sort-btreenpm
Advisory published Updated
sort-btree is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-6063) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 2.1.6, 2.2.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in sort-btree (npm)
What this malware does
Pattern matches fired on minified files extended/b+tree.min.js and extended/bulkLoad.min.d.js based on keyword co-occurrence (require("child_process"), GET/POST tokens, and the word 'hostname') within single-line minified output. The package presents itself as a B+ tree data structure library, where these tokens may correspond to benign symbol names or unrelated code paths in minified output rather than an exfiltration channel. No traced execution path confirms outbound network activity, environment scraping, lifecycle-hook execution, or attacker-controlled destinations. There is no hardcoded C2 endpoint, no install/lifecycle script, and no credential-path access visible in the available evidence. Routing to human review so a reviewer can de-minify the bundle and confirm whether the child_process and HTTP-related tokens reflect actual runtime behavior or merely incidental keyword proximity in compressed output.
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 sort-btree (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
sort-btree 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 sort-btree 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 sort-btree-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.