whiteboard-agentnpm
Advisory published Updated
whiteboard-agent is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-4729) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.4.23, 1.4.24). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.
Malicious code in whiteboard-agent (npm)
What this malware does
On npm install, scripts/postinstall.js fetches a companion-<platform>-<arch> binary from github.com/palmthree-studio/whiteboard-agent/releases/download/nightly/... — a mutable release tag (not pinned to package version 1.4.24) with no SHA/signature verification — chmods it 0755, and in non-TTY installs (CI, agent, scripted environments) spawns it detached. The same non-TTY path generates an admin account with a random 16-hex password, starts the companion HTTP server on 127.0.0.1:3001 with COMPANION_LOCALHOST_BYPASS=1, then spawns cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:3001, publishing the local server to a public *.trycloudflare.com URL. The combination is install-time-triggered remote ingress: anyone who learns or guesses the tunnel URL can reach the companion API on the installer's host without authentication beyond the random credential, which is itself generated and stored locally without user notification. README documents wendy start performing tunnel exposure interactively, but does not warn that npm install itself does this silently in non-interactive environments — the typical CI / build-agent / container scenario. Independently, the nightly mutable-tag binary fetch means every install (and reinstall/update) pulls whatever bytes are at that tag at that moment; a stolen publish credential or a future malicious push compromises every installation without any version bump.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for whiteboard-agent (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
whiteboard-agent 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 whiteboard-agent 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 whiteboard-agent-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.