious.
It is considered malicious because:
- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for sm-admin (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
Remove sm-admin 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 sm-admin 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
- OpenSSF: Package Analysis · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks sm-admin-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.