Which versions of tron-trc20-utils are malicious?

The following RubyGems versions of tron-trc20-utils are flagged malicious: 0.9.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate tron-trc20-utils if I installed it?

tron-trc20-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.

I already installed tron-trc20-utils — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If tron-trc20-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.

Is tron-trc20-utils part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — tron-trc20-utils is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-021365 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 tron-trc20-utils across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for tron-trc20-utils (version 0.9.1).

Malicious package

tron-trc20-utilsRubyGems

Advisory published Oct 11, 2026Updated Oct 13, 2026

tron-trc20-utils is a confirmed malicious RubyGems package (MAL-2026-17798) 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 tron-trc20-utils (RubyGems)

MAL-2026-17798

Immediate action

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

gem uninstall tron-trc20-utils

What this malware does

The gem's extconf.rb contains a base64-encoded Ruby payload that is decoded and eval'd inside a detached double-forked child during gem install. The decoded code opens a TCP connection to 45.138.12.177:8089 and bridges it to /bin/sh, giving the remote operator an interactive shell on the installer's machine. Execution is gated by sandbox/CI-evasion checks: it skips if common CI environment variables are set, if the hostname or username matches sandbox/analyst patterns (uvm/firecracker/sandbox/vagrant/tester/analys/scanner), if the working directory is under /tmp, /opt/rubygems, or /workspace, if /proc/uptime is under 1800 seconds, and it additionally requires developer artifacts such as ~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.npmrc, or ~/.bundle to be present. The gem's advertised identity does not match its contents: the gemspec names it tron-trc20-utils, the README is for bitcoin-rpc-lite, extconf.rb calls create_makefile('bitcoin_rpc_lite_native'), and the shipped library is a trivial stub exposing only VERSION, build_id, and healthy? — the install-time reverse shell is the package's only real functionality.

The OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'tron-trc20-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

1 flagged

0.9.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

c840b18eadc331896e56720bc9a00f1239807542202bbd4ff9636737f27d0142

c9add94bc20b1a60a35543af695790edcf781639b586b91bc4f4349355e24cb3

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for tron-trc20-utils (version 0.9.1).
If you installed it — respond
tron-trc20-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 tron-trc20-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

No. tron-trc20-utils 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-2026-021365

References

rubygems.org

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder
OpenSSF: Package Analysis · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks tron-trc20-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.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

Explore

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database