Which versions of crypto-tax-export are malicious?

The following RubyGems versions of crypto-tax-export are flagged malicious: 0.9.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate crypto-tax-export if I installed it?

crypto-tax-export 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 crypto-tax-export — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If crypto-tax-export 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 crypto-tax-export part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — crypto-tax-export is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-021361 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 crypto-tax-export across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for crypto-tax-export (version 0.9.1).

Malicious package

crypto-tax-exportRubyGems

Advisory published Oct 11, 2026Updated Oct 11, 2026

crypto-tax-export is a confirmed malicious RubyGems package (MAL-2026-17782) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious version 0.9.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in crypto-tax-export (RubyGems)

MAL-2026-17782

Immediate action

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

gem uninstall crypto-tax-export

What this malware does

The gem's native-extension build script ext/crypto_tax_export/extconf.rb runs during gem install. Before executing its payload it performs sandbox/analysis-evasion checks (CI environment variables, ephemeral/generated hostnames and usernames, known analysis paths, system uptime under 30 minutes, and presence of developer-signal files such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gem/credentials, and ~/.gitconfig). When those checks indicate a real developer workstation, it double-forks a detached, stdio-closed daemon that sleeps a randomized 20-40 minutes and then executes eval(Base64.decode64(...)) on an embedded payload that opens a /bin/sh reverse shell via TCPSocket to the hardcoded bare IP 45.138.12.177:8089 in a reconnect loop. The create_makefile call is a stub targeting an unrelated name (bitcoin_rpc_lite_native), the shipped lib/crypto_tax_export.rb contains only trivial VERSION/build_id/healthy? methods with no tax-export functionality, and the README is for a different package (bitcoin-rpc-lite), indicating the extension script is the gem's sole purpose and the advertised identity is cover.

Malicious versions

1 flagged

0.9.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

d2481974cbcc361b29455129afea878124dafde18097efca0a87235df57f3bea

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for crypto-tax-export (version 0.9.1).
If you installed it — respond
crypto-tax-export 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 crypto-tax-export 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. crypto-tax-export on RubyGems has been identified as a malicious package (version 0.9.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-021361

References

rubygems.org

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks crypto-tax-export-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

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database