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Malicious package

unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79npm

Advisory published Updated

unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-18621) that opens a backdoor for remote access (malicious version 3.3.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 (npm)

MAL-2026-18621
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
npm uninstall unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79

What this malware does

Part of a self-republishing campaign: generated names of the form <adjective><animal><colour>-<number>, each package shipping the same autopublish.js, which runs npm publish --access public to publish the package again. Self-replicating publication is the propagation step of a registry worm and fills the registry with copies. Version examined: 3.3.1; tarball SHA-256 9b1c0d601c4b827fd86f48aff1ab51a397ef52f5ccd42b4b03947234dcc2f891.

Malicious versions

1 flagged
3.3.1

Detection & response playbook

Backdoor / remote access

  1. Find it

    Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 (version 3.3.1).

  2. If you installed it — respond

    unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 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.

  3. Did it already run?

    If unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 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

No. unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 3.3.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Credits

  • Oluwatosin Amokeodo · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the C2 callback and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

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unfortunate_crawdad_emerald-79 (npm) malicious package — MAL-2026-18621 | O3 Security