datefmt-helper (npm) · Malicious Code
Affects datefmt-helperSource GCVE Database
Malicious package : remove datefmt-helper and rotate any secrets on hosts that installed it.
Data as of 16 Jul 2026, 10:35 UTC
Malicious package
Published to npm · OSV MAL-2026-6788
What to do
Remove datefmt-helper from every project, lockfile and image that pulls it in. Treat any host that installed it as compromised: rotate the credentials, tokens and keys it could read, from a clean machine.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| npmdatefmt-helper | Affected
| Fixed in– |
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Description
The npm package `datefmt-helper` is a supply-chain dropper disguised as a benign date-formatting utility (its `description` reads "dates formatting utility with locale support"). The package ships no source repository and places its real behaviour in an install script. A `postinstall` lifecycle hook (`postinstall: node postinstall.js`) executes automatically on `npm install`, before the package is ever imported. The install script uses HTTP / `curl` / `wget` primitives to download a second-stage payload from the hardcoded external IP `115.190.124.243`, then executes it via a Node child process — the classic download-and-execute pattern. Any developer workstation or CI runner that installs the package (directly or transitively) hands arbitrary code execution to the operator of that endpoint. Detected and classified independently by codelake Research from the live npm feed on 2026-07-02; at the time of reporting the package was not present in OSV or GHSA (a first-catch). --- _-= Per source details. Do not edit below this line.=-_ ## Source: amazon-inspector (d92b853245953aa75db608f0ae2e5de2321301b94ca6b48f55746a1bd60b6ea4) On `npm install`, the package's postinstall script fetches an unauthenticated payload over plain HTTP from a hardcoded bare IP (115.190.124.243:8761) and executes it. On Unix, `curl`/`wget` output is piped directly to `sh`. On Windows, `certutil.exe -urlcache -split -f` downloads a batch file to C:\Users\Public\run.bat and executes it. The fetched content is unpinned, unverified, and mutable — the operator of the endpoint can serve arbitrary code at any time. The package advertises itself as a lightweight date formatter (`date-fns-lite` branding, impersonating the date-fns ecosystem), but the payload has no relationship to date formatting. The typosquat/impersonation branding combined with an install-time dropper is a supply-chain attack lure. ## Source: ghsa-malware (6c9b82c471edb6b2caeb78c78887556e4c313efc0ba29a88a482b0f93d378807) Any computer that has this package installed or running should be considered fully compromised. All secrets and keys stored on that computer should be rotated immediately from a different computer. The package should be removed, but as full control of the computer may have been given to an outside entity, there is no guarantee that removing the package will remove all malicious software resulting from installing it.