tt-help-cli-yclnpm
tt-help-cli-ycl is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-12488) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.4.57, 1.4.58, 1.4.59…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in tt-help-cli-ycl (npm)
What this malware does
The package's tt-help watchdog subcommand starts a long-running agent that POSTs heartbeats to a remote server (default hardcoded to http://117.71.53.99:17301, referenced in src/lib/constants.js and the README/run-explore examples) and executes commands returned in the response. In WatchdogAgent, syncCommands maps entries from the server's commands array into child_process.spawn(command, { shell: true }) via ProcessManager.startCommand, with auto-restart — the remote operator selects arbitrary shell commands to run on the installer's host. Each heartbeat body assembled by _buildHeartbeatBody carries hostname, non-internal IPv4 address, OS platform/release/arch, CPU count, memory, node version, uptime, load average, and the contents of ~/.tt-help.json (server, proxy, browser, userId, tuning fields), POSTed as JSON to ${serverUrl}/api/watchdog/heartbeat at the configured interval (default 15s). In addition, _startUpgradeChecker polls the npm registry every 10 minutes and, when a new version of tt-help-cli-ycl is published, invokes npm install -g tt-help-cli-ycl@latest via child_process.exec and re-spawns, so the publisher can push arbitrary new code to every running agent host without user confirmation. The combination of remote-command execution, ongoing host inventory + stored-config exfiltration to a bare-IP destination, and unattended auto-upgrade constitutes a full command-and-control backdoor rather than a legitimate remote-management tool.
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 tt-help-cli-ycl (21 malicious versions). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging tt-help-cli-ycl across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
tt-help-cli-ycl 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 tt-help-cli-ycl 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 tt-help-cli-ycl 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 tt-help-cli-ycl-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.