Which versions of vortnode are malicious?

The following npm versions of vortnode are flagged malicious: 1.2.0. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate vortnode if I installed it?

vortnode 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.

I already installed vortnode — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If vortnode 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.

Is vortnode part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — vortnode is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-006750 campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find vortnode across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for vortnode (version 1.2.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging vortnode across your stack and pipelines.

Malicious package

vortnodenpm

vortnode is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-5884) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.2.0). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in vortnode (npm)

MAL-2026-5884

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

npm uninstall vortnode

What this malware does

On npm install, the preinstall hook (node lib/setup.js) runs on Windows and invokes lib/worker.js, which downloads an executable to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp (or %TEMP%) under Microsoft-update cover names (msedge_update, chrome_installer, dotnet_host, onedrive_setup, teams_update) and silently executes it via spawn(fp, [], { detached: true, stdio: 'ignore', windowsHide: true }) followed by ch.unref(). The download URL is XOR-decoded at runtime from opaque buffers carried in the foldmap dependency, with a fallback chain of https → curl.exe → bitsadmin to maximize delivery; TLS verification is disabled (rejectUnauthorized: false); the Mark-of-the-Web :Zone.Identifier ADS is stripped before execution. All sensitive identifiers in lib/worker.js (https, child_process, spawn, curl.exe, bitsadmin, powershell.exe, :Zone.Identifier, env vars, cover filenames) are constructed with String.fromCharCode(...) to evade signature scanning. The package's advertised index.js API (spawn/kill/list/has) is a decoy never referenced by the install path. Any developer or CI runner installing vortnode on Windows executes attacker-controlled code as the current user.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

1.2.0

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

43b7aa0683f0462d98c9ab789942e329e1298af3f85c0bd3a9b3761f5aebf8fb

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Scan your lockfiles (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, etc.) and build artifacts for vortnode (version 1.2.0). O3 Security's supply-chain scanner checks every dependency against known-malicious package intelligence at install time and in CI, flagging vortnode across your stack and pipelines.
If you installed it — respond
vortnode 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 vortnode 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 vortnode 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

No. vortnode on npm has been identified as a malicious package (version 1.2.0 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-006750

References

npmjs.com

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks vortnode-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

Explore

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