tailwindcss-contact-formsnpm
Advisory published Updated
tailwindcss-contact-forms is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-16124) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious versions 0.5.4, 0.5.5, 0.5.6…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in tailwindcss-contact-forms (npm)
What this malware does
The package presents itself as a Tailwind CSS forms plugin (README, repository field, and installation docs are copied verbatim from @tailwindcss/forms) but its sole main module src/index.js is a heavily obfuscator.io-obfuscated Node loader with no CSS-plugin functionality. On require(), the module executes top-level code that installs a createRequire and publishes require, module, and global into named globals (global.r, global.m, global.i, plus several _H/_t_u/_t_s handles) and imports spawn from node:child_process — a stager shape that hands arbitrary execution primitives to code assembled from the rotating string array. It also enumerates public Ethereum JSON-RPC endpoints (drpc.org, publicnode.com, blockscout, blastapi.io) and an Etherscan-like indexer, calls eth_blockNumber / eth_getBlockByNumber / eth_getTransactionCount, and pulls the transaction list for a hardcoded 42-character Ethereum address 0xa322E5f39aDC2490Ef6f0121063eD311D3080e1a, using the returned data as C2 signalling. Results are POSTed with a custom X-Payload-* header to an external endpoint reconstructed from string-array fragments ending in ut.com/api. A CSS plugin has no legitimate reason for obfuscation, node:child_process, or Ethereum RPC traffic; the cover story does not match the shipped code, and the payload runs the moment a developer requires the package.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Backdoor / remote accessFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for tailwindcss-contact-forms (9 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
tailwindcss-contact-forms 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 tailwindcss-contact-forms 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 tailwindcss-contact-forms-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.