Which versions of subsearch are malicious?

The following npm versions of subsearch are flagged malicious: 1.0.2, 1.0.3. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate subsearch if I installed it?

Remove subsearch 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.

I already installed subsearch — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If subsearch was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.

Is subsearch part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — subsearch is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-007501, IN-MAL-2026-007500 campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find subsearch across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for subsearch (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging subsearch across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

subsearchnpm

Malicious code in subsearch (npm) Remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

MAL-2026-6457

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

npm uninstall subsearch

What this malware does

The package's main entry index.js is the only file of substance and is wrapped in obfuscator.io string-array + RC4 obfuscation that hides every literal (module names, URL octets, exec arguments). On require(), the deobfuscated code assembles a bare-IP HTTP URL by concatenating four octets via .concat('.'), performs an HTTP GET, writes the response body into os.tmpdir() via fs.writeFileSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), <name>), I.data, {flag:'w+'}), and immediately executes the dropped file with child_process.exec(..., {windowsHide:true, cwd: os.tmpdir()}). process.on('uncaughtException',...) is registered to suppress errors. package.json has empty description, empty author, no repository, no homepage — the package advertises no functionality; its only effect on import is the dropper. The bare-IP destination has no TLS, no pinning, and no signature verification, so the attacker can swap the executed payload at any time.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

1.0.21.0.3

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

04245cd013e6aa9edb766cf14249c9dd6abd19d6beb9671c22a1a8bbbff3d511

ee921d39777ebc1ec3170ff43dc7c5afd939dd4ae79680536bdb9816067c77bf

Detection & response playbook

Malicious package

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for subsearch (2 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging subsearch across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
Remove subsearch 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 subsearch was ever installed, its post-install/runtime payload may have already executed. O3's L7 egress monitoring and runtime eBPF sensors detect the credential exfiltration or command-and-control callback after install and block the malicious outbound channel, so you catch and contain the actual compromise — not just the presence of the package.
How O3 protects you
O3 blocks subsearch before install through its supply-chain scanner, and if it has already run, detects and severs the exfiltration or C2 callback at runtime through L7 egress monitoring and eBPF.

Frequently asked questions

No. subsearch on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.0.2, 1.0.3 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-007501IN-MAL-2026-007500

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks subsearch-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.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring