sol-mint-utilsRubyGems
Advisory published Updated
sol-mint-utils is a confirmed malicious RubyGems package (MAL-2026-17795) 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 sol-mint-utils (RubyGems)
What this malware does
The gem ships a native-extension stub (extconf.rb) that gem install executes automatically, but no C/C++ sources accompany it and lib/sol_mint_utils.rb is an inert stub (defines VERSION and returns 'ok'). The README advertises an unrelated package name (bitcoin-rpc-lite), confirming the gem's declared purpose is a cover. extconf.rb base64-decodes a Ruby payload and eval's it inside a forked/detached process; the decoded payload opens a TCPSocket to the hardcoded host 45.138.12.177 on port 8089 and bridges a /bin/sh session over the socket via IO.popen and IO.copy_stream, granting the operator an interactive reverse shell on the installer's machine. Execution is gated by anti-analysis checks: CI environment variables, hostname patterns (uvm/firecracker/sandbox/vagrant), generated usernames, analysis working directories (/opt/rubygems, /tmp, /workspace), and short /proc/uptime values all suppress the payload, which fires only when developer artifacts such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, and ~/.gem/credentials are present on the host.
The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'sol-mint-utils' @ 0.9.1 (rubygems) as malicious.
It is considered malicious because:
- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.
Malicious versions
Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)
Detection & response playbook
Credential / info stealerFind it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for sol-mint-utils (version 0.9.1).
If you installed it — respond
sol-mint-utils 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 sol-mint-utils 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
- OpenSSF: Package Analysis · finder
Detect & block this
O3 blocks sol-mint-utils-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.