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Malicious package

multichain-rpcRubyGems

Advisory published Updated

multichain-rpc is a confirmed malicious RubyGems package (MAL-2026-17791) 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 multichain-rpc (RubyGems)

MAL-2026-17791
Immediate action
Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.
gem uninstall multichain-rpc

What this malware does

The gem's extconf.rb, executed automatically by gem install as a native-extension build step, base64-decodes a Ruby payload and runs it via eval inside a double-forked, stdio-detached background process. The payload opens a TCP socket to the hardcoded host 45.138.12.177 on port 8089 and bridges it to /bin/sh, giving the remote operator an interactive shell on the installer's machine. Execution is gated by developer-host heuristics (presence of ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.npmrc, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.bundle, uptime > 1800s) and explicit anti-analysis checks that skip CI, ephemeral, generated-user, and sandbox environments, with a 20-40 minute delay before firing. The rest of the gem is cover: lib/multichain_rpc.rb exports only stub methods (build_id returning 'ok', healthy? returning true), the README advertises an unrelated name (bitcoin-rpc-lite), and extconf.rb declares a native extension (create_makefile('bitcoin_rpc_lite_native')) but ships no C sources, so the file's sole purpose is to run the embedded payload. Installing the gem on a developer workstation yields a full-host remote shell to the attacker.

Malicious versions

1 flagged
0.9.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

b5765482ebcff5ac393edb3ce06164e7c697a00aa7e32c92b1272dc20184b424

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer
  1. Find it

    Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for multichain-rpc (version 0.9.1).

  2. If you installed it — respond

    multichain-rpc 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.

  3. Did it already run?

    If multichain-rpc 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. multichain-rpc 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-2026-021369

References

Credits

  • Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks multichain-rpc-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.

Explore

multichain-rpc (RubyGems) malicious package — MAL-2026-17791 | O3 Security