web-dotenvnpm
Advisory published Updated
web-dotenv is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4728) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 1.0.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in web-dotenv (npm)
What this malware does
web-dotenv impersonates the widely-used dotenv package: its package.json copies dotenv's repository (git://github.com/motdotla/dotenv.git) and homepage (github.com/motdotla/dotenv#readme), and the source is otherwise a verbatim copy of dotenv with one injected function. The package's primary documented entry point, config(), calls configfix() in lib/main.js, which base64-decodes the string CWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lmpzb25rZWVwZXIuY29tL2IvVktVTkk= to https://www.jsonkeeper.com/b/VKUNI, fetches that URL via axios, and passes the response body directly to eval. jsonkeeper.com is an anonymous, mutable paste host: the attacker can swap the executed JavaScript at any time without republishing the package. Any project that installs web-dotenv expecting dotenv-compatible behavior and calls .config() (i.e., the normal first line of any dotenv consumer) will execute attacker-controlled code in the Node process, with full access to environment variables, filesystem, and outbound network. Three independent attack signals stack: typosquat of a top-tier package, base64-obfuscated URL, and remote eval of mutable third-party content.
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
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for web-dotenv (version 1.0.2).
If you installed it — respond
web-dotenv 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 web-dotenv 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
Campaign
References
Credits
- Amazon Inspector · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks web-dotenv-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.