time-utils-helpernpm
time-utils-helper is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12225) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in time-utils-helper (npm)
What this malware does
The package advertises itself as a time-formatting utility (index.js exports formatDate/capitalize/truncate) but ships a postinstall.js lifecycle script that runs on npm install and performs unrelated cloud credential harvesting. postinstall.js uses child_process.exec to shell out to curl against multi-cloud instance metadata services (AWS 169.254.169.254, Aliyun 100.100.100.200, Tencent metadata.tencentyun.com, GCP metadata.google.internal, Azure), extracts AWS IAM security credentials for the instance role into /tmp/.iam-creds, and transmits hostname, user, and the IAM credential material as HTTP GET query-string parameters to the hardcoded Burp Collaborator subdomain pzs5w7ntzhsnepwk564lyfdci3oucl0a.oastify.com. The mismatch between the declared trivial utility purpose and the install-time cloud-metadata scraping identifies the package as a decoy delivery vehicle for credential theft.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for time-utils-helper (version 1.0.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging time-utils-helper across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
time-utils-helper 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 time-utils-helper 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 time-utils-helper 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks time-utils-helper-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.