vite-plugin-cleanernpm
vite-plugin-cleaner is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-13463) that executes malicious code on install (malicious version 4.1.3). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in vite-plugin-cleaner (npm)
What this malware does
package.json declares an optionalDependency vite-cleaning-tools pointing at github:vite-plugins/vite-cleaning-tools with no commit SHA or tag, so npm resolves and fetches whatever code is at the current HEAD of that GitHub repository at install time. The postinstall script then runs node -e "try { require('vite-cleaning-tools') } catch(e) {}", executing that fetched code on every npm install while a try/catch silently swallows any errors. Because the reference is mutable and lives outside the npm registry, the maintainer (or anyone who gains write access to the GitHub repository) can change what runs on installer machines at any moment without publishing a new npm version, and npm registry scanning does not cover the fetched payload.
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
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for vite-plugin-cleaner (version 4.1.3). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging vite-plugin-cleaner across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
Remove vite-plugin-cleaner 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 vite-plugin-cleaner 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 vite-plugin-cleaner 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 vite-plugin-cleaner-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.