testmgkregmenpm
Advisory published Updated
testmgkregme is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-16317) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in testmgkregme (npm)
What this malware does
npm package [email protected] uses a binding.gyp whose sources field employs GYP command-expansion (<!(env node index.js...; echo stub.c)) to run node index.js during node-gyp rebuild, which npm invokes automatically when a binding.gyp is present. No native source files (.c/.cc/.cpp/.h) are shipped, so the binding.gyp exists solely to trigger install-time code execution rather than to build a native addon. The executed index.js is a 2.9 MB single-IIFE wrapper: an outer Caesar-cipher (ROT k=4) layer is passed to eval, and the decoded body then AES-128-GCM-decrypts hardcoded hex ciphertexts with a hardcoded key/IV/authTag and evals the plaintext. The multi-layer ROT->eval->AES->eval construction has no legitimate purpose and conceals the runtime payload from static review. The result is that npm install testmgkregme causes opaque attacker-authored JavaScript to execute on the installer's machine with the installer's privileges.
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
Malicious packageFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for testmgkregme (version 1.0.1).
If you installed it — respond
Remove testmgkregme 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 testmgkregme 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 testmgkregme-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.