web3-token-helpernpm
Advisory published Updated
web3-token-helper is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-6274) that typosquats a legitimate package to trick installs (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.1.1…). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in web3-token-helper (npm)
What this malware does
The package advertises itself as a Web3 fee utility but its main export is a dropper. index.js line 140 base64-decodes a platform-specific command string and executes it via child_process.exec inside the exported calculateFee() function — the exact call the README documents as the headline usage example (calculateFee(100, 2)). The decoded commands branch on host OS and fetch attacker binaries from https://www.mythicalsgames.com/files/sean/ (a typosquat of the legitimate mythicalgames.com; the path segment sean matches package.json's author: "sean"): on Windows, PowerShell with -W Hidden downloads SvcHostUpdate.exe into the user's Startup folder and runs it (login persistence); on Linux, syslog-service.py is written to ~/.local/share/.syslog, launched with nohup, and registered via @reboot sleep 30 && /usr/bin/python3... in the user's crontab (reboot persistence); on macOS, com.microsoft.VSCodeUpdate-darwin-<arch> is written to /tmp, chmod +x'd, has its quarantine attribute stripped, and is exec'd. Filenames impersonate trusted OS components (SvcHostUpdate, syslog-service, com.microsoft.VSCodeUpdate) to evade casual process inspection. package.json also declares "postinstall": "node install.js", but install.js is absent from the tarball — the postinstall is non-functional; the malicious payload triggers on first call to the documented API rather than at install time.
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
TyposquatFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for web3-token-helper (8 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
web3-token-helper is a typosquat — you almost certainly intended a legitimately-named package. Remove web3-token-helper, install the correct package, and rotate any secrets exposed during the install since post-install scripts may have already run.
Did it already run?
If web3-token-helper 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 web3-token-helper-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.